Welcome!
This Month's Featured Pattern:
Crochet Border Cheat Sheet
Your blanket’s been done for a week except for the border. You’ve been scrolling roundups and craft blogs since Tuesday and committed to nothing, because they all look fine and not one of them tells you the part you actually need to know. Inside this cheat sheet you will find six borders, each with the corner count, the stitch multiple, and an honest read on how much yarn it’s going to eat. Plus a page on why yours is ruffling like a ballerina’s tutu at a recital, and what to do about it before you’re forty inches in and crying into your project.
Welcome!
This Month's Featured Pattern:
Crochet Border Cheat Sheet
Your blanket’s been done for a week except for the border. You’ve been scrolling roundups and craft blogs since Tuesday and committed to nothing, because they all look fine and not one of them tells you the part you actually need to know. Inside this cheat sheet you will find six borders, each with the corner count, the stitch multiple, and an honest read on how much yarn it’s going to eat. Plus a page on why yours is ruffling like a ballerina’s tutu at a recital, and what to do about it before you’re forty inches in and crying into your project.
Wonky Edges Welcome!
Wonky edges are welcome means exactly what it says. You have found your people if you’re currently staring at a project at 1am, wondering where it all went wrong. Nobody’s first blanket comes out perfectly square. Mine sure didn’t, and the internet is full of people acting like theirs did. Your rows are going to wander, your tension will do whatever it wants, and somewhere around row 12 the whole thing starts leaning left like it’s had a few too many. That’s not a sign you’re bad at this, it just means you need some answers. Here are the most common reasons people decide they’re “bad” at crochet.
Four Reasons You're Probably Here
Your “rectangle” isn’t one anymore
I blame your turning chain. Or lack thereof. You’re either skipping that last stitch or you’re stuffing a stitch into the chain that has no business being there. Pick a rule, use it every row, don’t become a waffle at 11pm
Tension…There’s a Lot of Tension
Listen it’s one of two things. It’s either you’re gripping the yarn like it owes you money, or you’re half asleep and your hands are doing their own thing. Try to keep as consistent as you can and eventually it will even out.
How May Stitches Do I have?
No one really knows…besides, numbers are a social construct anyway. No one can count accurately with kids running like banshees and a dog sitting directly on your diaphragm. The solution is stitch markers. They don’t even have to be fancy, bobby pins work great!
Your work is curling up like a shoelace.
Your foundation chain is likely too tight and it’s pulling everything else in with it. The crochet equivalent of a black hole. The fix is to go up one or two hook sizes for the base chain and then use the recommended hook for everything else. Easy fix, takes two minutes
Posts By Category
The vast majority of what I’ve written on this blog fit into one of these four categories. Head over to the Learn to Crochet page to brush up on basics. Then we’ve got beginner-friendly projects if you’ve got an itch to make something right now. Then there’s tips & tutorials if you’re stuck mid-row and you’ve already frogged it twice tonight. And no crochet blog would be complete with the humble granny square.
Meet the Team
Person Actually Doing All the Work
Writes the patterns, tests the patterns until they stop lying, buys all the yarn, & drinks the Diet Coke.
Emotional Support Husband
Head of yarn acquisition denial, in charge of keeping the fridge stocked with Diet Coke
Senior Loafing Specialist, Won’t Retire
Gen X, has opinions. Snack compliance officer, ten years experience, just wants cheese
Quality Control Project Specialist
Does not sit next to the project, but on it. Also in charge of all bottle and incoming package security protocols.
