Last time I looked at selecting the right stitch pattern for your project. Well what’s next?
Once you’ve selected your stitch pattern(s) and identified what you’ll make with it, it’s worth having a think about the repeat of the pattern and your design.
Multiplicity Shawl Stitch Pattern with a repeat of 8 sts- Click image for free crochet pattern
Make it adjustable
I like to make my items such as baskets and hats size customisable. So if the stitch pattern uses a multiple of 4 sts, the foundation should start with a multiple of 4 stitches and add a multiple of 4 stitches each time (if it is a project which grows such as a hat). When considering Diamond Trellis Basket, this was the case, but I also thought ahead to the fact that I’d want two evenly spaced handles, so needed the number of repeats to be even each time. Therefore I needed a multiple of 8 stitches in each round of the base so that the pattern would always work out for any size of base!
Diamond Trellis Crochet Basket – free crochet pattern – stitch pattern uses a repeat of 8
Combining multiple stitch pattern repeats:
The pattern repeat is also important if you are combining multiple stitch patterns. For example, one pattern may have a repeat of 6 stitches, and another may have a repeat of 4 stitches.
If you’re making a straight sided piece such as a rectangular scarf or a blanket, you’ll need to find the lowest common multiple (LCM) of both the pattern repeat numbers.
If you’re afraid of maths, don’t worry, because you can always find the LCM using this calculator. In this case, the lowest common multiple of 6 and 4 is 12. Begin the piece with a foundation which is a multiple of 12 stitches – such as 24 or 36 – easy!
Stitch pattern repeats of 4 and 2 are combined on this Chunky Diamond Infinity Scarf – LCM=4
LCM works for any number of stitch patterns – see what happens if you want to combine 4 pattern repeats – the more different repeat lengths you add the bigger your foundation length will likely need to be, something worth bearing in mind if you are aiming to make a skinny scarf rather than a blanket!
Don’t forget that if you are working in rows, you will need to add a +1 stitch to your foundation to anchor the final repeat.
Next time: Shaping & How to Increase and Decrease in Stitch Patterns – do let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover in this series and I’ll do my best!
Filed under: Crochet Patterns, How to Design Crochet Patterns, Tutorials
