I enjoy your information

Hold your hook the way that is comfortable for you. Nothing I hate more than those that try to tell others how to hold their hook, yarn, or project while crocheting. My sister and I crochet together a lot. We both create beautiful projects. I crochet tight and she crochets very loose. I have taught her things and she has taught me many things.

For the longest time I thought I was holding my hook and crocheting wrong. None of the tutorials I watched had anyone holding and crocheting the way I did. Then one day I found a KZfaqr who held the yarn with her thumb instead of her pointer finger, and felt justified. If your projects come out as planned, it doesn’t matter how you get there.

Your sister is a bit of a B huh? My condolences.

@@jackbauer2698 I haven’t seen her in years. I hope I am never someone who people are glad to not see.

💯 agree

Yes I love that also

I agree with you

Thanks Crystal for showing the difference ways to do a foundation chain. I love the yarn you used. What brand and colour is it?

Agree.

I have used both methods and prefer the back bump cause clean edge.

So sorry you lost your mom at such a young age. Mine passed away at 67, but that still seems like way too young. I still miss her every day. I'm glad Crystal's videos and crocheting are helping you cope. I call crocheting my therapy all the time. 💕

@@hoosierhometeam thank you so much. She was my best friend and I miss her more and more everyday. Getting back into crocheting has been such good therapy for me. My children are so happy that I have picked it back up.

Hi Crystal I don't comment as much as I should but felt I had to in this instance. It never ceases to amaze me that there are people who try to foist their opinions on others and unless they agree they are wrong. I was taught to knit, sew and crochet by my Mum from the age of five and do exactly the way you do. As I am in Manchester UK I could very well say all who use the US terminology (which as you know is different to the UK ie your single crochet is our double crochet) is wrong. Hell no...like you say there are no rights or wrongs as long as the result is the same and you're happy with it. I'm 68 yo and have been doing my crafts for years and I've never seen anyone do the "foundation" row so to me seeing something new is fascinating so thank you! I only discovered the "continental" way of knitting recently...tried it and failed so I stick to the way I was taught. Heaven forbid me telling the Europeans..."hey you are knitting the wrong way"! Thanks for all your videos and tutorials you are brilliant and I've made several of your creations for my family. Just keep on being you chuck-yegg ❤ love Jan from cross the pond xx

​@@jansmith2846Very curious in which way we knit different: UK versus European way. I'm from The Netherlands so greetings from across a very tiny pond: North Sea. Oh my personal way of knitting was a very strange way and not exactly European I think (don't know how we're supposed do it). I just do it as I was taught in the family way: 1 needle stiff underneath left arm pit and the other arm my needle in hand moving with my whole arm to yarn over with all kind of stitches. Meanwhile having the yarn in left hand for the tendion required. I cannot fo fancy ways of how to wiggle yarn through my fingers and just use those as I've seen many knitters do. But I was fast and my projects were neat. I had to give up when I dislocated my shoulder which never really healed. So nowadays I learn to crochet and actually it's much more fun. Especially now I start to realize that I don't need to master foundation single crochet rows but can stick with a simple chain or back bump chain for some stuff. I'm a newbie to Crystal's channel (once saw a market tote bag I desperately wanted to make but I'm busy on a very big blanket right now). And found out there's over 2000 video's to explore!!! YEAH!!! That's gonna be fun!! You're English but your name suggests Dutch roots btw.

@Lafayette19P hi 👋 the English way I was taught is very different from the continental method I've seen where the left hand holds the yarn for the tension, and the right hand scoops the yarn to carry the stitch. In the method I use the left needle is merely to hold the stitches to be worked and my right needle and hand works the stitch from the yarn held in the right hand which wraps the yarn round both needles to work the stitch...hope that makes sense ☺️. KZfaq channel @Nimbleneedles uses the continental way and Norman is excellent and @Sheila's Knitting Tips and Other Stuff uses the English way. I love to crochet too so I split my time between family, work, Knitting, crochet and my allotment. Interesting to hear I may have Dutch roots as I did a DNA match on the Ancestry site and apparently although mainly English the results also showed a 27% Netherlands and 16% German connection 🤷‍♀️. Fascinating if I could find out more info 😀 I'm starting a crocheted blanket too once I finish my current knitted project. X

I get a much looser edge using a foundation row and you get the chain and first row of the pattern done at once. It's a much nicer looking edge too. Then your start and ending edge of your project looks the same. Easier to put a border on too.

I've found it's stretchier than the chain way too.

@@Datrebor that's what I meant by looser. The chain doesn't stretch.

@@WisconsinMom Oh, ok. Thanks.

I like a regular chain stitch. Much easier for me.

