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How to Fix the Hole in the Center of Your Granny Square

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This video shows you how to tighten a hole in the middle of your granny square that’s bigger than you’d like – it’s a fix! If you want to learn how to PREVENT this happening in the first place, please check out this post: 6 Tips for a Perfect Starting Ring for Crochet Motifs.

My crochet advice stems from more than 10 years experience of teaching hundreds of students in person, in and around Surrey, UK.

Video Tutorial – How to Fix the Hole in the Center of Your Granny Square

How to Fix the Hole in the Center of Your Granny Square

Use the tail end of your motif to create a kind of drawstring to close up the hole.
1. Thread the tail end onto a tapestry or wool needle.
2. Making sure you’re at the back of the work, sew through each strand of yarn at the base of the stitches, all the way around the inside of the ring, making sure you’re catching all the strands of the legs.
3. Pull the tail tight, drawing the hole closed.
4. Fasten off with a couple of small back stitches and weave the end in before carefully snipping off with scissors?

Don’t have a long enough tail?

No worries, use a fresh piece of yarn in the same colour, or eve some sewing thread, and do the same thing but tie the ends together before weaving in your ends.

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6 Tips for a Perfect Starting Ring for Crochet Motifs

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I’ve put together this list of 6 Tips for a Perfect Starting Ring for Crochet Motifs because I’ve experienced a lot of students struggling with this, both beginners as well as more advances students.

If you’ve already made the motif and need a fix, please go to this post: How to Fix the Hole in the Center of Your Granny Square

My tips come from more than 10 years experience of teaching hundreds of students in person, in and around Surrey, UK.

Video Tutorial 6 Tips for a Perfect Starting Ring for Crochet Motifs

6 Tips for a Perfect Starting Ring for Crochet Motifs

  • Make sure you are making the slip knot loop correctly.
  • Don’t make the first chain too tight.
  • Make sure the remaining chains are not too tight and not too baggy.
  • Join in the correct part of the first chain.
  • Don’t hold the tail end, only the chain 4 you have made for the ring.
  • Make sure you slip stitch to join and don’t inadvertently make a single crochet (UK dc).

Support me!

If you enjoy my content and have used any of my free patterns, please consider buying me a coffee via Ko-fi.– any amount, no matter how small is appreciated and helps me to continue creating free crochet content for you!

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How to dtr3tog Across 3 Stitches – UK/British Crochet Terminology

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In this post I will go over how to dtr3tog across 3 stitches … i.e. double treble 3 stitches together across 3 stitches. This stitch can be used as a decrease – you’re turning 3 stitches into one and therefore decreasing 2 stitches. Alternatively, it can be used as a decorative stich which forms a triangle shape. If used decoratively, you’ll need to ensure you make up for the decrease stitches by making a ch1 before and after each dtr3tog (this equates to a ch2 between each stitch if you are working them consecutively.)

Please note, these instructions are for British crochet terminology. In US crochet, the stitch I am demonstrating is a tr3tog.

How to dtr3tog – Instructions

I have written up 4 sets of instructions, in this post I cover the version where you make crochet the 3 double trebles together over 3 stitches. I have written a separate post for the cluster/into 1 stitch version, but you can access those instructions via the links below:

  1. dtr3tog cluster – at start of the row/round… click here.
  2. dtr3tog cluster – mid row/round… click here.
  3. dtr3tog across 3 stitches – at start of the row/round… see below.
  4. dtr3tog across 3 stitches – mid row/round… see below.

How to dtr3tog across 3 sts/decrease 2 stitches

If required, join new colour. I do this by holding the yarn at the back (fig. 1) and pulling up a loop (fig. 2); chain 3 (fig. 3); yarn over twice (fig.4);

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

insert hook into the next stitch (fig. 5) & pull up a loop (fig. 6); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 7); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 2 loops on the hook (fig. 8);

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog across 3 stitches - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

yarn over twice (fig. 9); insert hook into the next stitch (fig. 10) & pull up a loop (fig. 11); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 12);

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 3 loops on the hook (fig. 13); yarn over (fig. 14) & draw off all 4 loops on the hook – dtr3tog across 3 stitches made! (fig. 15). See how multiple stitch combinations look with a ch2 separating them (fig. 16).

