LC's Crochet Lab

Category: Techniques

  • Slip Stitched Joints – Left Handed

    This is a technique I’ve used for years to add built-in joints to my crochet designs. You don’t have to cut and reattach your yarn at all, which is a bonus! Everything is worked as one continuous piece.

    If you’re right handed, you can find that tutorial here, or if you prefer a video tutorial, you can check that out here.

    This technique is definitely a little funky, but is super intuitive once you understand what’s going on. Make sure to pay close attention to the instructions, and refer to the video if you need to!

    The Setup

    There are three things you need to have or do to use this technique properly:

    1. Even stitch count rounds
    2. Start at the side of the limb
    3. Face the back of the joint

    I’ve also only used this technique when working a limb bottom up (so working from hand to shoulder, or from foot to hip), but there shouldn’t be any issue with this technique being used for a top down limb.

    In the following examples, I’ll be using a leg and foot to make it clearer what parts of the limb should be facing towards or away from you.

    Even stitch count rounds

    In order to use this technique, you must have an even number of stitches in your round. We’re going to be pinching the joint shut by crocheting through two stitches at once, one in the back of the limb, and one in the front. Since these stitches get paired, we need an even number to work this properly!

    It’s likely possible to do this with an odd number of stitches in your round, but it’s definitely easier to do if your stitch count is even.

    Start at the side of the limb

    You’re going to want to make sure that when you pinch your round shut, the last stitch you worked is at the end of your pinch point. Correct and incorrect examples of this are shown below.

    Correct starting location
    Incorrect starting location

    You may have to add or remove stitches from your limb in order to start in the proper position.

    Face the back of the joint

    Before starting, make sure you’re facing the back of the joint. You want to be working facing the part of the joint that will be compressed when bent. For legs, this means facing the back of the leg, and for arms, this means facing the front of the arm.

    The joints created through this technique like to bend one way more than the other. Making sure you’re starting at the back of the joint, in the compressing section, ensures that your joint bends in the correct direction!

    Creating the joint

    Set yourself up for your joint using the setup tips above. Also, make sure to stuff your limb before starting- we’re crocheting this part shut, so you won’t be able to add stuffing later!

    I’m working a knee joint, so I’m going to start at the side of the leg, with my next stitches going into the back of the leg.

    I’ll also be placing a stitch marker in the front loop of the last stitch I worked, which will help us later.

    1. Slip stitch across in the back loops

    We’ll be closing the limb by slip stitching through pairs of stitches in their back loops. These stitches are paired up by being adjacent when the round is pinched shut

    Begin by inserting your hook into the back loop of the next stitch.

    Now, insert your hook through the back loop of the last stitch of your round- this is the stitch I marked earlier. Go through this loop back to front.

    Slip stitch through both of these stitches. That’s our first pair connected!

    Continue this process for all subsequent pairs of stitches, closing up the round. In the image below, you can see lines marking how my stitches are paired for the rest of this step.

    You’ll go through the back loop in the next stitch facing you, then the back loop of the next stitch facing away from you.

    In total, you’ll have slip stitched half the total stitch count of your round- there were 10 stitches in my round, so I had 5 total slip stitches.

    2. Single crochet in the front loops

    Now we build our round back up around this seam. There are a couple ways to figure out where your first single crochet should be.

    The easiest is to use the stitch marker and count back half your stitches in the round. For my round of 10, I’m starting with the stitch that’s marked and counting back 5 stitches. This locates the last stitch you worked into with your slip stitches, and is where we want to work.

    Once you find that stitch, work a single crochet into it. Continue working single crochets in the leftover front loops all the way around the limb. You’ll have the same number of stitches in your round as you had before working the joint.

    You can now continue the limb by working in continuous rounds!

    Final thoughts

    The major thing to note with this technique is it puts the starts of your rounds 180 degrees away from where they were before you worked the joint. This means that you may not be able to incorporate this technique into existing patterns like you can with the layered rounds technique.

