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What to Do About Those Loose Crochet Stitches

by | Crochet, Tutorials

If you’ve ever crocheted a triple crochet stitch, or anything with 1, 2, or even 3 yarn overs, you’ve probably experienced loose crochet stitches. You know the ones. You’ve worked hard on evening out your tension, but add in a few yarn overs, and all of a sudden, you have one stitch that is way larger than the others around it. You want your stitches to stay tight and this one leaves a large gap that makes your work look sloppy.

The quick video tutorial below shows you how to prevent the loosey goosey crochet stitch without having to crochet so tightly it hurts your hands. All it takes is a little tug at the right time.

Written Description

In a single crochet stitch, the loop you draw up through your work directly controls the size of the loop on your hook. But once you add in a yarn over, or two, or even 3, you start losing some of that control. There’s just literally more yarn in between the loop on your hook and the work you’re doing making the stitch. As you work through the stitch, the loop on your hook can loosen and get overly big.

In order to counteract that loosening of the stitch, work the yarn overs as usual, but then give your working yarn an extra tug, so that the loop on your hook curls/rolls towards you. This minimizes the yarn used in the yarn overs and tightens the loop on your hook. Now, as you work the dc or tc, hold on to that rolled over loop and the yarn overs to keep them tight. Also hold on to each stage of the stitch you’re working to make sure nothing loosens up. By tightening the loop on your hook and then holding it still while completing the next stitch, you prevent that loop on your hook from opening up and getting loose.

This trick works great with triple crochet and even double crochet stitches. I also find it’s helpful to keep in mind when working any type of puff stitches, front and back post stitches, or anywhere you’re seeing you lose control over the tension of the stitch.

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8 Comments

  1. Debbie Smetherham

    I needed this tip about 2 weeks ago! I was doing some lace strips and my triples were too lose, I frogged about a million times before I stumbled across the exact technique you showed, by accidentally doing it! I’m sure this will be helpful to others, it definitely works for me!

  2. Rosw

    Thank you for this helpful tip.

  3. Pauline

    Wow what a simple but very effective tip thank you for sharing

  4. Peggy Clyde

    Thanks so much for this idea.

  5. Tess Gleason

    I used to do this when I was learning how to crochet and always thought it was wrong, I guess I’ll have to relearn it again. Thanks for this tip.

  6. run 3

    Wow what a simple but very effective tip thank you for sharing

  7. Miia Culpa

    Thank you so much for this triple crochet How To!! I’m not going to say how many years I’ve been fussing with stupid lose triples, too many. Finding your quick video is the best crochet thing I learned all year. Cheers!

  8. Jeanne

    This is a life – and project – saver!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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