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog across 3 stitches - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool - finished crochet trim shown with blue border

How to dtr3tog mid row/round

yarn over twice (fig.17); insert hook into the next stitch (fig. 18) & pull up a loop (fig. 19); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 20);

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

yarn over twice (fig.22); insert hook into the next stitch (fig. 23) & pull up a loop (fig. 24);

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog across 3 stitches - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 25); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 3 loops on the hook (fig. 26); yarn over twice (fig.27); insert hook into the next stitch (fig. 28)…

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog across 3 stitches - hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

… & pull up a loop (fig. 29); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 30); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 4 loops on the hook (fig. 31);  yarn over & draw off all 4 loops on the hook – dtr3tog made! (fig. 32)

step by step images showing how to make a dtr3tog across 3 stitches- hands crochet with a dark brown wooden hook and cream wool

Summary of a dtr3tog across 3 sts: make 3 partial double treble crochet stitches, each one in the next free stitch, and then finish them all off in one go.

Tools & Materials Featured in this Post

The green & teal yarns are Falkland Poldale DK 100% Wool by WitchCraftyLady.

The cream yarn is Rare Breed Wensleydale & Bluefaced Leicester DK in Cotswold Stone by Home Farm Wensleydales.

The hook I’m using is about 7 years old and it’s handmade by Furls. It’s really nice to work with. I remember it cost me a fortune at the time. They seem to sell mass produced hooks now which are much cheaper. Can’t vouch for the quality of those as I have not tried one.

Connect with me!

You can often find me on Instagram. Please do follow and tag me @mezzamay if you make one of my patterns, use one of my tips or stitch patterns. I really love to see what you’re making.

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If you have enjoyed my free content or have found my tips and techniques useful, please consider making a small donation by buying me a coffee via Ko-fi.

How to dtr3tog Cluster – UK/British Crochet Terminology

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A lady on a Facebook crochet forum asked how to dtr3tog so I made a video showing the two possible ways you can make this stitch. Please note, these instructions are for British crochet terminology. In US crochet, the stitch I am demonstrating is a tr3tog.

What is a dtr3tog & when would you use it?

dtr3tog is short for “double treble crochet 3 together”. Sometimes it is also written as dtrc3tog. The stitch consists of 3 double treble posts but has only one stitch at the top.
This stitch combination can be used as a decorative, cluster stitch, for example, to emulate a petal or leaf. Alternatively, when worked across 3 stitches, it can also be used as a decrease.

What are the Symbols for dtr3tog?

I’ve made a few quick drawings of both versions of dtr3tog, including how they are worked for the start of a new round or row.

symbols for dtr3tog - including at the start of a row/round - British UK crochet terminology

How to dtr3tog – Instructions

I have written up 4 sets of instructions, in this post I cover the cluster stitch. I have written a separate post for the decrease/across 3 stitches version, but you can access those instructions via the links below:

  1. dtr3tog cluster – at start of the row/round…see below.
  2. dtr3tog cluster – mid row/round… see below.
  3. dtr3tog across 3 stitches – at start of the row/round… click here.
  4. dtr3tog across 3 stitches – mid row/round… click here.

How to dtr3tog at the start of the row:

If required, join new colour. I do this by holding the yarn at the back and pulling up a loop (fig. 1); chain 3 (fig. 2); yarn over twice (fig.3); insert hook into the same stitch & pull up a loop (fig. 4);

first four steps of making a double treble three together - hands crocheting with cream wool

yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 5); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 2 loops on the hook (fig. 6); yarn over twice (fig. 7); insert hook into the same stitch & pull up a loop (fig. 8);

steps 5-8 of making a double treble three together - hands crocheting with cream yarn

yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 9); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 3 loops on the hook (fig. 10); yarn over & draw off all 3 loops on the hook – dtr3tog made! (fig. 11)

Last three steps of making a dtr3tog - woman's hands crochet with cream wool.

