Expert: Marla - 10/26/2011

Question
I have an old pattern called The City Stitcher Crochet collection by Janet Miller. The pattern is Button Fringe Heart Necklace. I want to enlarge it to make a 7x7 purse and dont know how to do that. It calls for #10 crochet cotton but I want to use another type of yarn. How do I enlarge it and what types of yarn could I use. Thank You.

Answer
Hi Evon!
Thanks for asking!
First, you you would need to know the gauge of the #10, since this is the size that the pattern calls for. The pattern tells you how many stitches there are so it will take a little calculation, and a little bit of hit and miss of trying different sizes of hooks and yarn for the enlargement.  This is how you can calculate what you need: For example, suppose you have a pattern that is 2 inches long. Your hook, with the the thread you are using in this pattern has a gauge of 8 stitches to the inch. For the two inch piece there are 16  stitches. Now you want to increase the size from two to three inches, without changing the pattern. So what you will need to do is to find a hook and yarn that gives you a gauge of 16 stitches to a three inch piece.
You would also need to calculate the size of the rows for a hook, too, but this, I hope gives you an idea of what to do.

I hope this helps. If you need further help, let me know, but I'll need to know how many stitches there are, and what type, and how large the purse is with the #10 thread, and what size hook was used. Good luck!

Marla