Crochet Problem

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2011
Messages
3,434
Reaction score
234
Location
USA
I'm trying to crochet a slouchy, cowl-type scarf. I have general knowledge of how to crochet, but the pattern directions are, shall we say, limited, and I'm encountering a problem. Google has turned up nothing, much to my surprise, and my trusty all-encompassing Reader's Digest needlepoint book has no instructions on this sort of thing.

I've done the main body, which is basically a wide rectangle. Now it calls for a narrow panel at each end (top and bottom) to finish it. (The scarf will be turned sideways and the narrow panels will overlap and button closed when the scarf is worn.) I've already tied off, as directed, but I can't figure out how to start the new section at the bottom. The new row has to be worked into the very first row I crocheted, the original chainstitch row, so there's no obvious place for each stitch. Do I just pick random gaps to stick the hook through and hope they're evenly spaced?

My other issue is, how do I start this new section? Do I tie the yarn into the first stitch gap, and then start crocheting? Or do I slipknot the yarn onto the hook as if I am starting a new piece, then stick the hook into the first gap and start crocheting? I feel like that could lead to the new section unraveling, so I'm leaning toward tying the yarn first, but I honestly don't know.

I hope this makes sense!
 

SWest

In the garden...
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
23,129
Reaction score
12,525
Location
Where the Moon can see me.
Website
www.etsy.com
Heh. These things are so hard to pass along without photos/videos.

Here is a very short vid of someone adding colors to a piece in progress -- I wanted you to see that tension and weaving can naturally hold yarn in place. But you should absolutely do what feels right to you -- if the piece is one color, all you have to worry about is hiding a knot inside the fabric. If you knot-on, be careful to not stretch or pull the fabric out of shape.

If you worry that you will have a false-start with the New First row, I would recommend:

Insert hook into first chain loop, holding yarn end - pull through a yarn loop, yarn over and pull back through. This basically slip-knots the yarn to the first chain, and it can simply be pulled clean away if you find that the New First row looks wrong.

As to the New First row itself, you want to hold the piece and examine the original chain. Crochet runs in alternating directions, so you want to work into the chain row in the opposite direction than you ran the Original First row.
 
Last edited:

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2011
Messages
3,434
Reaction score
234
Location
USA
I think I get what you said. I'll try and see what happens. Mostly, I'm just annoyed that the pattern didn't explain how to do anything!
 

SWest

In the garden...
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
23,129
Reaction score
12,525
Location
Where the Moon can see me.
Website
www.etsy.com
Yeah. What patterns leave out or assume about the reader can be a lot. It is a specialized kind of writing, but that truth is frequently underestimated. :greenie

Trust your artistic sensibility to figure out the gaps. Work at new techniques slowly and don't worry if you have to undo and start over.
 

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2011
Messages
3,434
Reaction score
234
Location
USA
Now I'm seriously ticked with this pattern. It says to sew on three buttons, and to use the gaps between stitches as the buttonholes. It doesn't say what size buttons to use, but the illustrations show rather large buttons, maybe 3/4". The buttons I have in my stash that match colorwise, they're about 1". Shouldn't be enough of a difference to be a problem. Except the gaps between stitches are no more than 1/2" and that's if you stretch them. If I had known this earlier, I could have created larger gaps for the buttonholes. Now I have to add button loops, somehow, which is going to significantly change the overlap, along with altering the general look of the scarf.

Maybe I could have avoided the problem if I'd measured the stitch gaps before finishing the scarf, but I trusted that the pattern knew what it was talking about. Never again!
 

SWest

In the garden...
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
23,129
Reaction score
12,525
Location
Where the Moon can see me.
Website
www.etsy.com
Consider a toggle style button before creating alterations...they are often narrow enough to get through a narrow space, but long enough to hold once turned.