To make the stitch mid row/round :

yarn over twice (fig.12); insert hook into the next stitch & pull up a loop (fig. 13); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 14); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 2 loops on the hook (fig. 15);

making a dtr3tog mid row - woman's hands crochet with cream yarn.

yarn over twice (fig.16); insert hook into the same stitch & pull up a loop (fig. 17); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 18); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 3 loops on the hook (fig. 19);

hands crocheting with teal and cream coloured natural yarn

now yarn over twice (fig.20); insert hook into the same stitch & pull up a loop (fig. 21); yarn over & pull through the first two loops on the hook (fig. 22); yarn over & pull through the next 2 loops on the hook, you should now have 4 loops on the hook (fig. 23);

crocheting double treble stitches in wensleydale wool

yarn over & draw off all 4 loops on the hook – dtr3tog made! (fig. 23)

Summary of a dtr3tog

Make 3 partial double treble crochet stitches in the same stitch and finish them all off in one go.

Tools & Materials Featured in this Post

The green & teal yarns are Falkland Poldale DK 100% Wool by WitchCraftyLady.

The cream yarn is Rare Breed Wensleydale & Bluefaced Leicester DK in Cotswold Stone by Home Farm Wensleydales.

My hook is about 7 years old and it’s handmade by Furls. Not sure if they still sell the handmade hooks – they seem to be selling mass produced ones these days.

Connect with me!

You can often find me on Instagram. Please do follow and tag me @mezzamay if you make one of my patterns, use one of my tips or stitch patterns. I really love to see what you’re making.

Newsletter

Why not sign up to my newsletter to receive news about my latest patterns, tutorials and giveaways! First name or full nameEmail By continuing, you accept the privacy policy.

Support me!

If you have enjoyed my free content or have found my tips and techniques useful, please consider making a small donation by buying me a coffee via Ko-fi.

Thread Crochet Tips

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This blog post is a more concise version of my most popular YouTube video, where I casually chat about my experiences teaching thread crochet. I hope you will find my thread crochet tips helpful!

In the video I am working on a small tablecloth. It’s a vintage crochet pattern called “Roses in Bloom Centerpiece” from the book “150 Favorite Crochet Designs” by Dover Needlework Series.

I’ve used Katia Mako* 8 count cotton crochet thread and a 1.25mm crochet hook. I like to use Tulip hooks and I talk a little more about that shortly.

*this thread is now discontinued, but any cotton size 8 thread would work.

hands crochet with white thread crochet and a selection od thread crochet appliques sewn onto linen lavender bags

Thread Crochet Tips

From teaching thread crochet over the course of several years, I noticed that some of my students struggle with their gauge, tension and stitch neatness, so their work might be loose or sloppy looking. Read on for my top thread crochet tips to help overcome these problems.

Use the Best Tools

My first piece of advice would be to make sure you are using a decent crochet hook with an ergonomic handle.

Traditionally, the steel crochet hooks could have quite a thin handle, maybe with a thumb pad and sometimes a bone handle – for these small sizes of crochet hooks, it can make it very uncomfortable to crochet with a handle that is only a couple of mm wide, causing muscle cramps, joint pain and difficulty working the stitches. Fortunately, there are many types of modern thread crochet hooks with molded or ergonomic handles that are kinder to your hand and finger joints and make it a more pleasant experience.

A good hook is actually important when you’re working with fine threads because having a low quality hook will affect how much you’re going to enjoy doing the work. For thicker yarns that require hooks of 5mm and up, you can sometimes get away with quite cheap hooks, but when working in thread crochet, nuances of the hook really make a difference. For example, that little nook in the hook where the yarn engages, if that isn’t properly formed, it’s just so unpleasant trying to crochet because you keep losing the thread where it isn’t engaging. If the tip of the hook isn’t properly finished and really nice and sharp, that’s also a problem because you rely greatly on the tip of the hook in thread crochet. Due to the fine nature of the work and the small stitches, it can be a struggle, even with corrected eyesight, to clearly see the stitches. The hook is used like a needle guiding you through the stitch – you’re using the tip, the very pointy bit of the hook to find the correct path through the loops of the stitch, the path of least resistance. A poorly tooled hook will make finding the stitches tricky and can also snag and catch on the yarn.

My favourite hooks are Tulip Etimo Rose.

Work in Good Light

Thin threads and small hooks make for tiny stitches which can be really hard on your eyes. Make sure you are crocheting in good light, such as natural light near a window or maybe even a reading lamp focused on your work. It’s also much easier crocheting with light coloured threads such as whites and creams – it can be almost impossible to see the stitches when worked in very dark or black threads.

