This is one way to make an invisible join when you finish a round of crocheting. Usually the instructions tell you to join with a slip stitch, but that leaves a very different looking area that may not be desirable when working the final round of a border on your project.

One thing to note before going in: this join makes it look like there is an extra stitch (and so, in that way, it’s not actually invisible). This won’t matter at all if it’s the final round of your project. If you’re doing this on a round that isn’t the last one, just keep in mind that this creates an extra V you might accidentally work into.

You need: a darning/tapestry/sewing needle (the same kind you’d use to weave in your ends)

Here is a one-round granny square that I have added a sc border to. I’ve done all of my sc stitches and am ready to join:

Start by cutting the yarn and pulling the loop out:

Thread this end onto a needle:

Insert the needle into the first stitch of the round under the two arms of the V in exactly the same way as you would if you were crocheting into it:

Pull the yarn all the way through.

Next, go back to last stitch of the round, and insert the needle under the back loop of the last stitch, in exactly the same way you would if you were doing a “back loop only” stitch. This was tricky to take a picture of, so here are two:


Pull the yarn all the way through.

Now it’s just a matter of pulling on that yarn until the V-shape you just made looks like the others around it:

(The needle is pointing at the join)

All that’s left is to weave in the end! Try not to tug too much on the stitch you just made while weaving the end in.

Here we have a sc tube and are ready to do a decrease:

(I’m using a different colour for the decrease; you would normally just keep going with the same yarn. ^_^)

Start by inserting your hook into the front loop of the next stitch:

Do not yarn over! Instead, insert your hook into the front loop of the next stitch:

Technically, you’ll have three loops on your hook at this point: the loop you started with, and the front loops of the next two stitches.

Now yarn over:

And pull through two loops:

Then finish the sc as you normally would by yarning over:

And pulling through two loops:

Now we’re at the part of the tutorial where I show you what the finished technique looks like… which is a bit of a problem with something with the word “invisible” in its name. So, here is the invisible decrease along with the regular decrease.

The hook is pointing at the invisible decrease:

Now it’s pointing at the regular one:

Hmm… ok, here’s the back, then.

The invisible decrease leaves the “back loops” visible on the back, so look for those when trying to spot it:

The regular decrease doesn’t have such obvious markers (figures…)

Perhaps it’ll be easier to spot the differences if I stack them over several rows…

Ah, yes. There we go. The invisible decreases are on the right (the hook is pointing at where I think they are), and the regular decreases are on the left (roughly on a line with the tail sticking out of the bottom). What the picture doesn’t truly convey, is that the regular decreases form a bit of a ridge, whereas the invisible decreases don’t. Which, I suppose makes them invisible to the blind, as well. :P

The Crochet Cast-On is a knitting technique that we’re totally going to steal and use for our own purposes! Specifically, for use in Tunisian crochet and Crochet-on-the-Double. If you are a knitter, you may find this tutorial useful, too! Just substitute in your mind – replace “afghan hook” with “knitting needle” and you’re good to go.

In Tunisian and CotD, you typically start with a base chain, and then go and lift up a loop in each chain. As with regular crochet, though, starting with a base chain can cause problems – sometimes they’re too tight, they aren’t very stretchy, it’s a pain in the butt to work into them – and sometimes you just really want to extend a row out to the left of your work. For regular crochet, you can use Foundation Stitches to address all of these issues.

For Tunisian and CotD, you can use the crochet cast-on!

You need: an afghan hook (or double-ended hook… or knitting needle… depending on what craft you’re doing), a regular crochet hook in the same size (or a bit bigger), and your yarn.

In these pictures, my afghan hook is metal and 9mm, and my regular hook is bamboo and 10mm.

Start with a loose slip knot on the afghan hook. You would benefit by making the slip knot in the opposite way you might usually, and have the short tail be the one that makes the loop smaller when you pull on it.