  • Slip Stitched Joints – Right Handed

    This is a technique I’ve used for years to add built-in joints to my crochet designs. You don’t have to cut and reattach your yarn at all, which is a bonus! Everything is worked as one continuous piece.

    If you’re left handed, you can find that tutorial here, or if you prefer a video tutorial, you can check that out here.

    This technique is definitely a little funky, but is super intuitive once you understand what’s going on. Make sure to pay close attention to the instructions, and refer to the video if you need to!

    The Setup

    There are three things you need to have or do to use this technique properly:

    1. Even stitch count rounds
    2. Start at the side of the limb
    3. Face the back of the joint

    I’ve also only used this technique when working a limb bottom up (so working from hand to shoulder, or from foot to hip), but there shouldn’t be any issue with this technique being used for a top down limb.

    In the following examples, I’ll be using a leg and foot to make it clearer what parts of the limb should be facing towards or away from you.

    Even stitch count rounds

    In order to use this technique, you must have an even number of stitches in your round. We’re going to be pinching the joint shut by crocheting through two stitches at once, one in the back of the limb, and one in the front. Since these stitches get paired, we need an even number to work this properly!

    It’s likely possible to do this with an odd number of stitches in your round, but it’s definitely easier to do if your stitch count is even.

    Start at the side of the limb

    You’re going to want to make sure that when you pinch your round shut, the last stitch you worked is at the end of your pinch point. Correct and incorrect examples of this are shown below.

    Correct starting location
    Incorrect starting location

    You may have to add or remove stitches from your limb in order to start in the proper position.

    Face the back of the joint

    Before starting, make sure you’re facing the back of the joint. You want to be working facing the part of the joint that will be compressed when bent. For legs, this means facing the back of the leg, and for arms, this means facing the front of the arm.

    The joints created through this technique like to bend one way more than the other. Making sure you’re starting at the back of the joint, in the compressing section, ensures that your joint bends in the correct direction!

    Creating the joint

    Set yourself up for your joint using the setup tips above. Also, make sure to stuff your limb before starting- we’re crocheting this part shut, so you won’t be able to add stuffing later!

    I’m working a knee joint, so I’m going to start at the side of the leg, with my next stitches going into the back of the leg.

    I’ll also be placing a stitch marker in the front loop of the last stitch I worked, which will help us later.

    1. Slip stitch across in the back loops

    We’ll be closing the limb by slip stitching through pairs of stitches in their back loops. These stitches are paired up by being adjacent when the round is pinched shut

    Begin by inserting your hook into the back loop of the next stitch.

    Now, insert your hook through the back loop of the last stitch of your round- this is the stitch I marked earlier. Go through this loop back to front.

    Slip stitch through both of these stitches. That’s our first pair connected!

    Continue this process for all subsequent pairs of stitches, closing up the round. In the image below, you can see lines marking how my stitches are paired for the rest of this step.

    You’ll go through the back loop in the next stitch facing you, then the back loop of the next stitch facing away from you.

    In total, you’ll have slip stitched half the total stitch count of your round- there were 10 stitches in my round, so I had 5 total slip stitches.

    2. Single crochet in the front loops

    Now we build our round back up around this seam. There are a couple ways to figure out where your first single crochet should be.

    The easiest is to use the stitch marker and count back half your stitches in the round. For my round of 10, I’m starting with the stitch that’s marked and counting back 5 stitches. This locates the last stitch you worked into with your slip stitches, and is where we want to work.

    Once you find that stitch, work a single crochet into it. Continue working single crochets in the leftover front loops all the way around the limb. You’ll have the same number of stitches in your round as you had before working the joint.

    You can now continue the limb by working in continuous rounds!

    Final thoughts

    The major thing to note with this technique is it puts the starts of your rounds 180 degrees away from where they were before you worked the joint. This means that you may not be able to incorporate this technique into existing patterns like you can with the layered rounds technique.

