Do you prefer American crochet terms? Click here for this tutorial in US terminology.
Slip Stitch:
Because they take up very little space, slip stitches are almost invisible and are normally used to join stitches or work across to a different stitch or space in your project without breaking yarn.
1. Insert your hook into the stitch (or chain) where you want to place the slip stitch.
2. Yarn over.
3. Pull through both loops on the hook. 1 slip stitch made.
Making a Circle:
This method of working in a circle begins with chains. We will cover another method, magic loop, in week 3.
1. Make 4 chains. You will make this chain into a loop by working a slip stitch.
2. Insert your hook into the first chain you made (in this case, the 4th chain from the hook).
2. Yarn over hook and pull through both loops on your hook. (this is a slip stitch)
3. Chain 1.
Instead of working into the chains, as you would when working in rows, you work around the loop. Insert your hook into the hole made by the circle.
4. Make 6 double crochet into the centre of the circle. You will work all of your stitches in the same way.
- Insert your hook into the centre of the circle made by the chain stitches.
-Yarn over, pull through the centre of the circle.
- Yarn over again, pull through both loops on your hook.
Close the round by making a slip stitch into the 1st stitch.
Round 2:
In order to make the circle grow evenly, you need to increase the number of stitches in this round. You will,
1. Make 1 chain.
2. Make 2 double crochet in each stitch. To do this, you work 1 double crochet as normal, then instead of moving on to the next stitch, make a second double crochet into the same place as you made the first. (Note: That first pair of stitches is worked into the same stitch you joined with a slip stitch.) Repeat this in each stitch around.
You should end the round with 12 double crochet.
Round 3:
- 1 chain.
- 1 double crochet, 2 double crochet into the next stitch. Work this sequence a total of 6 times, so you have 18 stitches at the end of this round.
FYI: When working in rounds, crochet has a very clear front and back.
Common Problems:
There are a few problems that people often have with crocheting in a circle:
1. The circle waves and looks like a sea creature.
This is caused by increasing your stitches too quickly. Circles need to be increased evenly to lay flat. Rather than repeating myself, I am going to point you to an older tutorial on the basics of a flat circle here.
2. The circle turns into a bowl.
This is caused by increasing too slowly. refer to the same tutorial here.
3.There is a crooked seam.
Ensure you are working your slip stitch into the 1st stitch of the round, not the chain. If you have problems knowing which was your first stitch, use a stitch marker to help you remember.
4. I don't like that I can see the seam.
Did you notice in the photo above the very distinct slip stitch seams? The yarn that I use in the tutorials is very bulky (T-shirt yarn from here) and the slip stitches are very visible. However, even in a thinner yarn, a faint line of slip stitches is often visible. If you want to hide or minimise the seam:
- pull the 1ch at the beginning of each round very tight so that it is almost invisible and then go on to work the round as above.
- rather than working a slip stitch, at the end of the round, remove you hook from the working yarn. Insert it through the first stitch of the round, catch the working loop with your hook and pull it through. Continue as normal.
(click here to enlarge)
Other techniques for seamless or invisible joining in the round:
- work in a spiral. Rather than raising the rounds with a chain, by working consistently in a spiral, there will be no noticeable seam, but there will be a bump at the end of the round. You should mark the beginning of your round with a stitch marker. You still use the same pattern of increases.
For another comparison of the different techniques of working in the round, check out this post at Crochet Spot.
For some awesome videos on straight seams from Crochet Ever After here. Anyone else have any tips about working in rounds?
For all of the Crochet Camp posts, head over here.