Suppose though as a beginner, maybe learning all that stuff from the off wouldn’t have been appropriate and be too much of an info overload. Plus, I likely wouldn’t have really understood what I would be looking for in my experiments anyway. I think now is a perfect time to familiarise myself with all the above, because I know what I want from crochet and how I want my finished objects to look and feel, as well as my curiosity getting the better of me. And if you’re a regular reader here, then you will know that it’s no news that I like learning and improving all the time, so here we are. My crochet laboratory is well and truly open!
I managed to make 10 in total for this round of testing. Some were stitches I’ve been curious about for some time, some came from when working in one stitch, leading me to try other ideas and sort of seeing- ‘well what if I did it this way’, or ‘what if I add an extra stitch here’ etc. I actually had an extremely fun time doing all these swatches and I learned a lot.
I do have notes attached to them all (the pink tags on the above photo), but I wanted to have them in here as well, to go into a little more detail and also so that my notes are in one place. OK, here goes, on to the results… I’m using USA crochet terminology by the way, because that’s the one which feels more universal.
Granny Stitch
Time taken: 1 hour 40 mins
Amount of yarn used: 10g
Foundation chain is multiples of 4, plus 6
I thought this one worked up really nicely in this specific acrylic. It’s still a fairly stiff feel result, though I expect that to soften up when washed. It would definitely work well for some kind of top, which I expect to create at some point. I also would like to try this with a 5mm hook, which I feel it’s screaming out for me to try! I think it might appear a little more flow-y in a larger hook size. I am looking to make something using this stitch, so do watch this space.
Granny Stitch
Time taken: 1 hour 15 mins
Amount of yarn used: 8g
Foundation chain is multiples of 4, plus 6
I wanted to try the same stitch in cotton, as I thought it would be well suited to a summer style top. Cotton is a lot lighter material than acrylic, though the only cotton I had at that point was amigurumi cotton- a kind which I quickly realised wasn’t especially appropriate for garment creation. It formed a quite heavy/ bulky fabric, more suited to something such as a homeware item rather than a wearable. I tried with two hook sizes on this- the 2.5mm working slightly better IMO, but obviously depends what sort of look you want to go with. I’ll save the rest of this cotton for amigurumi, or indeed other items that I’m not planning on wearing…
Filet Crochet Mesh Stitch
Time taken: 1 hour
Amount of yarn used: 6g
Foundation chain is an even no., plus 6 for DC, or 5 for HDC
As a continuation from the Granny Stitch, I wanted to try other stitch patterns with holes in, to see how they work up, especially as it’s coming to spring now and jumper season is, unfortunately, slowly on its way out. Don’t worry, I still very much dislike the cold weather, but I do enjoy a good jumper(!), which is why I say ‘unfortunate’. I do really like the look of this one and the smaller holes make it feel slightly more modest than the aforementioned Granny Stitch- I don’t know if I’m brave enough to wear a top with that amount of holes in! But you never know… And to be honest, I’m just thinking of how much sun cream you’d need to put on for this sort of garment!! That’s something I’d not be looking forward to. Some of the mesh style garments I’ve seen online do look amazing though, so I’d potentially want to try a creation using this.
Filet Crochet
Time taken: 1 hour 10 mins
Amount of yarn used: 8g
Foundation chain is an even no., plus 6 for DC, or 5 for HDC
Continuing from the previous two stitches, I decided I’d want to try filling in every other hole of the mesh stitch, which I’m assuming is Filet Crochet. It gives a similar feel to Granny Stitch, but I don’t think the pattern/ structure is quite as appealing as the former. It does feel lighter than that one though, so there is that, but if I were to choose between the two, Granny Stitch would be my pick.