Hold the afghan hook in your left hand, and the regular hook in your right hand. Insert the regular hook into the slip knot behind the afghan hook:

Working behind the afghan hook, chain 1:

Now move your regular hook to the front of the afghan hook with the yarn still behind it:

Yarn over:

Pull through the loop on the regular hook:

Now move the yarn back behind the afghan hook:

Put your regular hook in front of the afghan hook again, and repeat the process (yo, pull through, move yarn to back and hook to front) as many times as needed:

Stop one loop shy of what you need. Here is what the row of chains will look like:

Take the working loop and put it over the end of the afghan hook to form your last loop:

Go ahead and work the loops off as you normally would and now you’re good to go for your next row. One warning: the vertical bars don’t line up *quite* the same way as they do when lifting them up from a base chain (this becomes particularly apparent when doing Tunisian Knit Stitches), however, you can still do any stitch you want to do, you just need to be a little careful with it.

Some extra benefits I’ve discovered so far with this technique are:
- In crochet-on-the-double, it helps make a nearly-invisible seam when making a tube (such as with mio’s hat)

- When working with a fuzzy yarn, one that makes it difficult to see your stitches (such as a boucle), using this technique makes it a LOT easier to be sure you’re starting with the right number of stitches.

You can avoid yarn barf that way, for sure, but I’m not convinced it’s the best way. When you work from the outside end, the ball of yarn tends to bounce around and roll all over the floor. Either that, or you have to keep stopping to pull off the next bit of yarn, which really cuts into your crocheting speed!

With experience, though, you can often avoid yarn barf. With some yarns, it is easy to find the inside end as it rests near the outside. With other yarns, though…

Bernat Satin is my most favourite yarn in the world, but it’s not one of those great “oh, here’s the end just sitting here!” kind of yarns.

Here is how I find the inside end (and what I do with it!) :

Find the end of the ball that has the outside end tucked into it:

Pull that end out:

and wrap it around the outside, tucking in the end (you may need to unravel the ball a little bit to do this) :

This step is key, for if you don’t get the outside-end out of the way, it will almost certainly tangle up with the inside-end.

Flip the ball over so that you’re looking at the end the outside-end wasn’t tucked into. Using both hands (not just one as shown), carefully open up the hole, staying centered:

Using thumb and finger, reach into the hole and feel around for the end. The end will be roughly in the middle of the ball, but it is unlikely you will feel it on the first try (if ever, really…). Try, instead, to find a strand of the yarn that feels like it should be right in the middle of the ball:

Pull that strand out. If it resists, it’s probably the wrong strand, however, once you start pulling there usually is no going back, so you might as well see what the damage is:

Not bad, really. It’s not a *lot* of yarn, and better yet, it’s not tangled! This is usually what I get when finding the end this way (apart from the rare instances when I actually do find the end on the first try).

Anyhow, pull the bundle of yarn out until there is only one strand running into the ball. That means the centre end is on the outside now.

To find the end in a way that won’t tangle the yarn, start by grasping the yarn that is coming out of the ball at the point closest to the yarn barf.

With your other hand, pull the yarn away from the yarn barf, to lay in a neat pile (on your leg, or the chair beside you, or whatever makes sense for the amount of yarn you’re dealing with).

Keep making the neat little pile until you get to the end:

If the yarn is just too tangled, you may want to think seriously about just cutting it at this point. You can always detangle it later and use it in some kind of scrap blanket or freeform project. Barring that, the tangle of yarn can be used to stuff amigurumi. :P

If you’re going to use the yarn right away, you can simply just go ahead and do so.

If you’re not going to use it right away, or if you don’t have time to use up all of the yarn that came out in one sitting, then read on:

Wrap the yarn in a figure-8 pattern around two of your fingers. Which two fingers will depend on how much yarn is outside of the ball. Mine is just a little bit, so I did pointer and middle:

Make sure that the end is sticking out at all times. You don’t want to lose it now!

Take the yarn off of your fingers, and start wrapping around the middle of the figure-8, still making sure your end is sticking out at all times:

Keep going, if needed, in a diagonal direction:

And then in the other diagonal direction, if needed.

When there’s a bit left, wind sideways again, but don’t pull more yarn out of the main ball, instead, move closer to the end of the main ball as you wind:

Once you’re just a couple of inches away, tuck the little ball you just wound into the ball band, with the end sticking up. You may have to flatten the little ball a little bit:

You are now ready to start crocheting! Just pull on the end sticking out of the little ball. The big ball will stay put, and the yarn will pull freely from the little ball until it runs out, and should pull seamlessly from the big ball from then on. There may be some hang-ups, but there shouldn’t be any secondary tangles.