A Different Way to Crochet

If you usually crochet with thicker yarns and bigger hooks and you start a thread crochet project, I find it really helpful to have a bit of a mental reset. By that I mean, consider it a different way to crochet that will require you to tweak and adjust the way you usually work which may take a little while to get used to, to re-program your crochet “muscle memory” of how you handle the hook and yarn.

Don’t worry – it won’t negatively affect how you usually crochet, with practice you will find yourself naturally switching from one style of crochet to the other without even really thinking about it.

Crochet True to Hook Size

This is probably the key tip if you struggle to get your thread crochet work looking neat. I tell my students that for thread crochet, they need to crochet “true to the hook size”. You may think, “well, I’m using a 1.25mm hook, so that’s the size I’m crocheting to!”, but what people are often not conscious of is the size of their live loop on the hook. To crochet “true to hook size” the live loop that you have around the hook needs to be more or less exactly the size of the hook throughout the process of generating the stitch. If you take a moment to notice how that live loop behaves as you crochet, you will start to notice that this loop is often elongated as you work, especially when you’re making longer stitches such as dcs or trcs… this elongation could be causing you to inadvertently crochet several hook sizes up. For “normal” crochet, this isn’t a problem because you’re probably wanting to produce a fabric with some drape. In thread crochet, especially filet, you are relying on crisp, compact and neat stitches to define the pattern and also keep to gauge so that you stick to the square grid – the distinctive feature of filet. I’ve known students that have struggled to crack gauge who have just kept moving down hook sizes without ever hitting gauge because they are not controlling the size of the live loop on the hook.

You should also check the shaft of your hook. For example, the section on my hook that is actually 1.25mm is very, very short. You can see it starts to taper out wider towards the handle so I only need to accidentally slide my live loop a bit too far up the shaft and I’m probably going up 2 or more hook sizes which will give you incorrect gauge and uneven stitches if you are not consistent.

The image below shows a lovely doily that would look better crocheted up with a smaller hook size… closer inspection reveals the stitches are not compact and neat but show quite a bit of white space between the treble crochets thus reducing the definition of the solid areas of stitches.

progress shot of thread crochet doily next to a sprig of mock orange and a gin and tonic

Control the Live Loop

There are a couple of ways I keep extra control of the live loop to help me work true to hook size.

1. I put a little more tension on the yarn feed between the hook and my index finger to help keep the live loop stay closed.

2. Control the live loop by gently holding it down with the index finger of my right hand while I’m forming the stitch to help stop it opening up.

Re-evaluate Your Feed

The other thing that I’ve noticed, or people have mentioned to me is that they struggle in controlling the tension with thread crochet, i.e. they find their tension is too lose. I’ve found that you might need a bit more friction than you would normally apply to the working yarn. You may need to reconfigure how you feed the yarn, for example, you might want to wrap it around one of your fingers if you don’t currently do that, or wrap it twice if you usually only wrap once. Experiment with different ways of threading and feeding the yarn. What I tend to do is, once I’ve got a body of work, a bit of fabric going, I use the fabric as a bit of extra friction against the working yarn in my left hand.

Hone Your Crochet Skills with Thread Crochet

Now I really notice how I have to subtly change between each different crochet project and that I do end up crocheting in a slightly different style for different thickness of yarns and techniques. Don’t let that intimidate you, embrace it!  It’s an excellent way for you to hone your crochet skills. Thread crochet by its nature, requires you to be far more aware of what you’re doing with your hook, with your tension, with your stitches and how you are controlling the live loop. If you start a thread crochet project, stick with it, give it a chance, try the things I’ve mentioned, and you will find that once you’ve mastered it, your crochet will improve overall.  

fancy crochet jug cover with beads, nine lavender bags with thread crochet motifs and an up-close photo of a small doily

The Love of Vintage

I love the unique look and feel of thread crochet. It has a distinct vintage look. I also love knowing that people have been doing this kind of work for many, many years. When you get an old vintage pattern off the internet and you’re recreating something that someone may have made a hundred years ago, and you wonder how many of those pieces were ever made, are any still in existence? And who made them? Thread crochet isn’t for everyone that is true, but even if you master it and think, “well, that’s not for me”, you would still have picked up a lot of good skills that will help you with all your other crochet projects.

