It would be a waste of time to discover your crochet stitches are leaning when you are halfway stitching through your crochet project.
Before starting your crochet project, you have bright images of finishing a perfect crochet piece. But as you go about your crocheting, you discover that your stitches are leaning to one side, flaring out, or curving; making your work look skewed.
What could have gone wrong? Many reasons can cause your crochet stitches to lean.
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Why do crochet stitches lean?
You are so engrossed with crocheting that you may not have noticed that you are almost halfway with your work. Upon checking your work, it is leaning.
Crocheters may say that it is natural for crochet stitches to lean. But there are ways that you can avoid it from happening. But the thing is, you must know first what causes your stitches to lean.
1. Added extra stitches or missing stitches.
When you are crocheting, do not wait to reach half of your cross stitch work to check if the number of stitches on your last row is still the same as the first row.
When working in rows, stitches can start to lean when you put your first stitch on the wrong chain. If your pattern indicates that a turning chain is counted as a stitch, you must not work into its base or else you will be making an increase. If you stitched on the base and made an increase, you will be doing it on the next rows, eventually making your crochet work flare.
Missing stitches can likewise cause your crochet stitches to lean. But this time, when your rows miss stitches, your work will narrow down as you go along. When your crochet work forms a trapezoid instead of a square or rectangle as it should be, then you may have extra or missing stitches.
2. Changed hooks.
The crochet hook size has a significant part in how stitches are formed. Switching from one hook to another can change the tension and gauge of your crochet piece up to the point where you changed your hook.
If you changed to a smaller hook, it could make your stitches smaller. But, if you change to a bigger hook, your stitches will get bigger. Accidentally changing to a smaller or bigger hook has a similar effect as missing or adding stitches to your work, making it wider or narrower.
3. Switched yarns at some point in your project.
Your work may have needed a change in the color of yarns. You must take note that not all yarns have the same thickness, even if you choose the same brand when you change your yarn color. A thinner yarn can make your crochet piece smaller than it should be.
The solution for this change in yarn thickness is to measure wraps per inch of the yarns you will use for the project. You can get the wraps per inch by wrapping your yarn on one inch of a ruler. Check if the yarns have the same wraps per inch. If there is a great variation, you might have a problem with leaning stitches if you do not use the correct yarn thickness.
It would be best if you make a gauge swatch for all the yarns you will use. Change your hook if necessary to achieve the same gauge for all yarns. After this process, you can proceed with crocheting.
4. The foundation chain is too tight or too loose.
When you start your crochet with a tight foundation chain, your crochet piece may flare out as you add more rows. There is no remedy if you start your crochet piece the wrong way. Please frog your work and start over.
The opposite situation happens when you stitch your foundation stitch too loose. You will find your rows creating a U-shape. Frogging your current work will be the better option to do than continue.
5. Your tension changed.
If you have been using the same hook and yarn while crocheting but still notice that your work is leaning, your tension may have changed. A few factors can affect your tension while you work on your crochet.
- Stress
- Lighting
- Concentration
- Fatigue
- Comfort
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Crocheting while under a lot of stress can cause your tension to tighten. Your mood affects the quality of your work. So, before you start crocheting, take a deep breath, then exhale all your negative vibes. Then, relax your mind and body as you crochet.
Working on your crochet with poor lighting can make your tension tighter. When you are struggling to see your stitches, you tend to pull them tighter, distorting the shape of your crochet piece.
The amount of focus you give to your crochet work also plays a big part in your finished product. Watching a movie can distract you more and increase your tension (more if it’s a scary one) than listening to the music of your choice with your hook and yarn on hand.
Crocheting when you are either tired or sleepy can create loose stitches or maybe no stitches at all. It would be best to work on your crochet piece when you are in the right state of mind and body to get the proper tension you are aiming for.
Having a comfortable place to crochet can help you maintain even tension in your work. Find a quiet and cozy nook in your home where you can relax and while away your time crocheting.
6. You have a bad pattern in your hands.
However beautiful your pattern may be and how pretty the finished product you may imagine it to be, things do not work according to your plan. Sometimes, it is a badly designed pattern that is the culprit of deformed crochet work.
To be sure that your finished crochet work will not warp, make sure that the pattern you use has good reviews online. You can also find out if many crocheters have successfully finished a project using the pattern.
