Instructions: The Foundation Stitch

This stitch allows you to begin or add onto a project without a beginning chain. The way it works is that you make a chain in each stitch, so your “beginning” chain is along the top of your first row, and the actual stitches are along the bottom. When you have the number of stitches needed, turn and work your second row.

This method works best if the actual first row of your pattern consists of one stitch into each chain. It is possible to use the foundation stitch if your first row is something like “sc in the 2^nd chain from hook, *skip 2 sts, 5 dc in next ch, skip 2 sts, sc in next ch, repeat from * across”, but you will have to put a lot more thought into what you are doing. In such cases, it is probably better to work a row of sc and then on the 2^nd row begin the pattern stitch that involves skipping and crocheting multiple times in the same place.

Here’s how you do the foundation stitch:

Single Crochet Row: Chain 2; insert hook in 2^nd chain from hook; *yo and pull loop through (2 loops on hook); yo and pull through 1 loop (chain made – good idea to mark with your thumb and finger so you can find it again); yo and pull through 2 loops, forming the single crochet*.

Next stitch: insert hook under 2 loops of chain made in the previous stitch; follow directions above between * and *.

Half Double Crochet Row: Chain 2; yo; insert hook in 2^nd ch from hook; yo and pull loop through (3 loops on hook); yo and pull through 1 loop (chain made – mark so you can find it again); yo and pull through 3 loops on hook, forming the half double crochet*.

Next stitch: *yo; insert hook under 2 loops of chain made in the previous stitch; yo and pull loop through (3 loops on hook); yo and pull through 1 loop (chain made); yo and pull through all 3 loops on hook*. Repeat from * to *.

Double Crochet Row: Chain 3; yo; insert hook in 3^rd ch from hook; yo and pull loop through (3 loops on hook); yo and pull through 1 loop (chain made – mark so you can find it again); yo and pull through 2 loops twice to complete double crochet.

Next stitch: *yo; insert hook under 2 loops of chain made in the previous stitch; yo and pull loop through (3 loops on hook; yo and pull thorugh 1 loop (chain made); yo and pull through 2 loops twice to complete double crochet.

Karen Klemp - May 2006

WORKING WITH NOVELTY YARNS

If you have never used some of the wispy or heavily slubbed novelty yarns before, the following tips should help minimize the frustration of working with a totally different type of yarn. Once you have worked with them a time or two, it will be a breeze, but at first, you might find it difficult.

n      If working with the very wispy type of eyelash, you need to carry it with another yarn. It works very well with another wispy yarn, such as a flag yarn. Other possibilities include a sportweight slubbed rayon, a lightweight boucle, or even a lightweight smooth cotton-rayon blend.

n      Use a large hook so the “lashes” on the yarn can hang free. They should not be all matted and tight. If lashes get caught in a stitch, you can generally coax them to pop out by giving your work a gentle shake.

n      If your eyelash comes wrapped on a foam core or a cardboard tube, it is extremely easy to use. Just find the end and unwind it from the outside.  If it has no core, AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, I recommend that you find the outside of the ball and wrap it securely around the outside.  Then fish inside the ball for the other end of the yarn, and pull it out from the inside.  It may come out in a big clump that you then need to wind around the outside of the ball, but if you just start using this type of ball from the outside, you may find about halfway through that the inside and the outside are twisting around each other, causing a major problem.

n      The same rule holds true with carry yarns that are sold without an inner foam core or cardboard tube, such as Trendsetter’s Flora, Charm, or Charming.

n      When working with highly slubbed yarn, the slubs sometimes appear right at the point where you would hook the yarn to pull it through. When this happens, hook the yarn just past the slub and pull through.  The slub will then be a kind of loop that sticks up, but that’s what it is meant to do.

Try not to unravel your work, but if you absolutely must, go very slowly, teasing the yarn with each stitch.  The eyelashes tend to get wrapped around stitches and can be pretty tough to pull out.  The same is true with heavily slubbed yarn.