If you find that you consistently run into secondary tangles, then I suggest that when you’re winding the little ball, that you *do* pull extra yarn out of the main ball until it is pulling out freely.

Sometimes it is just unavoidable and the whole ball needs to be re-wound. This hasn’t happened very often to me since I settled on the above method of inside-end-finding, but it does still happen. You can re-wind the whole ball using the steps described above, but do the figure-8 part around your thumb and pinky finger, your hand splayed out as much as you can. Keep winding around the middle, then diagonally until you are done, and whatever you do, don’t lost the inside-end!!

I happened to be at Michaels one day and noticed that Vanna’s Choice yarn had the perfect colours! Not knowing how much I’d need, I naturally over-bought… just in case.

And so I present to you: how to wing an R2D2 hat!

First, start with a sketch:

Next, decide how big around you want the hat to be. I figured 20″ would do the trick, so I did a foundation-dc row about that long, trying (successfully) to get a number of stitches that were evenly divisible by 12 (ended up with 60).

Now, I made the first hat working from the bottom up, then, now having the pattern, I made the next one working top down. (And then had to make a third one because the second one was too big for me and my abnormally large head).

The basic pattern is as follows (from top down) :
R1: 12 dc
R2: 24 dc
R3: 36 dc
R5: 48 dc
R6: 60 dc
All following rounds: 60 dc.

13 or 14 rounds should do it for a kid’s hat. For an adult, do some increases on R7, but take my advice: adding 6 more stitches is too many! :P

Basically, just plug the colours in as per the sketch!

The final step is to make that eye thingie… with black, do a round of 12dc. Then a round of *5dc, hdc, hdc* four times in blue and sew it on.

Of course, I had to make scarves to go with them!

They’re about 3.5 feet long… I think…

This one used post stitches (both dc and tr)

This one used back-loop-only dc stitches:

The green part worked out even better than I thought it would.

I started with a row of foundation dc stitches approximately 3 feet long. Then I did 5 dc stitches into the base of the last foundation dc, then did 1 dc stitch into the bottom of each foundation dc that followed until I had worked into all of them.

Next was a turning chain, 1dc in each stitch until the rounded end, where I did 2dc in each of the 6 stitches making up the rounded end. Then 1 dc in each stitch until the end.

Turning chain, 1dc in each stitch until the rounded end. Then *2dc, 1dc* 6 times to get around the end, then 1dc in each stitch.

Turning chain, 1dc in each stitch, *2dc, 1dc, 1dc* 6 times to get around the end, 1dc in each.

When I got to the flat end this time, I did ch1, then worked sc stitches along the flat edge, basically working 2 sc into the side of each dc, plus an extra one right in the centre.

I then switched to grey and made up the hilts as I went along. If you’re not comfortable with this, a nice, simple hilt could be made by working a dc in the back loop only into each stitch, for as many rows as you think look nice.

Rounded end:

I just love how well working into the bottom of the foundation stitches worked! I think it looks really smart. I’m going to have to use this technique again!

Check out the adorableness:

Let’s start!

Here we are at the end of the previous row:

(For working into the base chain, refer to the Insert Hook post. Ignore the following turning chain information, and work your first dc into the 4th chain from the hook)

The turning chain for this stitch is 3ch. This counts as a stitch. Patterns assume you know this, and will specifically say otherwise if they want you to do something else.

So chain 3:

And turn:

Before we start the stitch, let’s look at where we’re going to put it:

The red arrow is pointing to the first stitch in the row below. We’re not going to work into that one because, as I said earlier, the turning chain counts as a stitch. If we put one here, we’ll have too many!

Instead, work your first “real” stitch into the second stitch of the row below, where the green arrow is pointing.
(for the colour blind: Red arrow is on the right. Green is on the left)

Here’s the stitch:

Yarn over:

Insert hook, then yarn over (grab the yarn):

Pull the loop up (3 loops on hook):

Grab the yarn (yarn over):

Pull through 2 loops (2 loops left on hook):

Grab the yarn (yarn over):

Pull through 2 loops:

Done!

