What About Yarn: 20 Creative, Fashionable Patterns for Beginner to Intermediate Crocheters

By Kath Baena

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ulysses Press
• Release date: May 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781646044788

Kath Baena

Kath Baena is an entrepreneur and designer from the Philippines. She learned the fundamental basics of crochet as a child and started her brand seventeen years later as a way to share her knowledge and creativity and connect with fiber artists worldwide. She’s a dreamer and doer, full-time multitasker, and sunset chaser. Her interest in visual arts and film-making led her to pursue her creative endeavors. While managing her small business and keeping her household (and fur babies) entertained, Kath is also studying towards a bachelor's degree in English. Explore more creative ideas from Kath at www.whataboutyarn.wordpress.com.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

How to Choose Yarn and Hooks

Gauge refers to how loose or tight you crochet (see Chapter 4

for a detailed description of gauge). When working with a pattern, it’s important to create a gauge swatch using the specified yarn and hook sizes. In this way, you can be sure that the item you’re making will end up the same size as the one in the pattern. Crocheters often end up with a different measurement in their gauge swatches. No two crochet items are the same, no matter how carefully we crochet each stitch or copy the details of the pattern’s gauge. This is because each of us has our own unique way of maneuvering the hook and yarn. In addition, tension will vary depending on whether you are left-or right-handed.

Each crocheter holds the hook in a particular way or makes their stitches a little bit looser or tighter as tension shifts over the course of creating a project. A crocheter may run out of yarn halfway through their work and decide to substitute another yarn with a different look and feel. Crochet can be flexible and can be reimagined into something unique that suits the artist. This is one of the major reasons why I started designing made-to-measure patterns, or patterns that can be adjusted according to size and shape, instead of following standard sizes given in traditional crochet patterns. This provides more flexibility and helps to accommodate more intentionality with crochet work. It also embraces inclusivity as it isn’t restricting anyone who wants to make a crochet garment or item that they like.

If you see someone wearing a gorgeous crochet top and you want to make it for yourself, with made-to-measure patterns it is easier to re-create that same design to fit your body frame.

YARN WEIGHT

Yarns are classified into different categories called weights. The term doesn’t apply to their actual weight in grams but to the thickness of the strands. They are measured in numbers ranging from 0 to 7, with 0 being the thinnest, and 7, the thickest. Thicker yarns are mainly used for bulky projects such as blankets, coats, and sweaters, while thinner yarns, like that of lace weight, are used for home decorations, edgings, and lightweight shawls.

If you’re planning to crochet a garment based on a pattern, the most important thing to check before buying yarn is its weight. If you decide to follow a designer’s pattern that has standard body sizing of XS, S, M, L, XL, and so on, it is so much easier to use the specified yarn weight and hook size, and achieve the same gauge. At times when your local craft store doesn’t have the yarns that a pattern calls for, it is okay to use either a thinner or thicker yarn and pick the hook size that goes with your yarn of choice, then decide how many stitches and rows to use without compromising the pattern and design. By using a thinner or thicker yarn than what is used in the pattern, the outcome of the finished project won’t be exactly the same as the designer’s.

Table 1

shows the types of yarn weights and their suggested hook sizes.

Usually, the suggested hook sizes for the particular yarn that you are buying are also written on the label. This is handy, but there are instances when you’ll purchase yarns that won’t come with labels, as is the case with secondhand yarns.

To figure out what weight yarn you’re working with, you need to do the WPI, or wraps per inch, technique. Since yarns are measured according to the thickness of their strands, determine how many strands there are per inch by wrapping the yarn around a pencil, making sure not to make it too loose or too tight. Take a ruler and count how many strands there are in 1 inch, then refer to Table 2

.

How to determine the WPI of yarn

You can now tell what type of yarn you have, whether it comes with a label or not. Next, determine what hook size goes with your yarn. Larger hooks are for the larger yarns while smaller hooks are for the smaller yarns.

Different sizes of hooks and yarns

CHOOSING YOUR HOOKS

Two common styles of hooks are tapered hooks and inline hooks. Tapered hooks have a rounded taper between the shaft and the head while inline hooks narrow down at a straight angle from the shaft to the hook. In terms of sizes, both styles are labeled according to the diameter of their shaft. The larger the shaft, the bigger the loops and stitches it produces.

Hooks are measured in letters and numbers. Table 3

below shows you the metric and US hook size conversion. An inline or tapered crochet hook that measures 5.0 mm in the metric system is size H in the US.

HOW TO HOLD A CROCHET HOOK

There are two main ways to hold a crochet hook: the knife hold and the pen hold. Beginners may find that the combination of knife hold plus a larger hook and a thicker yarn feels better since, during the early stages of learning crochet, your fingers tend to be a little bit stiff as you get used to working with the hook in one hand and yarn in the other. Some people develop their own techniques over the years but in the end, it all comes down to the consistency of your tension.

Knife hold

Pen hold

OTHER ESSENTIAL MATERIALS

In addition to yarn and hooks, the items on this list are highly recommended when making the projects in this book.

Pencil for measuring wraps per inch (WPI)

Ruler for measuring WPI

Tape measure

Scissors

Yarn needle

Thread

Sewing needle

Sewing thread

Stitch markers

Crochet gauge ruler (optional)

Row counter (optional)

Yarn bowl (optional)

Project basket or project bag (optional)

CHAPTER TWO

Taking Your Body Measurements

Made-to-measure patterns allow you to make a garment larger or smaller to fit your figure. They provide you with the ability to reinvent a design without compromising it.

The chart on page 13

lists the different body measurements that you’ll need in order to follow the instructions in this book. You’ll need a tape measure to calculate them.

Now, let’s say that measurement A, side length, is 8 inches and measurement L, chest circumference, is 32 inches. If the pattern says, Make a chain until you get to measurement A, this means that you’re going to create a chain that measures 8 inches. Take note that chain stitches can be a little bit tricky since they stretch out a lot, so be sure to place your work against your body every now and then to have an idea of how the fit looks. In this case, measurement A is measured from the armpit to the waist.

If the pattern says, Repeat from * to * until you get to measurement L, this means that you’ll have to keep on repeating all the instructions that are enclosed in the range within the asterisks until your work measures 32 inches. In this case, L is measured around the chest so try to place your work around your chest as well, making sure that it fits you perfectly when you stretch it out. Garments are supposed to stretch when worn, so keep that in mind to make sure that yours will have the right amount of stretch to it.