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Hand Chaining How To’s

How to videos are a great way to learn hand chaining. I viewed several this past week. My favorites are listed below.

A man holds up electrical cords that have been hand chained together for a more manageable length.
Here’s an example of a knot tying approach to hand chaining. Image is from artofmanliness.com; text is mine. For a front-facing view of chains with mixed yarn overs, see my Yarn Overs, Yarn Unders post.

After watching so many hand chaining videos, I found that only some show how to do it the crochet way. Other videos show a knitting style, or as a form of knot tying.  I’ve chosen a few video links for each approach so that you can try them and see which you like best.

Hand Chaining the Crochet Way

This is the chenille yarn that Kathleen Sams shows in her crochet video (see link below).

Hand chaining the crochet way means you’re using your fingers or whole hand the same way that you’d use a crochet hook. In crochet, if we put a loop on the crochet hook by winding the yarn around it, it’s called a yarn over. It’s also possible to just “grab” the yarn with the hook and pull it through with no actual yarn over. This has sometimes been called a yarn under. The yarn over is the standard, correct one.

Watch for when a hand chaining video shows the yarn over, or the yarn under, or mixes them. It’s tempting to use the yarn under when hand chaining because you can just reach through a loop, pinch the yarn, and pull it through. The simple pull-through of the yarn under makes for very quick hand chaining! However, if you plan to do most of your crocheting with a crochet hook, the yarn over is a very good habit to establish. 

Three videos that show yarn overs:

These next three videos show yarn unders:

  • Donna Wolfe of Naztazia.com starts off her video showing hand chaining by pinching the yarn with her two fingers to pull it through a loop: a yarn under. When she shows how to do the same thing with a crochet hook, she uses a standard yarn over.
  • Watch Kathleen Sams make hand chaining look so fast and easy with yarn unders and the thickest chenille yarn ever!
  • ThePreschoolMommy adds adorable sound effects to her yarn unders: “The fingers go ‘Hel-LOO’ and bite the yarn and pull it through.”

By the way, in most of these the adjustable slip knot is made instead of the locking one. Donna Wolfe uses the locking slip knot. Now try some of the other videos below for contrast. Whichever one you enjoy the most is the best one for you!

Hand Chaining the Knitting Way

Hand chaining with a knitting approach means that a finger or hand is held like a knitting needle while a loop is worked off of it. A possible advantage is that one tends to work at a smaller scale, keeping the loops closer to the fingers. This can help one to control the size of each chain stitch.

  • This video is a good example of a knitting style of hand chaining. She keeps a loop on her left finger, wraps the yarn over it with her right hand, then pulls the loop over the new loop and off the finger. (It reminds me of spool knitting, if the spool had only one peg.).
  • Laura Eccleston of Happyberry Crochet does it the same way.  She cautions that it is fiddly, not very easy.
  • Here’s a variation by Beadaholique. She uses beads and beading thread for making a necklace.

Hand Chaining the Knot Tying Way

The most noticeable thing to me about a knot tying approach is the terminology. A rope is bent, which is called a “bight,” and then pushed through a loop. Terms like “sinnet” or “knot” are used; never “stitch.”

There are a few other differences too. The purpose of hand chaining in these videos seems to be of practical interest mainly to men who need to make long lengths of heavy rope more manageable for storage, cleaning, or for a “quick deploy” survival bracelet. It’s also called a “zipper sinnet” and “chain shortening” because it quickly unravels when the rope is needed. It ranks as one of the Four Knots You Need to Know.

Here are a few knot tying videos on hand chaining:

Which videos do you enjoy? Which one can you do the most quickly? Which one produces the nicest-looking chain stitches for you?

Updated November 2018. It’s part of an experimental blog post series: Vashti’s How to Crochet Book

Aery Faery Offset Wrap

Included: photo step-outs and a stitch diagram for both right- and left-handed crocheters. 

The idea for Aery-Faery came from watching Once Upon a Time (a TV series based on fairy tales). I wondered if a glittering mohair and silk lace version of Aero and Warm Aeroette would be spellbinding. I proudly present Aery Faery.

Unlike Aero and Aeroette, (but like the new Diamond Ennis!), Aery Faery is not started in one corner. No increasing along the end of the Forward Pass is required. You can either seam the ends together to create a loop scarf, or steadily decrease to create scarf corners.

Skill Level

Intermediate. Here’s a list of five basic rules of Tunisian crochet patterns. Tunisian Shakti Scarfythings is rated Easy and would be a great introduction to simple lacy biasing. Aery Faery is a simplified version of my dramatic summery Tunisian filet designs like Aero and Ennis.

This pattern will likely be a new experience if you haven’t already crocheted an Aeroette (or Aero, Four PeaksShaktisIslander, or Petals), so I go slowly through the first rows and review key basics, just like I would in a class. As you continue with the pattern you’ll see Aery Faery’s simple logic. This will empower you to create exciting variations.

