Expert: Ed Matos - 1/3/2009

Question
Hi Ed.
My mother is making a rectangular rug with crochet.
But the measurements are not holding. She starts out making it 1.87 meters long but as she progresses, it gets longer.
Do you have any idea why that is?

Thanks so much for your time!

Answer
Kika:

Thanks for the question.

In this case the tension is unstable / inconsistent. If its too big, then I would go for a smaller needle. If the pattern has a gauge, then I would suggest that a needle change is in order.

Now once the piece is started, it is important to maintain the tension, so the piece will have a even tension to it and not grow like it is.

Now of the growth is not because of tension, then you can look at making sure that the required number of stitches are in place, so that there is not extra stitches in the piece. That is another problem that can occur, since extra stitches are being worked, the gauge will definitely be off.

Hope that this helped.

Happy hooking

Ed