Half Double Back Loop Only
Time taken: 55 mins
Amount of yarn used: 9g
Foundation chain is to the required size, plus 1 for HDC
Going back to basics here! As I purchased this yellow yarn with the intent of making a ribbed sweater vest, I wanted to create a swatch to see how it would work up. And I think it looks lovely! It also feels super nice to touch and is really stretchy- I really can’t wait to get going with this one. I’ve rarely used my 5mm hook, so after doing 8 rows in my standard 4mm, I decided to switch out of curiosity. I really like the chunky ridges that the 5mm creates, but the tightness of the 4mm is simultaneously desirable. I still can’t decide which one to go with and for that reason, I purchased a 4.5mm hook, which might just be my Goldilocks moment! We shall see…
Almond Stitch
Time taken: 55 mins each
Amount of yarn used: 5g and 6g
Foundation chain is multiples of 8, plus 5
Very early on in my crochet ‘career’, I had this idea to make a cable style cricket vest. I love, love, love cricket and used to play and every now and again cricket vests/ jumpers come into fashion. This used to annoy me because not a lot of people I knew liked cricket, but they were happy to wear one of these garments! I was always disappointed when I eagerly asked them if they liked cricket, though said they didn’t. Anyway, regaling stories from my youth aside, I’ve been wanting one of these vests for some time, but never bit the bullet, because the legit ones for cricket are either pretty pricey and/ or have giant logos on, as is the nature of lots of sportswear these days. Oh capitalism… The one I have in my head is a simple off white affair, with a couple of dark green stripes on the ribbing to represent my beloved Worcestershire County Cricket Club. So, now I’m able to crochet, I will be making it and there will be zero sponsors or logos!
Once I found the Almond Stitch, I knew that would be the perfect one for this garment and it really does work up nicely. It’s so textural and comfy looking, I honestly can’t wait to make this one. I tried two swatches here, though only one photo will be sufficient, because from the pictures, they do look very similar. The 4mm works up quite tightly, though the 5mm is much too loose in my opinion and will definitely go looser after washing. Perhaps this will be one for the magic 4.5mm hook as well. I definitely need to put that into practise…
Granny Stitch
Time taken: 1 hour
Amount of yarn used: 9g
Foundation chain is multiples of 4, plus 6
After using the amigurumi cotton yarn and disliking the properties for garment making, I wanted to purchase some cotton more suited for clothing. I saw a few nice ideas for some crochet shirts I’d like to try, so these next few tests are with the purpose of that in mind. Because the previous cotton test was for the Granny Stitch, I wanted the first swatch I made out of this cotton to also be Granny Stitch, so I had a direct comparison. And as expected, this one worked up so much softer and could definitely be something one could wear. It feels really lightweight and flow-y.
Filet Crochet
Time taken: 40 mins
Amount of yarn used: 8g
I chained 22 plus 3
Continuing in the same cotton, I wanted to make something with less gaps in, as I knew this would likely be the yarn I use for when I make my shirt. I didn’t want to use the previous stitch and a shirt tutorial I found on YouTube used a similar stitch pattern to this one, so I thought I’d give that a go to see how it worked up using this cotton. I really like the result in terms of look, and it feels super light with a nice drape, so perfect for a shirt. It’s safe to say I’ve already purchased the required amount of yarn ready for this project!
Filet Crochet
Time taken: 45 mins
Amount of yarn used: 9g
I chained 22 plus 3
And lastly, (wow this has been a wordy post- I think I’ll post after each 5 swatches in the future, as opposed to 10, because it is quite a lot otherwise) I wanted to try some 50% cotton, 50% acrylic blend, out of curiosity. I found myself in a quite fortunate position with all this, because I was gifted a Hobbycraft card at Christmas, so felt like I had the means to purchase yarn types I wouldn’t usually, with intention of having a good play. This yarn really does feel like a cross between the two, but works up a slightly heavier feel fabric than the 100% cotton yarn above. I used the same stitch pattern to act as a direct comparison. I won’t use it for the shirt I’m planning on making, but it might have its uses at some point down the line, though I can’t think for exactly what at this point. Perhaps some amigurumi, or more swatches just for the fun of it- I do have 91g left to mess with!
Right, leaving this here! See you next time xo