I’ve kept the pattern abbreviations to a minimum. Some may be new to you because they are specific to Tunisian lace crochet. UK and Australian equivalents for American terms included.

?After using this pattern, you will know (if you didn’t already): 

  • How to crochet a rectangular wrap with lacy offset rows of Tunisian crochet stitches.
  • How to turn a filet net parallelogram into a diagonal mesh-like rectangular scarf.
  • How to enjoy crocheting with a super fine weight fashion mohair yarn.
  • How to edge Tunisian crochet with lacy filet spaces as you go.
  • How to square up Tunisian filet edges with lean picots.

Finished Dimensions 

60″ x 16″ {152.4 x 40.64 cm} measured flat; drapes to 72″ {183} long. Width and length are easily customized.

Materials

  • Tunisian Crochet Hook: Size US G/7 {4.5 mm}, minimum 10″ {25.4 cm} long.
  • Yarn: Artyarns Silk Mohair Glitter (60% Super Kid Mohair, 40% Silk with Lurex; 312 yds/285 m per .88 oz/25 g skein): 2 skeins; color shown is the stunning opal-like “H-165.” 

To substitute a yarn of a similar Lace Weight thickness: Choose a #0 Super Fine Weight yarn with a recommended hook size range of US B/1 {2.00 mm} to US E/4 {3.5 mm}. The yarn I used is thinner than many mohair blends in this lace weight category, meaning it’s closer to “Cobweb.” To substitute a thicker or thinner yarn, try a crochet hook size that is 2 to 3 sizes larger than recommended for the yarn. See my newsletter #28 for more about crocheting with mohair. My favorite thing to do with mohair yarn is lacy Tunisian crochet!

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Hand Chaining, a Straddler of Worlds

Hand chaining is when you crochet chain stitches with your hands and fingers instead of with a crochet hook. It’s also called finger crocheting. Hand chaining is so easy! Kindergartners do it. It’s a popular way to crochet trendy necklace-scarves with fancy yarns in under 30 minutes.

Trendy Hand Chaining Trendy Necklace Scarves long
Love it! “Poseidon Scarf Kit” at loopymango.com

You might have learned hand chaining as a child in kindergarten, at camp, or from a babysitter. It’s often taught as a stand alone activity rather than as an introduction to the larger world of crochet, knot tying, or knitting. I don’t even remember how I learned it. I just already knew how by the time I officially learned how to crochet with a hook at the age of nine.

For the next blog post I viewed several videos that show how to do hand chaining as a crocheter, a knitter, or a knot tyer. It left me with a new way of thinking about the origins of crochet.

Not Just for Beginners

Hand chaining is so fun to do that even experienced crocheters are at risk of getting “hooked” (if they remember to try it). It’s often forgotten as a crochet method even though it offers nuanced control over unusual yarn combinations for edgy, artsy effects. I get new, deeper insights into simple stitches when I hand crochet them, thanks to the intimate, tactile experience of crocheting.

Hand chaining a special subset of crochet that merits a closer look than it usually gets.

Hand Chaining vs. Hook Chaining

Hand chaining (finger crocheting) loosely and tightly in 3 different fibers: sain cord, wool tube yarn, suede lacing.
Hand Chaining loosely vs. tightly. L to R: Satin cord, wool knit tube yarn, suede lacing.

Hand chaining cuts out the middleman (er, the crochet hook). This is perfect for crochet beginners! Learning to use a new tool with yarn loops for the first time takes the focus off of the stitch. Shouldn’t getting to know a stitch be the most important part of learning to crochet? Especially when that stitch—the chain stitch— is the foundational core of all crochet? I think so.

The crochet hook is the one central tool of crochet. When researchers encounter an unfamiliar fabric, they consider the tool used to create it. An item made with a crochet hook is usually classified as crocheted. I wonder how hand-chained items are classified.

Earliest Crochet Roots?

Hand chaining straddles two worlds: Crochet, and Knot Tying. The same basic crochet stitches can be made with hand chaining as with a crochet hook: Chain Stitch, Slip Stitch, and Single Crochet. (Other stitches are more of a struggle without a hook.) The fingers or the whole hand simply take the place of the crochet hook. Perhaps hand chaining came first, at least in some early cultures, and the crochet hook evolved to substitute for hands and fingers.

