Saturday, November 21, 2015

Tutorial: Front/Back Post Double Crochet

There's this group in Facebook that hosts a crochet-along event every month, and this month's project is a Twisty Cabled Beanie (original pattern here). A special stitch (front post double crochet or fpdc) is used in this pattern, and I'm going to give you a visual step-by-step guide on how to make it.

Assuming that you already have a working row (not a base row):

Step 1: Loop yarn over hook



Step 2: Insert hook (from front) on the side of the stitch you are currently working on. Move hook around the back of the stitch and out the other side.



Step 3: Yarn over hook and pull loop through.



Step 4: Proceed as how you work on a dc (yarn over, pull two times).



If you wish to make it a front post treble crochet (fptr), instead of working on a dc, just work it as a tr. Same concept applies for back post double crochet (bpdc).

Here's a look of the stitch along side a regular double crochet.

Top: back view of an fpdc. Bottom: front view of an fpdc.
An instruction on how to make an fptr, fpdc, and bpdc are included in the pattern linked at the beginning of this post. When I first read it, I got confused and did it wrong. That is why I want to provide this visual step-by-step guide so you won't get confused like I did.


Sunday, November 15, 2015

Tutorial: Modified Fan Stitch

It's been a while since my last post, been busy with work and the family. I also wanted to finish a crochet project first before I make another post.

This is what I've been working on for the past three weeks. It's a cowl. It's a shrug. It's a skirt. In other words, you can wear it anyway you like.


I won't dive into the pattern in this post. This post is a tutorial on the stitch I used for this project - a modified fan stitch.

Modified Fan Stitch (mfs):

Base row (chain stitches) should be in multiples of 7 plus 2.
Important note: This is the count when you're not going to round or connect your base chain. If you intend to make it in a round, you need to make it in multiples of 7 minus 1.

One cluster of this stitch is: dc, skip 2 st, 5 dc, sk 2 st, dc. At the very beginning, the first dc in the cluster is the first 3 chains from the hook. So you actually start at the 6th chain with 5dc.

An up close look on the stitch.



For my multi-purpose cowl/shrug/skirt, I worked on 210 chains in a round (update: make yours in multiples of 7 minus 1, I made a mistake in making my project). I just sc'd through all the chain and used the mfs on the succeeding rows.

Simple, right?