  • Crochet Geometry

    Crochet Geometry

    Over the past few months, I’ve been messing around with a technique that allows me to crochet spiky versions of geometric shapes. I’ve found this really fun to work with, and wanted to share the technique so that others can also experiment with it!

    I’m not claiming to be the first person to make something like this- I found this Berocco pattern from this page on the MOMATH site after messing around with my own version for a bit. I just want to share my personal approach to this sort of thing in the chance others find it useful.

    The crochet stitches used to create this are all pretty basic, but the application of them could get tricky if you aren’t comfortable with freehanding your crochet projects or otherwise not working from a pattern. I do my best to spell out every step you need to take here, but this truly is meant to be a crochet technique tutorial and not a pattern. I’ll be explaining the process using an example in this tutorial, but that example only covers one possible application and approach!

    This is also a fairly mathematical technique! I’ve done my best to keep all the math as simple as possible for those of you who aren’t as into it as I am, but you will need some understanding of basic shapes and geometry terms here. I’ve split the math into two sections as well: the basic stuff you need to get started with this technique, and the more in depth math and other suggestions for those of you who want to really take this idea and run with it.

    There is also a video version of this technique available here on my YouTube channel, if you feel you learn better through video.

    If you’re sticking around with the post version of this tutorial, we’ll get started by talking about the stitches used for this technique!

    Part 1: The Stitches

    The stitches you need to know for this technique are single crochet (sc), foundation single crochet (fsc), and the invisible decrease (invdec). You can also do this technique using a traditional single crochet decrease, but seeing as we’re working in continuous rounds like we would with amigurumi, an invisible decrease is a little more useful here.

    You’re also going to want to know how to use a foundation single crochet to work from existing stitches, and technically how to do a standing single crochet as well. If you don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a single crochet into an existing project with a slip knot of new yarn on your hook.

    I’ve linked all the tutorials necessary below, in both right and left handed formats depending on your preference.

    Left Handed Tutorials

    Single crochet

    Invisible decrease

    Foundation single crochet

    FSC to extend

    Right Handed Tutorials

    Single crochet

    Invisible decrease

    Foundation single crochet

    FSC to extend

    Technique overview

    Before we get into the math, I want to do a quick overview of how this technique works so the next section makes a bit more sense. We’ll be creating a loop using fsc’s to make the perimeter of the faces of our shape. This serves as the first round of our spike, which we’ll work upwards towards the point. New spikes will be worked directly into the base of existing ones, and we’ll be using fsc’s to complete a ring going away and then back to this base, again tracing out the perimeter of the face.

    When you’re ready, join me on the next page to get into the math of this technique!

    Pages: 1 2 3 4

  • Layered Rounds – Left Handed

    Layered Rounds – Left Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to layer rounds in a crochet project to add a bit of depth to a project. This technique allows a layer to be added to a crochet item without modifying the underlying pattern!

    If you’re right handed, you can find that tutorial here, or if you prefer a video tutorial, you can check that out here.

    The setup

    First, make the piece to be overlapped. Make sure you work up through the round to be overlapped. In this example, I want round 9 to be overlapped, so I make what I’ll call my “existing piece” through round 9.

    You can cut the yarn for this piece. Don’t sew the end in though- leave it free. It’ll make it easier to work through the stitches in this piece later on.

    Making the Overlapping Ring

    First, we need to make the overlapping layer. This round will have the same stitch count as the round we’re looking to overlap. In this example, we’re overlapping a round of 24 stitches, so we need this overlapping layer to be 24 stitches as well.

    Make a chain the same length as the number of stitches in the round to be overlapped (chain 24, in this example).

    Now, making sure the chain isn’t twisted, slip stitch into the back bump of the first chain, closing the chain into a loop.

    Chain 1, and single crochet into the same bump you slip stitched into.

    Now crochet around the chain loop, placing a single crochet in the back bumps of each chain.

    For this example, you’ll end up with 24 total stitches in your round.

    If you’re struggling to crochet in the back bumps of your chain, or otherwise don’t want to do that, you can always crochet into the top of your chain. I just prefer the look of working into the back bumps.