Among knot tying aficionados, hand chaining is called many other things: Drummer Boy’s Sinnet, Zipper Sinnet, Monkey Braid, Sea Chains, Chain Knots, Caterpillar Sinnet, and Daisy Chains. Boys and men may have encountered hand chaining via knot tying. Some practical uses among knot tyers include:

  1. To quickly neaten long lengths of rope or electrical wire for storage. (To this linked video, a commenter added, “This is used by riggers [who set up e.g. the ceiling on stages for rock concerts] as a cool way of shortening and storing several long ropes in a hurry.”)
  2. Launder climbing rope so that it can be easily machine washed, allowed to dry, and then “unzipped” for use afterwards.
  3. Watch James Dean absent-mindedly finger crochet with a rope while doing an interview in 1955! (Video starts as the camera is about to pan down to the rope he’s holding.)

-:———:-

Even if you already know how to crochet, I think Chain Stitch In Depth and other posts about crochet basics offer some new ways to think about our most basic and important crochet stitch of all, the Chain Stitch.

Updated November 2018. It’s part of an experimental blog post series: Vashti’s How to Crochet Book. Next post: Hand Chaining How-To’s.
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How to Crochet Slip Knot Variations

Steps to do a slip knot with more wraps when you need a decorative one.
View the above image full size.

 

Here’s the follow-up how-to for yesterday’s “Pros & Cons of the Starting Slip Knot” post. I’ve created photo step outs for two promising alternatives to the basic starting slip knot. The first is what I call the Buff Slip Knot, shown above. The second is the Three-Loop Starting Slip Knot.

Special Slip Knots for Crochet

The Buff Slip Knot

Like our general-purpose slip knot, the Buff version offers a slip loop that you adjust by tugging on the longer yarn end. Unlike many other knots I tested, the longer yarn end is waiting for you up where the slip loop is rather than down at the bottom of the knot near the short yarn end. Stays tidy-looking this way.

Tying it is like tying a basic slip knot that has more wraps. A crochet beginner might wish to come back to this one later. Follow the four steps shown above. (View the high-resolution image).

I listed ten possible functions crocheters might need from the starting slip knot in yesterday’s post. The Buff Slip Knot variation is an especially good candidate for advantages #6 and #10 on the list. Try it when you need or want a visible crochet slip knot that is nice looking. It’s symmetrical in more than one way. It’s also beefier if you wish to start with a large-holed bead accent.

The Three-Loop Slip Knot

This one may seem odd. Why would anyone want a crochet slip knot with three starting loops? This one is a great way to start right off crocheting with a finished, usable button loop, hanging loop, or other handy use for a secure loop. Think jewelry, cords and straps, and how about potholders?

Chained loops look less delicate than the satiny fine-grained texture of the puffpearls.
Puff stitches look finer than the chain stitches of the clasp loop!

Normally we’d start with a basic slip knot, crochet some chain stitches, then slip stitch them together to form a loop of chains. These work great for most things. Occasionally, chain stitches are too thick or textured for what I need. This tends to happen for me with jewelry projects. I’d like a slim loop to fit under a button clasp. The chained loops of these Puffpearl necklaces look unnecessarily chunky to me.

Another example is when a crocheted charm or pendant is designed to dangle. I’m thinking the Three-Loop one would have been a sleeker choice for the tops of the Lovebud Vines.

Three-Loop: How to Do It

The Three-Loop Slip Knot variation is similar to making a basic slip knot except: take the first 16″ or so* of your starting yarn end and fold it in half first. Use the fold to make the slip knot. Don’t pull the folded end all the way through.

3 steps to making a standard slip knot with a doubled length of yarn to result in 3 loops, not 1.
View higher-res image.

*Use a longer length than 16″ if you’ll be crocheting both ends together throughout, like I did in image #6 below. It’ll depend completely on each project. (It’s a great way to avoid weaving in the end.)

Adjust and tweak the final desired size of the loops first before tightening completely. Then, pull the knot tight enough to give it a streamlined look.

Starting slip knot variation: this one has 3 loops. One goes on your crochet hook; after crocheting, two loops are left.
How the 3-loop slip knot looks with a simple foundation chain. View full size.

Here again is a feature I appreciate: the long yarn end is waiting close to the loop that goes on the crochet hook. This means you won’t have to see a stringy strand of yarn traveling over the knot, which would look messy, asymmetrical, and unnecessary.

Updated November 2018. It’s part of an experimental blog post series: Vashti’s How to Crochet Book. Next post: Hand Chaining, a Straddler of Worlds.
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Why I’d Want to Learn How to Crochet

Crocheted honeycomb slots of the Big Hook Bucket seen from the top.
Pictured: Honeycomb-top Big Hook Bucket!

 

After decades of crocheting and writing about it, I’ve reconsidered the essential character and fundamentals of crochet. I’m an even bigger fan than I already was! Consider what is remarkable about crochet with me:

Why I’d Want to Learn How to Crochet

Easy Control

Terms like easy and simple come up often about crochet. They usually imply not complicated, but I think that’s misleading. What’s easy about crochet is that you have a lot of built-in control. The hook provides it, and the logical structure of one “locked down” loop at a time does it.