Tell Me About Your Thread Crochet Work

Do you make things with thread crochet? Did you find my thread crochet tips helpful? Do you have any extra tips that you’d like to share?

Affiliate Links

I sometimes use affiliate links in my posts usually for Amazon & Lovecrafts. If you click on a link and buy something I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

Support me!

If you have enjoyed my free content or have found my tips and techniques useful, please consider making a small donation by buying me a coffee via Ko-fi.Buy me a coffee!

Connect with me!

You can often find me on Instagram. Please do follow and tag me @mezzamay if you make one of my patterns, use one of my tips or stitch patterns. I really love to see what you’re making.

Newsletter

Why not sign up to my newsletter to receive news about my latest patterns, tutorials and giveaways! First name or full nameEmail By continuing, you accept the privacy policy.

Baby Suri Alpaca Yarn – Tips for Crochet

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Crochet Tips for Baby Suri. I’m going to talk about crocheting with this lovely, fluffy yarn! Baby Suri is a yarn that’s similar to Mohair. Here I’ve got a yarn with Baby Suri Alpaca 74% and 26% Mulberry Silk by Lottie Knits. This is comparable to Kid Silk Mohair yarn. It’s a lightweight yarn which is classed as a heavy lace weight. So, you’ll need a hook size between 3 -5mm depending on what type of fabric you’re aiming for. Baby Suri is often suggested as an alternative to Mohair for people that find Mohair irritating next to the skin, but it has got Alpaca in it, and I know that that is an issue for some people. However, it is an option worth trying if you know you don’t have an allergy to Alpaca but find that the Mohair is too irritating.

Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the matching YouTube video.

Baby Suri V Kid Silk Mohair

I’ve got some work here, my “Cowl Island” pattern, which is made in Kid Silk Mohair, also by Lottie Knits in the colour-way “Oil Slick Rainbow”. Next to it, I’ve got a little sample that I’ve crocheted up in Baby Suri in the colour-way “Lichen”.

So you can see the difference, there’s slightly less of a halo with the Baby Suri but overall it has got quite a similar look. In regards to texture, I would say although the Kid Silk Mohair is very soft, the Baby Suri this has got a softer, slightly plumper feel. Lottie describes it as “kitten soft”. It reminds me of the “Teddy Bear” fabrics you can get. It feels like the yarn is a little bit denser – probably because the Mohair is laceweight and the Baby Suri is a heavy-lace but also because the core of the yarn seems to be more voluminous.

The other thing I would mention as a difference between the Kid Silk Mohair and the Baby Suri is, the distribution of fluff along the yarn strand. It is quite uneven, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it slubby, but you will get areas where there’s less fluff than others, and because this yarn has been hand-dyed is quite attractive because you can see some of the inner core of the silk coming through, which does give the stitch quite an unique texture with a slight variance of color.

As mentioned, with Baby Suri yarn, the distribution of fluff isn’t as even, however, the overall effect once crocheted up, this isn’t really noticeable as it does even itself out across the stitches. The other thing I would say that I noticed about working with this yarn is that, there’s actually very little shedding. When I’ve worked with Kid Silk Mohair in the past, you do get an awful lot of little bits of fluff coming off as you’re crocheting, they float into the air, they can get into your eyes, on your clothes and you notice as well on the work surface little fibers that have shed off. With this Baby Suri, even as I’ve been frogging, there is very little coming off it. So this might be another reason why it’s more suitable than Kid Mohair for some people because you get less chance of these particles coming off and irritating your skin, your eyes, and your nose.

Crochet Tips for Baby Suri

Swatches

I’ve crocheted up some swatches and I’ll show you those first, before I go into talking about how easy it is, or how easy it isn’t to crochet with this kind of yarn – maybe dispel some of the myths about that.

I think this kind of yarn is best worked up in a slightly larger hook size because you’re probably going to be making garments, scarves or shawls out of it so you don’t really want the fabric to be too stiff.

