Tips & Tricks – Page 4 – Littlejohn's Yarn

Crochet Tension Guide You ever find yourself following along to a crochet pattern and your finished project is nowhere near the size of the crochet designers. It’s either entirely too big or too small. Before you blame the designer for a bad pattern there are somethings you need to be aware of. Like, how to improve your crochet tension. Think of this as your crochet tension guide.Fixing your crochet tension can be as easy as switching up your crochet hooks, changing your mood, changing the way you hold the yarn, learning how to do a gauge swatch or how you pull the yarn from your skein. These are just some ways to improve your crochet tension. I’ll go into further detail on how to get your crochet skills up to par.Crochet Straight edges every timeStart a crochet Blog Crochet Techniques & Tips for Neatness & Speed by Posh Panache How to hold your hook When I began crocheting, holding the hook was the most difficult part. Initially holding the hook felt award in my hand. But once I got used to it, it was second nature. Unfortunately, I mistakenly took crocheting tight as crochet neatly. I developed a bad habit and didn't even know it. Every single one of my stitches was a tight little nugget. I managed to put a death grip on my hook.There are 2 popular ways that you can hold a crochet hook. The pencil grip and the knife hold. It doesn’t matter which hold you use. The preference on hold is completely up to you. How tight your grip around your crochet hook is very important. This goes for those who crochet too loosely also. Make sure your hold is comfortable. Nothing will improve by choking your crochet hook or by holding so loosely that you can see through all of your stitches. This will take practice to find that sweet spot. How to hold your yarn How you hold your yarn is very important in crocheting. Your Left hand (the opposite for lefties) is your yarn tension guide hand. This is the yarn that you will be doing your “yarn over” with. When your 'yarn guide' hand is holding the yarn too tightly your stitches will become equally tight. If your yarn guide hand holds the yarn too loosely or too far away from the crochet hook, this can cause larger stitchesSo how do you fix this problem? It’s important to find a happy medium. The yarn should flow smoothly over your hand while you crochet. You yarn guide hand will have a slight grip on the yarn. This will create an even tension as you crochet Tension devices If you still can’t get a handle on your yarn tension than a finger yarn guide would be a perfect option for you. They are a cool little handy devices. They are made to wear on your “yarn tension” hand.The devices are typically rings that go around your finger. Instead of the yarn wrapping around your finger and potentially being held to tightly or loosely. The yarn ia guided through the yarn ringFinger yarn guide range from DIY free to super cheap. I’ve seen many made by artisan on Etsy and crochet versions. I even have my own DIY versions of a finger yarn guide with items that I found from my local Dollar Tree HERE. Change your crochet hook So you tried the first two and it still hasn’t worked for you. How about a simple fix that you can use right now. Change your crochet hook. It's as simple as that. Most patterns recommend a certain hook size. You don’t have to use the same exact hook as the designer. If you believe that you crochet is too tight. Just go up a hook size. If it is too loose. You can easily fix that pattern by using a smaller hook. Everyone crochets differently. Gauge A lot of people would love to skip over this part. I’m a pattern designer and even I don't like to make a gauge swatch. If you want your pattern to come out looking like the original designers, then you're going to have to bite the bullet and make a swatch. Gauge swatches puts every crocheter on an even playing field. You will be able to find your tension mistakes before you even start your pattern. There is nothing worse than completing a pattern only to find out that it's 10X to big. You could have avoided this error by completing your gauge swatch.This goes along with changing your crochet hook. If your gauge swatch is to big or small, make sure that you adjust your hook size to match the pattern. You will thank me later. Mood Have you ever noticed that your handwriting changes based on your mood? Well the same goes for crochet. Are you stressed in your life? It may show up in your latest crochet project. Who would have thought.When you crochet make sure you are comfortable and relaxed. Hey, isn’t that why we crochet! Grab yourself a cup of wine and your favorite TV show to binge watch. When you get tired of crocheting, put it down. I know we love to say “one last row”. Our bodies are smart. We should try to listen to them sometimes. Can you loosen a tight stitch? The answer to this one is, kinda. It all depends on the type of yarn that you are using. If you are using acrylic, then you are in luck! I use a technique called killing the yarn. Don’t worry, it's not as scary as it soundsRemember this technique is specifically for items made from acrylic yarn. When you perform this, please be careful. What is done cannot be undone.Spray your project with water and cover with a towel. Run a hot iron over top of the towel. Don’t leave the iron on for too long. Stretch item until it is your desired shape. This is definitely a technique you should practice before our ruin a sweater that took 2 weeks to create. By using this technique I can stretch the brim of a hat the "almost fits" or change that 0-3 month baby item into 3-6 months. Everyone is different Remember everyone is different. There is no wrong way to crochet. It’s all about practicing and improving overtime. You can’t expect perfection overnight. It's going to take some time to improve. I recommend that you enjoy the ride and crochet what your heart desires. Every item that you create is original, no stitch is ever created exactly the same. If you enjoyed this article, then check my others below Crochet Pattern Designing with Panels / 2. Is Crocheting Hard?