Irresistible Rhythm

Crocheting has a wonderfully rejuvenating rhythm. It’s comforting to frayed nerves and reassuring in difficult times. I would want to learn how to crochet just to have this experience.

The Textures Look Complex

The result is a textured fabric that looks more complex than it is. I also appreciate how the inter-looped structure reinforces the material used. It can take the form of diaphanous, seemingly two-dimensional weightless fabrics, a stretchy wind-proof covering, a luxe pearl strand, or a big free-standing figure.

Rapid-Rip

The whole piece is easily “unzipped.” Crocheters call it frogging (because you “rip-it”). The yarn can then be reused, unlike with macramé, for example, which requires you to use several cut pieces instead of one continuous length.

Experience Every Color & Fiber

Stack of sparkling crocheted Solstice Bangles.
Crocheted wire, fancy embroidery braids, and metallic flosses: Solstice Bangles.

If I didn’t already know how, I’d want to learn how to crochet just to try crocheting with yarns of different fibers, colors, and thicknessesIt’s a new experience each time. I’m in control of what I spend, too: each crochet project can be as economical or expensive as I want it to be.

I’d say that anything based on manipulating several yards (meters) of stringy stuff will not be easy initially for some folks, but the small challenge is so worth it. Wielding that crochet hook gives you the edge you need to control the yarn while it flows through your fingers at a good rate. It takes just a bit of practice to get up to speed.

As Fast & Portable As Needed

Crochet is as fast, lightweight, and portable as you want it to be. You’re in control there too. No bulky or heavy frames or looms to manage with crochet. Even hairpin lace, a crochet lace technique that uses a type of “loom,” is portable. Most of these mitts were crocheted in one day during a road trip!

I learned how to play the piano, and how to weave, and neither of these was very portable. I’d want to learn how to crochet like some people want to learn guitar: so that they can play anywhere.

Varied & Versatile

Finally, I’d want to learn how to crochet because it adapts to every phase of my life. It’s a distinctly useful, accessible, and versatile construction method. As a child I crocheted things for my sister’s dolls, and for my teachers and friends. As an expectant mother I crocheted things for the baby and to help me wait. I’ve crocheted trendy accessories, toys, Halloween props, protective shields for tech items, educational aids, and the best thing I’ve ever worn to a memorial service.

Double-stranded Lovelace swatch: sport weight Lotus and lace weight glittery mohair.
I designed Lovelace to see a northern stitch & southern stitch together in a project!

Historically, crochet developed in several places worldwide. Too bad the specifics of when, and in relation to where, are under-researched and inconclusive.

Given that crochet is a dramatically responsive technique, its development is likely to show marks of time, place, and purpose. For example, doesn’t it seem likely that crochet used in icy climates would develop different stitch patterns, methods, and materials from crochet that developed in tropical climates?

About the Name Crochet

It’s French and means small hook. It’s properly pronounced cro-shay. (Many crochet how-to books don’t give the pronunciation, so I thought I should.) Occasionally I see it spelled crotchet, so perhaps some people pronounce it that way.

All of us English speakers use the French term. In other languages, to crochet is called:

  • tejer in Spanish,
  • häkeln in German,
  • szydelkowac in Polish,
  • Gōu biān in Chinese,
  • virkning in Swedish,
  • hekle in Norwegian, and
  • haken in Dutch.

Defining Crochet

Crochet how-to books start out with some kind of introductory description of crochet. I started to write that for this post, then remembered that I did this for the launch of my DesigningVashti.com website! I still like what I wrote there, so please have a look.

Update: In 2018 I suggested this definition of crochet to the Center for Knit and Crochet. As a starting point the group has been using The Getty’s indexing description:

Textile construction involving the interlocking of looped stitches, employing a single cord or strand of yarn and a single hooked needle.

My preference:

Textile construction involving the continual loosening, tightening, wrapping, and interlocking of adjustable loops to form a range of stitch types. A fabric can be built in any direction by adding new stitches anywhere, including “in the air” to add a foundation for new stitches. This freeform property distinguishes crochet from linear grid-based textiles such as weaving (and perhaps nålbinding and knitting). Usually, a single strand of cord or yarn is employed at a time. More than one strand may be held together and used as one, or alternated in use (such as to change colors frequently).

The primary tool is a crochet hook, which resembles a dowel of any diameter with a hook at one end (sometimes at both ends). Stainless steel is the preferred material for the crochet hooks of extremely small diameters (typically 1.75 mm down to .5 mm, for use with superfine threads) for greatest strength and durability. This is probably why the crochet hook may still be referred to with the outdated term “needle”.

This page was updated November 2018. It’s part of an experimental blog post series: Vashti’s How to Crochet Book. Next post: Start Crocheting From Scratch.