How do I stop my crochet from slanting?
When working on your crochet and see it slanting, do not be alarmed. Crochet stitches tend to lean, especially when you are using the long stitches. Now that you know the reasons that can cause your crochet to slant, here are some tips on how you can avoid making the same mistakes all over again.
1. Use a larger size hook for the foundation chain.
If you find yourself crocheting the foundation row very tight most of the time, you can try using a hook that is a size or two larger than what is recommended. You can use this larger hook for the foundation chain and the first two rows of your crochet. When your first two to three rows have an even tension, you can switch to the recommended hook for the project. Using this method can help prevent your crochet from slanting.
2. Count your stitches.
When you crochet continuously and forget to count the stitches for every row, that is when your crochet starts to deform. As you go along with your crochet, you may not be aware that you have added or missed some stitches. To avoid this from happening, you can use a stitch marker to keep track of the stitches in each row. Then, you will not get a trapezoidal-shaped finished product. And you also get to keep the number of stitches constant throughout your crochet project.
3. Consistency in placing your stitches.
Inconsistently placing your stitches at the start and end of each row can distort your crochet. Before you start your rows, you should decide whether your turning chain is counted as a stitch. Whatever you decide, stick to it to avoid a slanting edge because of added or missed stitches.
4. Avoid changing hooks in the middle of the project.
Changing hooks to create the foundation chain is a great solution to avoid curving your crochet piece. But, switching hooks in the middle of the project can cause it to deform. Use the same hook when you are crocheting the body of your crochet project to maintain an even tension throughout.
5. Block your work.
Crochet stitches have a natural tendency to lean. When you are right-handed, your stitches can lean a bit to the left and lean to the right if you are left-handed. The reason behind the slant in stitches is the way you wrap the yarn around your hook. It is not something that you can prevent. But, when you are done crocheting, you can block your work and straighten the stitches as if there was no leaning at all.
6. Practice.
The best way to prevent your crochet from slanting is to practice. Crochet using different kinds of yarns, different hook sizes, and different stitches. Try out different crochet patterns. By crocheting often, you will learn from mistakes you made from your different projects. Practicing your crochet can teach you techniques that will make your future crochet projects easier.
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Why does my crochet granny square look crooked?
Making a granny square is one of the easiest and the fastest techniques to learn in crochet. A granny square is a great way for beginners to practice the different basic stitches in crochet and get a quick, tiny finished product.
What is good about making a crochet project from a granny square is that you will easily notice if you have stitch problems on a tiny square. It is good to discover early on when your work has issues than going all the way and finish it. You can see leaning stitches not only on granny squares but on most crochet items.
Whether you are making a blanket out of a giant granny square or from individual tiny granny squares, you would not want to get a warped one. Here are a few tips that can help prevent your granny square stitches from leaning.
1. Turn after every round.
Stitches naturally lean, and if you continue working in the round as you would in a granny square, your stitches may lean towards the left. You will find your granny square twisting in a counter-clockwise direction.
You can prevent your granny square from leaning by turning after every round. By working in the opposite direction, you are canceling out the leaning from the previous round. This method also makes your crochet piece reversible, which is a good thing.
2. Adjust the number of stitches between the 3-double crochet groups.
If your granny square looks distorted, it may be due to the number of stitches between the double crochet groups. Too many chains in between can make your crochet curl, while too few chains can make it look rounded.
It would be good to try making your granny square with no chains up and try making one to three chains between the double crochet groups. Go for the number of chains that will not deform your granny square.
3. Check how many chains to crochet at the corners.
The chains at the corners can also affect the final shape of your granny square. The chains stitched at the corners are usually two to three chains each.
Too many chains at the corners can make your square wavy, but too few chains can make your square look more rounded. Find the right number of chains that will make your work a square.
4. Block your granny squares.
You can block your granny squares or block the whole granny square blanket when you are finished. Make sure that you are using the proper method as some forms of blocking involves heat. Know which blocking method is best to use for the materials you used to crochet.
5. Add a border.
Adding a border to your granny square blanket can hide the flaws. A nice border can somehow align the deformed edges of your granny square blanket. Try different types of stitches for your border and choose one which works best in hiding the unwanted curves.
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