    Connecting the Pieces

    In this round, we’ll be connecting both pieces together by crocheting through both of them at once.

    Start by finding the first stitch of your ring. Insert your hook into this stitch.

    Maneuver the outer layer so that your hook is going through the middle of the ring. This makes it easier to go through the existing piece.

    Now, find the first stitch of your existing piece. Insert your hook into this stitch as well.

    Move your hook back through the middle of the outer ring. Your hook is now going through both the ring and the existing piece, with the yarn also going towards the middle of the ring. It should look like the image below. This ensures that nothing gets wrapped up incorrectly.

    Now, complete a single crochet through both of these rounds at once to connect them.

    The connecting layer

    The connecting layer that we’ve started will follow the next round in whatever pattern you’re working from. For example, in this post, the overlapping layer is round 9, so our connecting round is round 10. I’d follow the instructions for round 10 of the pattern I’m working from when connecting the two pieces together.

    If your connecting round is worked by just single crocheting around the piece, this step is really simple. Continue single crocheting through both layers at once, first inserting your hook through the outer layer, then through the existing piece.

    If your connecting layer

    Increasing in the connecting round

    If your connecting round has increases, simply do a single crochet through the same stitches as you just worked to increase. Make sure you still go through both the outer layer and the existing piece!

    Decreasing in the connecting round

    If your connecting round has decreases, what I suggest is to invisible decrease in both the outer layer and existing piece.

    To do this, first set up an invisible decrease for the outer layer (tutorial here) by putting your hook through the front loops of the next two stitches. Don’t actually stitch into this- just keep the loops on your hook!

    Now, set up an invisible decrease on the existing piece. This can be a little tricky.

    Your hook should be going through the front loops of 4 stitches at this point- first on the outer layer, then on the existing piece. Now, complete a single crochet through these loops.

    Continuing the pattern

    You can now continue your pattern as normal! In this example, my overlapping round was round 9, my connecting round was round 10, so I’ll pick my pattern back up starting from round 11.

    The fact that we’re able to follow the pattern exactly as written except for the addition of this outer round is something I think is really neat and useful for adding a little bit more detail and texture to patterns you might come across.

  • Layered Rounds – Right Handed

    Layered Rounds – Right Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to layer rounds in a crochet project to add a bit of depth to a project. This technique allows a layer to be added to a crochet item without modifying the underlying pattern!

    If you’re left handed, you can find that tutorial here, or if you prefer a video tutorial, you can check that out here.

    The setup

    First, make the piece to be overlapped. Make sure you work up through the round to be overlapped. In this example, I want round 9 to be overlapped, so I make what I’ll call my “existing piece” through round 9.

    You can cut the yarn for this piece. Don’t sew the end in though- leave it free. It’ll make it easier to work through the stitches in this piece later on.

    Making the Overlapping Ring

    First, we need to make the overlapping layer. This round will have the same stitch count as the round we’re looking to overlap. In this example, we’re overlapping a round of 24 stitches, so we need this overlapping layer to be 24 stitches as well.

    Make a chain the same length as the number of stitches in the round to be overlapped (chain 24, in this example).

    Now, making sure the chain isn’t twisted, slip stitch into the back bump of the first chain, closing the chain into a loop.

    Chain 1, and single crochet into the same bump you slip stitched into.

    Now crochet around the chain loop, placing a single crochet in the back bumps of each chain.

    For this example, you’ll end up with 24 total stitches in your round.

    If you’re struggling to crochet in the back bumps of your chain, or otherwise don’t want to do that, you can always crochet into the top of your chain. I just prefer the look of working into the back bumps.

    Connecting the Pieces

    In this round, we’ll be connecting both pieces together by crocheting through both of them at once.

    Start by finding the first stitch of your ring. Insert your hook into this stitch.

    Maneuver the outer layer so that your hook is going through the middle of the ring. This makes it easier to go through the existing piece.

    Now, find the first stitch of your existing piece. Insert your hook into this stitch as well.