To continue, here are the instructions without the pictures:
Yarn over. Insert hook. Yarn over, pull through (3 loops on hook). Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops (2 loops on hook). Yarn over, pull through 2 loops. Done.

I use this stitch more than any other! It’s good for blankets, scarves, hats, slippers, motifs… It’s the main stitch used in Granny Squares. It works up quickly, so is good for larger items. This stitch is also commonly used in filet crochet and other thread crochet.

It’s not a good stitch for anything you plan on stuffing though, like an amigurumi or a pillow, as the stuffing will show between the stitches.

Any questions?

Let’s start!

(This tutorial starts on the second row. Refer to the Insert Hook post for ways to work into a base chain)

First, we need a “turning chain”. This is perhaps a poorly named maneuver because you’re not always going to use it to turn. This chain is used entirely to get the hook to the right height to match the stitch you’re about to do.

The standard turning chain for single crochet is “chain 1″. This is the only time the turning chain doesn’t count as a stitch. This is what patterns are expecting you to know. If they want you to do this differently, the pattern will say so explicitly.

So, chain 1:

Yarn over:

Pull through:

And turn:

Since the turning chain for a sc doesn’t count as a stitch, you’ll want to work your first sc into the first stitch available. (Again, the pattern will say otherwise if the designer wants you to do something else).

Insert the hook in the first stitch and grab the yarn (yarn over)

And pull the loop through so you have two loops on the hook:

Make sure all loops make it onto the shaft of the hook, otherwise you’ll end up crocheting very tightly and unevenly.

Grab the yarn again (yarn over)

and pull it through both loops on your hook:

Continue in the same manner for the rest of the single crochet stitches:
insert hook, yarn over, pull through (2 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through both loops. Done.

Generally speaking, single crochet is used when you want a dense fabric, and is the primary stitch used when making amigurumi (cute little crocheted dolls). Sc is also commonly used when making a ribbed fabric, by working the stitches into the back loop only. You might also see this stitch used for shaping and in lace.

When making a flat fabric with this stitch, it is common for the corners to curl. If you’re using a natural fibre yarn, you can usually block the piece and the curling goes away. Acrylic yarn will usually sort itself out in the wash. You can also avoid this issue by crocheting more loosely (by using a bigger hook), or adding a border.

Any questions?

Insert hook can be done in so many places, that it’s hard to know where to start. The obvious place to start is “how to insert hook into base chain” which, indeed, is the first time you’re going to need to do it (assuming you’re starting with a project worked in rows.).

However, it seems like the most common mistake made by beginner crocheters involves insert hook. It’s such a common mistake, that I’m going to start with it, and put the rest of the instructions under the cut (because there are just so many options… and lots of pictures!).

No matter how advanced you are, or how long you’ve been crocheting, look at this:

Every crochet pattern is assuming that you will be inserting your hook into a stitch like this:

That is, under the two loops that make the v-shape, and above every other part of the stitch.

If the designer wants you to do anything other than this, the pattern will say so explicitly.

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, back to the base chain!

Here is what the front of a base chain looks like – see the V’s?

And here is the back – check out the bumps along the middle:

Working into the base chain is rather annoying. Even the most advanced crocheters think so (in fact, many have switched to using a foundation row whenever possible to avoid the unstretchy and highly annoying base chain).

If you’re brand new to crocheting, try to keep this in mind – once you’re done working into the base chain, things get easier, so hang in there!

1. My prefered way of working into a base chain is through the bump on the back, like so:

The hook is inserted under the back bump and above the V on the other side. This makes a very nice bottom edge for your project.

2. Another good method, especially if, in the end, you’re not going to see the base chain, is to work under two loops, specifically: work with the front of the chain facing you, and insert the hook under the top loop of the V and the back bump, leaving the bottom loop of the V below your hook.

I recommend you try this method if the back-bump method pictured above is a bit tricky for you.