Single Crochet (UK Double)

So here is a little swatch that I’ve crocheted up in single crochet (UK double crochet), and I’ve used a 3.5mm hook. It does create quite a nice floaty fabric which would be great for a top. Usually, a sc crochet stitch generates quite a stiff fabric which is why it’s more commonly used in toymaking and homewares as opposed to garments.
Gauge (after washing & blocking) : 18st & 21 rows to 10cm with a 3.5mm hook.

a swatch of fabric in single crochet made with baby suri alpaca yarn in lichen green
Extended Single Crochet (UK Extended Double)

Here is a sample in extended single crochet which in my opinion is underused and underrated stitch.
Gauge (after washing & blocking) : 16st & 14 rows to 10cm with a 3.5mm hook.

a swatch of fabric in extended single crochet made with baby suri alpaca yarn in lichen green
Half Double Crochet (UK Half Treble)

And then I’ve got a half double crochet sample here (UK half treble), which is really nice. Hdc is a really useful stitch for making garments because it’s a quick stitch that’s not too open.
Gauge (after washing & blocking) : 18st & 11 rows to 10cm with a 3.5mm hook.

a swatch of fabric in half double crochet made with baby suri alpaca yarn in lichen green
Double Crochet (UK Treble)

And then here I’ve got double (UK treble) crochet. Generally, double crochets are such long stitches that they can make quite an open fabric, especially if you’re using slightly larger hook than recommended. However, you can get away with it with this Baby Suri because the halo of fluff does fill in some of these little gaps, and helps to mesh the fabric together which I think would make it really good for a scarf, wrap, or floaty top.
Gauge (after washing & blocking) : 17st & 8 rows to 10cm with a 3.5mm hook.

a swatch of fabric in double crochet made with baby suri alpaca yarn in lichen green
Honeycomb Mesh Stitch

Here’s a more lacey and open stitch. I just used to kind of v-stitch which creates a nice meshy fabric. This would give you really good yardage of this precious Baby Suri yarn if you wanted to make a wrap, or even a kind of a throw over top.
Gauge (after washing & blocking) : 10st & 7 rows to 10cm with a 4.5mm hook.

a swatch of fabric in honeycomb mesh crochet stitch made with baby suri alpaca yarn in lichen green

Stitch Visibility

There is quite a widespread belief that crocheting with this kind of yarn is quite tricky. So, whilst I wouldn’t deny that it’s not as easy as crocheting with a nice smooth yarn, I also don’t actually think it’s as bad as we’ve been led to believe, especially if you are using open stitches or maybe working into spaces. If you do think you’re going to struggle with stitch visibility, you might be better off going for a stitch pattern where you are crocheting into spaces, like a mesh or shell stitch. I found that, the core of silk in the middle and with the fluff not being too dense, it wasn’t actually that difficult to spot the stitches. I didn’t have any problems at all crocheting my samples of single, half, double and treble crochets. Overall, with this Baby Suri, I don’t think stitch visibility is a particular issue.

Frogging or Ripping Back

There’s another belief that frogging this kind of yarn is really tricky. So again, I would say from my experience having sampled this Baby Suri yarn with crochet, that frogging isn’t as difficult as you may think.

The trick is to just unravel it quite slowly and gently. And of course, remembering to wind the yarn you’ve frogged back onto your ball otherwise you will end up with a big tangled mess. Every now and again, I’d get a little snag, but if I look closely, I could see that it’s just where the fluff is meshed together and if I pull that gently, it will actually come apart. So the trick is once it snags, loosen it up, pull it again, and loosen it up, pull it again. Frogging isn’t a major problem for me, as long as I was careful to not just rip, rip, rip quickly but do it quite carefully and slowly, stitch by stitch and look to see what’s caused the snag.

Having said that, occasionally, you might come to quite a badly stuck together part, especially if the yarn has previously been crocheted and frogged multiple times which seems to increase the likelihood of running into problems when fogging. Sometimes the halo of fluff can form a kind of noose around the yarn. If you look closely, you might see that there’s a little loop around the two bits of yarn which is not actually any part of the stitch. Sometimes you can loosen this by gently pulling it apart in different directions or you can actually just snip the noose with a small pair of sewing scissors.

