to troubleshooting patterns!

Standard Abbreviations
beg:beginning ch:chain dc:doublecrochet dec:decrease hdc:halfdoublecrochet inc:increase rem:remaining rep:repeat rnd(s):round(s) sc:singlecrochet sc2tog:sc2sts together sl st:slipstitch st(s):stitch(es)

A Note about Increases

Patternsusedifferentphrasingtotalk aboutworkingincreases. Bepreparedtoseeanyofthefollowing: Increaseinnextst Sctwiceinnextst 2scinnextst Decreasesarecanbewrittenaseither decreaseorsc2tog.

Repeats (aka: what is that funny * symbol?)

Acrochetpatternmaytellyoutorepeatacertaininstructionanumberoftimes.Repeatscan bewrittenin2differentways: *Incinnextst,scinnextst.Repeatfrom*2times. or [Incinnextst,scinnextst]3times. Noticethatwhenalinecontainsan(*),youshouldcompletetheinstructiononce,andthen repeatthespecifiednumberoftimes.Intheexampleabove,thismeansyoushouldIncinnext st,scinnextstforatotalofthreetimes.

Reading Stitch Counts

Patternsoftencontainstitchcountstohelpyououtbutthey canbeconfusingifyouarentprepared!Hereisatypicalline fromapattern: Round2:Sctwiceineachst.(12) Whatdoesthat12mean?Thatnumberinparenthesesisyour stitchcount:thenumberofstitchesyoushouldhaveattheend ofyourround/row.

Feeling confused?
Tryreadingthepattern aloud!Hearingthe patterninwordsoften helps! Gauge: now what?
Doyour24sts measure4? Ifso,thenyourerighton! Ifnot,thenyoullneedto changeyourhooksize. Ifyourswatchissmallerthan 4,goupahooksize.Ifits bigger,thenuseasmaller hook.

Gauge: need it?

Q:Doyoureallyneed tocheckgauge? A:Depends.Doyou wantyourfinisheditem tobetherightsize? Ifyouremaking clothing,thengaugeis crucial.Fortoysand washcloths,maybenot. Itsuptoyou!

Gauge: how to measure

Example: 24stitchesand18rows=4inches 1. Grabyourruler 2. Crochetaswatchthatincludes thespecifiednumberof stitches 3. Measureyourswatch

2012StaceyTrock

www.freshstitches.com