3. The easiest method for working into a base chain is to work into just the top loop of the V:

While this is the easiest, it also produces what I feel are the worst results. However, if you’re eager to get on with learning the different stitches and are not too concerned with the over-all look of the piece, then go for it! Figure out the “working into the base chain” part after your more comfortable with the different stitches!

4. This last method of working into the base chain in this tutorial, is both the hardest, most annoying way, and, strangely, the way beginner books tend to suggest. That is, working under the two loops of the V, and above the back bump:

I really don’t recommend doing it this way. I mean, sure, you’re working under the V, and that’s “good”, but it can be really difficult to do, and when you’re finished, that bottom edge just looks like the back bump, and that’s not a very interesting result for all the work you put in to creating it.

That’s it for the base chain; let’s move on to working into a stitch.

The following examples are shown on dc stitches.

Here is a row of dc stitches. You’ll see them like this if you’re working in the round:

Here they are again, from the back. You’ll see them like this if you’re working in rows:

This bears repeating:

1. Patterns assume you’re working into stitches this way. Under the two loops that make the V at the top of the stitch, and above everything else:

This is absolutely critical. Inserting your hook in a way other than this isn’t a *bad* thing; in fact, the other ways of inserting the hook make from some rather beautiful, textural effects. However, unless the pattern you’re following specifically says to insert the hook in a different way, you should assume the designer wants you do to it this way.

2. A common variant is to insert the hook into the front loop only (flo) or back loop only (blo), refering to the loop in the V-shape closest to you, and the loop in the V-shape that is furthest from you.

Front loop:

Back loop:

This method creates a sort of angular effect that is often used in blankets or worked sideways to make a cuff, or other type of ribbing.

3. Post stitches involve working around the post part of a stitch, and is most often seen when using dc or tr stitches.

Front post stitches are made by inserting the hook through the fabric, from front to back, to the right of the stitch, and bringing the hook back through the fabric to the front on the left side of the stitch:

Back post stitches are made in a similar way. For these, you insert the hook from back to front to the right of the stitch, and from front to back on the left side:

(The hook is on an angle in this picture to show where the hook end is)

Post stitches are used to create a more pronounced texture for things like crochet cables, basketweave patterns, and in examples like this truly awesome Tetris blanket.

For the next examples, I’ve made a row of sc stitches along the top of the dc stitches (using the assumed insert method above)

4. Spike stitches, also known as long stitches are made by inserting your hook in a row (or more!) below where your normally would:

These can create an interesting effect on the surface of your project.

5. Split stitches, which I’ve only just recently come across, are worked through the middle of the post of the stitch. In the case of sc, you insert the hook between the upside-down V in the post of the stitch:

It seems split stitches are often used to create a look similar to stockinette stitch in knitting. I don’t have any personal experience with it, though, so I couldn’t say for certain.

There are other ways to go about inserting your hook into your project that I haven’t covered here.

For example, I left out the technique of “working into a space” which is exactly as it sounds (insert hook into space created by a previous part of the pattern), and is used in lacy projects and when working in-the-round.

Another method I left out was working in between the stitches, which is very similar to working into a space. You insert your hook, from front to back, between the posts of two stitches, and work the stitch there. This technique is used in the snowflake blanket I made, and is used in that pattern to create a small spiked effect to suggest snow crystals.

Another thing to keep in mind with this aspect of crochet is that you can insert the hook anywhere you want! To make a solid fabric, you work your next stitch into the stitch next to the one you just worked into. To make lace or another kind of fabric with holes in it, you normally skip stitches. Some patterns have you skip stitches, only to come back to them later.

I think this is the part of crocheting that tends to confuse people, which is understandable, given the sheer number of options, but this is what makes crochet so flexible; what makes it possible to easily shape our projects, or add texture and interest.

First, with a hook appropriate to the yarn you’re using, make a chain about as long as your bullion stitch will be tall (I did 5)

Then grab a smaller hook (I used a 3.25mm) and put it along side your working hook, butt-to-hook.

Make sure the smaller hook goes through the loop on your working hook – this will make a later step MUCH easier!

Yarn over a whole bunch of times (I did 10 yo)

Insert your working hook into whatever stitch you’re working into (I inserted in the furthest ch from my hook). You may need to play with the yarn overs a bit to do this. Just be careful!

