Join with a Standing Crochet Stitch

I have become a fan of using standing stitches when joining a new yarn to an existing row, especially when joining with a single crochet.

This technique removes the slip stitch to join and the chain for stitch height. It just works the stitch.

Working a Standing Single Crochet

So to work a standing single crochet is worked by creating a loop on your hook, just as if you were going to being a project. Insert your hook into the stitch to be joined to, yarn over and pull up a loop.

Working a Standing Single Crochet, with a beginning loop on the hook, insert hook into stitch to join.
Continue to work Standing Single Crochet, by pulling up a loop.

Now yarn over and pull through both the loops on the hook. Basically you just work a single crochet, because there is already a loop on the hook to finish the stitch just as you always have.

Finish a Standing Single Crochet by working a yarn over, and pull through both loops on the hook.

If you want to work this with other stitches that have a yarn over before inserting the hook, it can be a bit trickier, but with a little attention to detail is can be readily done.

Work a Standing Double Crochet

To work a standing double crochet for instance, place a loop on you work just as if you your beginning a crochet project, now yarn over you hook. This will feel very awkward as there is nothing to help keep the yarn over in place, so you may want to slide this up you hook and pinch it with the loop under your fingers while holding the hook.

Beginning a Standing Double Crochet, by yarning over the hook before inserting it into the stitch to join. Be careful to hold the yarn over on your hook as it can easily slip off.

Now insert the hook into the joining location, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through the loop and the yarn over you have been pinching on the hook. Then yarn over and pull through the last two loops.

The next step of the Standing Double Crochet is to pull up a loop, still being careful not to lose that added yarn over, as it is still able to twist itself off the hook.
The third step of a Standing Double Crochet lets you breath a little easier ass you pull through both the loop and the yarn off that has been on the hook.
Finish the Standing Double Crochet by pulling through the last two loops on the hook.

You will notice that with all standing stitches the “tail” of the yarn is at the top of the stitch, not at the bottom as is where it is found in traditional joins.

One nice thing about this type of join is that it looks like all the other stitches, and it saves a bit of yarn.

No Stitch Join and Standing Stitches

ScannedImageThe more I play in crochet, the more I realize there really are no rules.

It seems that with colder weather finally descending on my community, everyone wants to crochet hats; most of them first time crocheters. So, as of late I have been teaching how to start circles, all three different ways. I have been teaching how to increase stitches. I have been teaching how to join rounds.

An interesting thing with joining rounds, there are a couple of ways to do it, and it can give you some different results. The method that I have been playing with lately does not actually involve a stitch at all.

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Remove hook from working loop, insert it in the point of the join.

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Put working loop over hook and pull it through joining point.

When you get to the point of joining, the hook is removed from the working loop and inserted into the point of the join, the working loop is then slipped back on the hook and pulled through the point of join. This creates a join that has no extra yarn, no extra loops, and does not necessarily flatten out the stitch that is joined to as can happen with joining to a beginning chain.

If this is not enough, I added in a chainless starting stitch. So anytime you begin a new round or when working flat and turning your work, you usually chain a certain number of stitches to equate to the height of the stitches that are being worked. This is because all crochet stitches end at the top of the stitch, and thus the stitches next to it need to be of a similar height or it just pulls the stitches down. When beginning a new round the working loop is at the base poof the new stitches, and if no beginning chain is worked it can pull the stitch over and distort it. However, to get to this height of stitches, you do not necessarily need a chain.

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Pull up a long loop and work a double crochet in the same stitch.

Sometimes this is called a standing stitch, essentially all it is, is a long loop. After pulling the loop through the joining point, pull it up nice and tall, then work a double crochet (or whichever stitch you may be working) in the same stitch. You can even work the long loop among the stitch making it even less visible.

There are always pros and cons to various techniques, and with these two I find that the join can create a slight distortion, but in a different manner then the slip stitch; also it is a little slower to work and when I am crocheting along mindlessly it definitely stops my rhythm. One of the things I really like about this join is that it closes any gaps that might be created in my stitch placements at the joining point.

With the standing join, it is nice that everything looks pretty uniform, and there is no beginning chain that looks different than the rest of the stitches, yet there are times that the long loop can get a little distorted and uneven for me, I guess I need to work on getting a more even tension with it.

I guess with crochet there is always more to discover.