I’m actually in the process of designing a top with this particular stitch, and I will also be using this exact yarn from Lottie Knits. If you’d like to see how that turns out and you’re interested in the pattern, please subscribe to my newsletter and YouTube channel so that I can keep you up-to-date with my latest designs. Thank you!

Accompanying video for : Crochet Tips for Baby Suri

Connect with me!

You can often find me on Instagram. Not exclusively crochet or knitting related posts because I don’t separate my life from my craft and my passion. Please do follow and tag me @mezzamay if you make one of my patterns, use one of my tips or stitch patterns. I really love to see what you’re making.

Newsletter

Why not sign up to my newsletter to receive news about my latest patterns, tutorials and giveaways!

Affiliate Links

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This post : Crochet Tips for Baby Suri

Sewing In Ends Of Crochet Projects

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I often get asked how I weave in my ends and what is the best way to sew in ends of crocheted projects so that they don’t come undone or look messy. I’ve put together this post to show you how I’m weaving in the ends of a project. The project features solid granny motifs and the traditional granny stitch. It also deals in particular with very short ends which can be difficult to handle. It’s not a definitive guide – I’m just sharing with you how I do it.

Projects using multiple motifs are a great favourite of mine. I know other crocheters also love making motifs but are put off by all the ends that need sewing in. This is a time consuming task which is made all the more daunting when you are not really sure how to do it.

How do you make sure it’s secure?

In my experience, the key to a securely hidden end is to sew in one direction, then back on itself in the opposite direction, whilst making sure a stitch is caught or sewn over so that you’re not just undoing the stitch you’ve just made. I use a standard wool needle for knitters. It has a large eye and relatively blunt tip. Specifically, I use Pony Gold Eye Sewing Needles.

To start with, I always make the first step of securing the ends while crocheting. I.e. when I actually join the new yarn colour to the project. I do this by crocheting over the tail end for 3 or 4 stitches. Initially this doesn’t seem a very secure start. Worry not, as the final sewn step keeps everything in place. This works well with solid stitch patterns and clusters but is often not possible when you’re making a lacy or very open pattern. In these instances, you’ll need to employ other strategies.

If you’ve managed to catch the end in during crocheting, you only need to sew it back on itself again. Remember to catch in or skip over the first strand so that you’re not undoing the stitch.

How do you deal with very short ends?

When you have a short tail to sew in, start with the needle in the fabric/stitches where you want to sew and then thread the needle. I tend to use my thumb nail to push the yarn through the eye.

In most cases, sewing in one direction and then the other is enough to ensure the work doesn’t come undone. Don’t forget to skip a strand of yarn when you change direction (see second image above). However, if you’re making something for a baby, or a gift or a paid commission, you may want to add an extra step. I.e. change direction and sew back again before trimming the yarn. If you’ve got a very short tail, carefully pull the needle through, without un-threading it. Then use the eye of the needle to sew back on itself. This technique is not advisable if your needle is sharp!

How do you ensure it looks neat?

I always try to sew the ends into a congested area of stitches, such as a corner or cluster. I find this offers the most secure spot and the tail end finds it difficult to wriggle.

Sometimes, such as here, where the corners of the four motifs join, there is no congested area to conceal a tail end. Instead I make a running stitch into the post of an adjacent stitch – here it’s a double crochet, until I came to a denser area suitable for sewing into.

For both methods, I find it best to work from the back of the fabric. I check the front occasionally to make sure I haven’t left any visible stitches that might blemish my work on the right side. It is also important to ensure your sewing matches the gauge of your crochet pattern. After each sewn stitch, I gently pull the fabric to make sure my weaving in isn’t creating any pulls or puckering.

Lastly, I like to use a small pair of sewing scissors to CAREFULLY snip off the remaining tail end. Sadly, I have had disasters in the past. Once, coming to the last few threads, I managed to cut a hole in a project when I was rushing and excited to finish!

Project details:
  • This is a large wrap made using a modified version of the Blue Buoy Blanket pattern.
  • The pattern for the three row solid granny square can be found here.
  • The traditional granny stitch border an join can be found here.
  • KnitPro Zing Hook – size 3.25mm.
  • Yarn is sock weight/fingering yarn from Posh Yarn …25 different hand dyed shades in total!

And here’s a video.