Yarn over

Pull through one loop

Yarn over

Pull through all loops on hook. I found it useful to very carefully pull through the first loop, then, making sure the smaller hook is butted right up against the tip of the working hook, hold onto the herd of yarn overs with your thumb and finger of your left hand, and pull the hooks through.

Take the smaller hook out

Yarn over (this will make a sort of vertical bar that ends up getting hidden behind the bullion stitch)

Pull through. Bullion stitch made!

Now do it again! And again! I did 7 more and then joined with a slip stitch to the top of the starting chain.

And here is the back; see the vertical bars?

Work around those vertical bars if you want to add more rounds that tuck behind the bullions, or work right into the tops of the bullion stitches.

Good luck!

I’ve always liked the look of entrelac, but because I really only knew how to knit and purl in knitting, it seemed beyond my reach. Naturally, I turned to crochet.

In my searches, I came across a lot of mentions and tutorials on crocheting entrelac using Tunisian crochet. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the examples had only half of the equation: the fabric was made up of little squares, but the stitches all ran in the same direction. Even though the fabric was created by making one square at a time, the finished look was pretty much the same as if the crocheter had just changed colours mid-row a lot.

There were some examples where the stitches ran in opposite directions, though, and even though they still don’t have that “woven” look to them, I still wanted to know how to do it. I couldn’t find a tutorial anywhere!

For months I worked on this problem (though, not steadily… that would just be wacky!), and came to the conclusion that the only way to do it would be to learn how to crochet left-handed.

Seriously. I’d get my base-row of tiangles and be stuck. There didn’t seem to be a way to make the first row of squares and have the stitches go the other way.

They say you should never give up, but I did. It seemed that the only way I was going to be able to make myself an entrelac scarf (or blanket, or hat…) was to learn how to knit entrelac.

I found this entrelac tutorial and started by going to YouTube and looking up everything it mentioned that I didn’t already know how to do.

I made up this little swatch:

And that taught me the increases and decreases I needed to know.

Then I dove in!

And then again with some variegated yarn:

I’m not 100% happy with how it looks, I think I’m making a mistake when picking up stitches, but I’ve got the general feel for it now. (If you knit and haven’t tried entrelac yet because you think it’s too hard or complicated, it’s really, really not. You should try it!)

Of course, the way the universe works is, when you give up on the new way to do something and settle yourself in on just doing it the old way, suddenly the answer comes to you!

Now, I haven’t tried this technique in a Tunisian entrelac swatch yet, but I think it’s the answer to my question: how to do Tunisian crochet backwards!

(I’m putting the tutorial under the cut, because this post is long enough as it is)

I started with 10 stitches, and did 3 rows in the usual way:

Then slip-stitched across, just like when you’re binding off. This was just to get the hook to the left side of the piece:

Turn (this puts the yarn on the wrong side… I need to play with this a bit)

Now flip the piece up so that you can see the front and insert your hook into the second vertical bar (you may want to count bars the first time you try this, just to be sure. I counted 9 from the end)

Then yarn over and pull a loop through.

I found it easiest if the working yarn was above the stitch (but since you’re working upside down, it’ll be below your hook) like this:

then lay the yarn over the hook and pull the yarn through

Do that for every stitch:

then work the loops off in exactly the same way you’d normally do it

It’ll look like this from the back:

And this is it from the front:

Here is the 3 rows worked normally and 3 rows worked backwards, looking at the front:

I then slip-stitched (working into the right side of the piece, which was tricky, but worth it, I think) across to get the hook back to the right-hand side of the piece and worked 3 more rows in the normal way:

This is the back (there is a ridge of slip stitches between each change of direction, you can sort of see them)

Now, I don’t know if you noticed, but you can tell which row was worked backwards because of the way the vertical bars stack. It sticks out in this swatch, but I don’t think it will be as obvious in most applications, and I don’t think it really matters when applied to Tunisian entrelac, as the sections worked backwards will be worked at a right angle to the sections worked the normal way.

You can make a really neat looking fabric using this technique combined with short rows. More to come on that!