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​@@BAGODAYCROCHETHi Chrystal, I totally agree with that it is a kind of an insult!! I'm a newbie to crochet and to your channel. I knitted all of my life until I couldn't anymore after a dislocated shoulder which never healed properly. And in the strange way I knitted I needed to move my whole arm each stitch from the shoulder. But I never mastered the "right" way so now I started crocheting!!! Which is way more fun anyway and I had no idea there was so much that you can crochet: even clothing. Came across your channel looking for simple market bags. LOVE the idea of a plastic canvas bottom though I wonder will that stay okay in the washer? Guess we don't have it in Europe anyway but can recreate from those sturdy reusable shopping bags we have over here. And than discovered you had over 2000 video's I can pick and learn from!!!!❤🎉🎉🎉 Currently working on a huge Dutch design bed spread but the patches are all different patterns so you need to make it neat with 26 stitches each side to join. Sometimes a patch/pattern is 16 rows long and 33 broad. So I spend as much time on the patch as on the single crochet around it. Which is boring because the under and upper side go fine. I decrease by using 2 front loops only. Its' an invisible decrease I've been told. But at least (thanks to your bag tutorial) I now know where tot close the row!!!! Not in the loop that gives the height to a row... AND I also saw you using that same stich to put your first single crochet in!!! Which will make my totally different project easier, because it always messed up the single count from te row sorrounding the patch. And another thing I picked up just from 1 video: I don't need to work too TIGHT!!! Imo you work extremely loose but in the end the finished product looks perfectly. While mine, working very "neatly" got opposite results: too tight, too small and too stiff!!! With knitting it worked well but with crocheting it doesn't. And it's so soothing to hear you talk!!! Most American videos I need 0.75 speed to understand or voices are too high pitched for me (I have brain damage since 5 years). And I know: everybody talks in their own way but I feel blessed that I found your channel. You talk in a nice no nonsense way too, which also helpes me because I have perfectionisme problems and crafts should be fun, not cramped up and tight as a drum working on it. I talk way too much. I'm sorry for that but the language is difficult for me and I feel so enthusiastic!!! And luckily I don't need those fancy foundation single crochet "things" meanwhile I found out that a much looser chain and sometimes working in the back bumps will do fine for me too. Because I tried and I found it very difficult (ofcourse also from working too tight) but luckily they are not a necessity for end results. Thank you in advance for all you put up there for me to discover and learn from you. After seeing the 5 bag tutorial for 2.5 hours I know I will. I can crochet 2 hours a day tops. Then I get too exhausted but with your video's I can relax from that and gain knowledge!!!🥰

🙋🏽‍♀️ I agree , give me a good ole chain anytime. Even though I have to go back to add my stitches, it takes me longer to do it, if using the foundation thingy. ❤❤❤

OMIGOSH!!!! You totally cracked me up with this one!😂👍

🤣😂🤣😂 Good one! Thanks for the great chuckle 😊

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Me too.

Foundation stitches changed my life! I love the versatility that comes with them. That doesn't mean I never use foundation chains. But when feasible, I almost always use foundation stitches. I like having the starting and ending edges be more similar. Even if you chain loosely, that starting edge won't stretch like all the rest of the piece. Try a scarf worked sideways, where you chain the length. I don't care how loosely you chain, it won't look even. One side will stretch and the other won't. The ideal is to use the best technique for the project. For certain things, having no stretch at the beginning might be very useful. For other projects, it is imbalanced. Use the technique that you prefer, sure, but I say it is even better to use the best technique for the project you are working.

I've never done foundation stitches, but I have the same problem. My foundation chain is always too tight. Will have to try it out :)

Me too! I have problems with a foundation chain being too tight and I’m not sure why. I just discovered foundation stitches and I’m having more success. To each their own. 😊

🐙🧶😂

Same 😊

That's cool. I like being able to make the hole disappear is why I like it.

I must have missed the one about the magic ring. I really like it.

@@Datrebor the way she showed it, you can make the hole disappear without the struggle! It's super cool!

Totally! 😂

🤣😂🤣😂 Love Dr. Seuss! Isn't it cool how his rhymes fit so many situations?

You do the best thing you can within the limitations you face! Good on you for not giving up !

Me too. ( sometimes)

me too, but I use a size larger hook to make the chain, then switch down a hook size to go into the "bumps".... keeps it from being to tight when I go back with a bordet

Yes, when I use chains, I always use the back bump because it gives such a nice edge that matches the top edge. But it is definitely tighter than other ways that use chains so you do need to keep it loose.

I don't think most people use foundation stitches to keep that row even (though that could certainly be another reason). The biggest reasons I see it used are: - for stretch, in a garment, since foundation stitches have more stretch than chains. - and when you don't know exactly how wide or how many stitches you'll need. Working foundation stitches let you measure as you go since measuring based on a chain is less accurate than on foundation stitches.

I need to find that tutorial.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z9B3hMKQntzHm30.htmlsi=_vymjdGkDIBeGQfq

@@user-ul4uw4nx6g here you go 😁💜 It’s in the playlist called ‘Newest Crochet Tutorials’ with over 1000 videos in it. Enjoy 💜🇬🇧

Soooooo true. I loved that video too. I don’t like that magic circle and her video was so freeing😂

@@Laceycrochet This one? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z9B3hMKQntzHm30.htmlsi=FdEw4hV8TafuTMG4

How true! I’ve have the same experience as you.

I wish I could put multiple likes by your comment. I have felt the same way about it being touted as being better but it just didn't work for me. Probably if I kept trying I could learn to like it. ( Learn to not dislike it?) But...why. I like the chain and I don't want to change.

I, too, crochet very tightly and have learned that when I begin with a foundation row, it comes out much neater, more evenly, doesn't curl like my regular chains do, and it somehow comes out looser. So, I am doing the Ruana, starting with a foundation row. Much better for me. I think it's fine either way, as long as you're happy with what you make.

@@DeeLuquetteFamularo I find exactly the same as you. My foundation row is looser when I use SC. It does not make sense. I am so happy here I am not the only one. Thank you from your kinder spirit😎

I've only been going thru one too!! ❤️

Most of the foundation crochet tutorials I have seen show going through one thread. Crystal is only the second or third one I have seen going through two. Personally, going through one didn't work for me (I just learned the method) but going through two did. My stitches look drunk, lol, but they worked!