    Move your hook back through the middle of the outer ring. Your hook is now going through both the ring and the existing piece, with the yarn also going towards the middle of the ring. It should look like the image below. This ensures that nothing gets wrapped up incorrectly.

    Now, complete a single crochet through both of these rounds at once to connect them.

    The connecting layer

    The connecting layer that we’ve started will follow the next round in whatever pattern you’re working from. For example, in this post, the overlapping layer is round 9, so our connecting round is round 10. I’d follow the instructions for round 10 of the pattern I’m working from when connecting the two pieces together.

    If your connecting round is worked by just single crocheting around the piece, this step is really simple. Continue single crocheting through both layers at once, first inserting your hook through the outer layer, then through the existing piece.

    If your connecting layer

    Increasing in the connecting round

    If your connecting round has increases, simply do a single crochet through the same stitches as you just worked to increase. Make sure you still go through both the outer layer and the existing piece!

    Decreasing in the connecting round

    If your connecting round has decreases, what I suggest is to invisible decrease in both the outer layer and existing piece.

    To do this, first set up an invisible decrease for the outer layer (tutorial here) by putting your hook through the front loops of the next two stitches. Don’t actually stitch into this- just keep the loops on your hook!

    Now, set up an invisible decrease on the existing piece. This can be a little tricky.

    Your hook should be going through the front loops of 4 stitches at this point- first on the outer layer, then on the existing piece. Now, complete a single crochet through these loops.

    Continuing the pattern

    You can now continue your pattern as normal! In this example, my overlapping round was round 9, my connecting round was round 10, so I’ll pick my pattern back up starting from round 11.

    The fact that we’re able to follow the pattern exactly as written except for the addition of this outer round is something I think is really neat and useful for adding a little bit more detail and texture to patterns you might come across.

  • Mirrored Single Crochet – Left Handed

    Mirrored Single Crochet – Left Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to do a mirrored single crochet. This is a fairly niche technique that allows us to crochet as if we were using our non-dominant hand without learning to crochet right-handed. That said, this can be really awkward to do at first, but is incredibly useful when switching between working in continuous rounds and working in rows to mitigate the texture difference between the two.

    Comparison of normal sc and mirrored sc- on the right mirrored rows and normal rows alternate to keep the fronts of the single crochets on the same side.

    If you’re right handed, check that tutorial out here, and if you prefer a video tutorial, you can find that here.

    Single Crochet

    First I want to look at how a single crochet is worked in a little more depth so that we can ensure that our mirrored stitches are exactly matching how we’d work a normal single crochet.

    When we grab our yarn while working a single crochet, we turn the hook towards us, or towards the front of our work.

    This means that when we work a mirrored stitch, we want to turn the hook away from us.

    Mirroring the stitch

    Since we’re treating this as if it’s being worked with our other hand, we want to go into the next stitch through the back of our work. This will end up being the front of our mirrored stitch.

    We then lay the yarn over the hook, and grab it by turning the hook away from us.

    We pull that loop up to get two loops on our hook.

    We now do the same thing to complete the mirrored stitch. Lay the yarn over the hook, and grab it by turning the hook away. Pull this loop through both loops on your hook.

    That’s how we work a mirrored single crochet! This can be applied to other stitches as well. Pay close attention to how your hook moves while working as you normally would, and mirror it as we’ve done here. If you’re having trouble figuring out the mirrored version of a stitch, what I’ve done is taken a video from the back of my work to watch how the yarn and hook move on the back side. This allows me to see how the back of my work looks as I crochet it, and to copy that as I work facing the back in the mirrored version.

  • Mirrored Single Crochet – Right Handed

    Mirrored Single Crochet – Right Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to do a mirrored single crochet. This is a fairly niche technique that allows us to crochet as if we were using our non-dominant hand without learning to crochet left-handed. That said, this can be really awkward to do at first, but is incredibly useful when switching between working in continuous rounds and working in rows to mitigate the texture difference between the two.

