{"id":2069,"date":"2009-10-01T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2009-10-01T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionbrand.com/community/blog\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2023-03-05T06:53:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T11:53:09","slug":"motif-afghan-crochet-along-crochet-techniques-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionbrand.com/community/blog\/motif-afghan-crochet-along-crochet-techniques-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Motif Afghan Crochet-Along: Crochet Techniques, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I showed you how to start a motif in the round using a sliding loop. This week and next, I’m going to share a few more tips that might make our stitching more attractive and attend to some of those nagging details that keep our motifs from looking their best.<\/p>\n

Now that you’ve got a few motifs under your belt, take a good look at them. Are you happy with the way they look? I’m not talking about the color this time\u2014that was last week. Now I’m talking about their overall appearance. It’s hard, but try to be objective. This is just you looking at your own work\u2014nobody else is in the room, so you can be as harsh a critic as you dare.
\n\"Motif

Whenever you are working from a pattern, you should realize that the designer had to make certain assumptions, and perhaps to obey certain pattern-writing conventions that make patterns more standardized. In other words, the designer can’t possibly put into each pattern every single “improving” technique that she might know. It’s up to the crocheter to learn and apply some of these techniques for herself (or himself). Now, before you get into a huff about this, think: it’s no different from cooking. Recipes don’t tell you every single move to make, but you’ve learned cooking techniques and apply them all the time. It’s the same for crochet.<\/p>\n

By now, hopefully you have a pretty good idea of how the motif is made, and perhaps you are stitching without even consulting the pattern. Fine! But now let’s take a closer look at how the motif is constructed. I encourage you to refer to the chart for this part.<\/p>\n

Changing the beginning of the round<\/strong>
\nThe motif we are working on was written as if the entire thing was going to be worked in one color, or with one continuous strand of yarn. Those of you familiar with reading crochet patterns will have deduced this already, because the rounds flow directly from one to another using joins to end a round followed by chain stitches to bring the hook up ready to work the next round.<\/p>\n

As written, the pattern calls for a hdc join at the end of Round 1. This hdc takes the place of a (ch-2, slip st) join; it creates a “ch-2” space, but leaves the hook in place to begin Round 2. I could do it exactly as written, adding my new color on the final joining stitch. However, because I am doing every round in a different color, I am going to finish off the color at the end of every round, then join a new color for the next round. I don’t need to use the hdc join, because once I finish Round 1, I’m going to be changing colors. I can start my new color anywhere.<\/p>\n

\"hdc