Expert: Frances Rhea - 1/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have begun crocheting a baby's blanket.  This is my first piece of work.  I am using the hdc for the entire blanket with ch2 to begin each row.  I am now on row 6 and my work is curling  almost from the beginning.  How do I undo this curling without having to undo the work I have already begun?

ANSWER: Curling on the edges is caused by having too much yarn at that point. How can you remove too much yarn without going back? You can't. Where would you put the extra yarn?

Often a pattern is written where you are told to make one to many turning chains. For example on the hdc there should only be ch1, on dc it should be ch2. This is true any time that you want to keep straight edges without ruffles. Having the smaller chain forces the edges to pull slightly together instead of letting it stretch even further.

Sorry...sometimes you just gotta do it over.

Unless you put edging on it and tighten it up with the edging stitches when you are finished.

Fran

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Your response..."Curling on the edges is caused by having too much yarn at that point."  Does this mean I am crotcheting stitches to loosely and that I need to pull or hold the yarn a little tighter to avoid curling?

Answer
No, it has nothing to do with tension. In the second paragraph I indicated that when you make the chain to start a new row, if a pattern says ch 3, then ch 2; if it says ch 4, then ch 3.

This method works because it makes the first stitch in each row slightly smaller than the others. This stops the curling.

This can be used anytime you start a row unless the beginning chain makes a stitch such as a dc or tr along with a chain space.

Hope this helps.

Fran