    Comparison of mirrored sc and normal sc- on the left mirrored rows and normal rows alternate to keep the fronts of the single crochets on the same side.

    If you’re left handed, check that tutorial out here, and if you prefer a video tutorial, you can find that here.

    Single Crochet

    First I want to look at how a single crochet is worked in a little more depth so that we can ensure that our mirrored stitches are exactly matching how we’d work a normal single crochet.

    When we grab our yarn while working a single crochet, we turn the hook towards us, or towards the front of our work.

    This means that when we work a mirrored stitch, we want to turn the hook away from us.

    Mirroring the stitch

    Since we’re treating this as if it’s being worked with our other hand, we want to go into the next stitch through the back of our work. This will end up being the front of our mirrored stitch.

    We then lay the yarn over the hook, and grab it by turning the hook away from us.

    We pull that loop up to get two loops on our hook.

    We now do the same thing to complete the mirrored stitch. Lay the yarn over the hook, and grab it by turning the hook away. Pull this loop through both loops on your hook.

    That’s how we work a mirrored single crochet! This can be applied to other stitches as well. Pay close attention to how your hook moves while working as you normally would, and mirror it as we’ve done here. If you’re having trouble figuring out the mirrored version of a stitch, what I’ve done is taken a video from the back of my work to watch how the yarn and hook move on the back side. This allows me to see how the back of my work looks as I crochet it, and to copy that as I work facing the back in the mirrored version.

  • FSC Into Existing Piece – Left Handed

    FSC Into Existing Piece – Left Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to use a foundation single crochet (fsc) to extend an existing crochet piece. This is great for creating 90° corners on flat pieces, or creating branching in a 3D piece.

    If you aren’t familiar with foundation single crochets, you can find a tutorial for them here.

    If you prefer a video tutorial, you can find that here, and if you’re right handed you can find that tutorial here.

    Working into an existing piece

    The foundation single crochet is worked the same as normal, but the difference is where we begin the stitch. We aren’t working into a chain or into another foundation stitch, since we already have a piece we’re working on.

    To extend a piece with foundation single crochet at the end of a row, you’ll insert your hook back into the last stitch and pull up a loop, as if you’re doing an increase

    Now, you’ll yarn over and pull through just one loop on your hook.

    Then you’ll yarn over and pull through both loops.

    That point where we pull a loop through just one loop on our hook is essentially creating a chain at the bottom of the current row we’re working into. This keeps the fsc’s we’re using to extend this piece in line with the existing row. If we were to chain at the end of this row and work back, we’d be extending on the other side of our row. Using a chain at the start of a row and fsc’s at the end can allow you to make more of a T shape in your piece, with the chain and fsc’s keeping all stitches in line.

  • FSC Into Existing Piece – Right Handed

    FSC Into Existing Piece – Right Handed

    In this post, we’ll cover how to use a foundation single crochet (fsc) to extend an existing crochet piece. This is great for creating 90° corners on flat pieces, or creating branching in a 3D piece.

    If you aren’t familiar with foundation single crochets, you can find a tutorial for them here.

    If you prefer a video tutorial, you can find that here, and if you’re left handed you can find that tutorial here.

    Working into an existing piece

    The foundation single crochet is worked the same as normal, but the difference is where we begin the stitch. We aren’t working into a chain or into another foundation stitch, since we already have a piece we’re working on.

    To extend a piece with foundation single crochet at the end of a row, you’ll insert your hook back into the last stitch and pull up a loop, as if you’re doing an increase

    Now, you’ll yarn over and pull through just one loop on your hook.

    Then you’ll yarn over and pull through both loops.

    That point where we pull a loop through just one loop on our hook is essentially creating a chain at the bottom of the current row we’re working into. This keeps the fsc’s we’re using to extend this piece in line with the existing row. If we were to chain at the end of this row and work back, we’d be extending on the other side of our row. Using a chain at the start of a row and fsc’s at the end can allow you to make more of a T shape in your piece, with the chain and fsc’s keeping all stitches in line.