How to Fix a Tight Crochet Edge 

Thank you for the wonderful comment. I have taught crochet for over 55 years and I figured this one out because it is really frustrating when it happens and it happens to beginners and experienced crocheters. I am a firm believer that nearly everything can be fixed one way or the other. Happy Crocheting!

Glad it was helpful!thanks for watching.

Great job! I'm so glad for your success!

You are welcome! Let me know if you have any other crochet challenges! I love a good challenge! This method I created a very long time ago... to solve my students' problems. Instead of discouraging crochets...it's encouraging.

You can do it! Just take your time. Make a swatch in the same stitch pattern and yarn about 8 inches across and 4 inches high and practice on it first. It will work out. I developed this technique years ago just for people like you... so you can have great results. Just remember even experienced crocheters get lured into thinking things will stretch out. They don't. So in self-defense, learn this technique. I also did a sequel video on how to fix tight edges on more elaborate stitch patterns. Here's the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q4AgyKfkKAQ.html

You are so welcome! I've taught for over 55 years... Yikes...and I just hated when a crocheter has worked so hard on their project only to be told by others the only solution was to frog it. So I came up with a much better solution! Please pass the link along to your crochet buddies. Everyone should have this in their repetoire of solutions.

Wonderful! Glad it was helpful!

Can this be done with incs and decs? (ripple blanket)

Yes, it can be done with increases or decreases. I would work slowly when removing stitches though as the structure of an increase is 2 in one so you need to catch both parts when rebuilding the chain. On the other hand, the structure of the decrease is 1 from 2 so you need to rework 2 stitches along the edge. Then of course, depending on the pattern of the ripple there could also be "chains between stitches" involved. I did another video that rebuilds the edge for more elaborate patterns (but not specifically the ripple). Here's the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q4AgyKfkKAQ.html

@@TwistedYarns thank you so, so much!

Thank you for your encouraging words. Happy Crocheting!

Thank you for the lovely comment. It makes me feel that what I do is useful. Let me know if you ever encounter another issue. I love challenges and solving problems.

Oh, no! 😢I hope your future projects are not disappointing. Let me know if you encounter a problem, I've taught crochet for over 55 years and I love a good challenge. I've also seen a lot of "unfixable" issues and somehow "fixed" the majority of them. Happy Crocheting!

@@TwistedYarnsLADY….ur a genius…with a good heart….what would the world do without teachers ❤….im subscribing to your channel….thank you so so much for this video. I too am saving this video forever❤

Thank you! I really appreciate comments like this. They help me explore new ways to be helpful to the crochet community!

Thank you! Those are very effective ways to prevent the edge from being too tight in the first place! I have taught both those methods. Afterall, prevention is the best medicine. However, occassionally, a stitch pattern behaves differently or the crocheter does not realize it just won't stretch out and has completed a significant number of rows... This video is for those OOPS! moments. I believe in fixing it if at all possible and not ripping it out. I've taught how to crochet for over 55 years and figured out ways to encourage crocheters, not discourage them.

Glad I could be of help!

Wonderful! Glad you found this helpful. Please share my channel with your crochet buddies! Happy Crocheting!

Glad it helped!

Those are great ways of avoiding the problem to begin with! Thanks for sharing!

Perfect! You will do great!

Glad I can be of help!

Great job! Glad this solution worked for you!

You're welcome!

Happy to help! I've taught a really long time and that is a challenge for many. Happy crocheting!

Glad I could help!

Thank you for watching!

You're so welcome! Glad I could help!

I'm so glad it was useful. I just want to help my fellow crocheters. I've actually taught for over 56 years and I despise frogging! Let me know if you have any other challenges.... Happy to help!

I'm glad the video was helpful! Essentially, in the process you replace the foundation with one that works for you!

Glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know.

Glad I could be helpful!

You're very welcome! Works everytime!

You are so welcome!

There are two loops of the foundation chain along the edge.. Cut either of them as they are connected and you need to unravel them anyway. Let me know how it goes!

Yes, always cut one along the top of the edge of the foundation chain, not the stitch that goes into the foundation chain. If you are nervous about it, just unravel slowly. You don't have to pull the whole thing out all at once. Just gradually.

I want to thank you for your quick comment and great advice! I ended up removing another row along with it just because the loops ended up being too stretched to work with. But I followed your steps and it ended out great!! I’m so glad I didn’t have to start over or just keep it how it was. Thank you so much!!

I am so glad that it worked out for you! Happy Crocheting!

I've taught a long time and I developed this technique to encourage not discourage! It happens to everyone!

You are so welcome!

Yes! It works with double crochet patterns too! Here is another video that I did showing that technique using a fancier stitch! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q4AgyKfkKAQ.html . If you are having trouble pulling the stitches out, it's one of 2 problems. First, you make the first cut about 2 inches away from the slip knot to establish a yarn tail on this end. The 2nd cut ( about 1:50 into the video) is made on the other end. If you only made 1 cut near the slip knot you will end up backing each stitch out 1 by 1 because the chain in directional and easily pulls out going toward the slip knot but not the other way. The second reason you are pulling out 1 by one would be if you split the yarn of the chain when you originally crocheted the foundation row. However, that would most likely stop you on a few stitched not all the way across. Hope this helps!

@@TwistedYarns okay, I didn’t know if it would be different since the double crochet stitch goes through two and then the next two rather than picking up a previous loop.

To start, simply pull the yarn through the bottom of the stitch that was removed. Leave at least a 4 inch yarn tail at each end and using a yarn needle weave it in. It is secure.

@@TwistedYarns thank you!

That's a new question. What stitch pattern are you doing?

Moss stitch, maybe I'm not doing it right but everything I do with this stitch ends up a bit scrunched on the right side

I'm not sure what the culprit is. However, if you send me pictures, close-up and a not so close-up (overall pic). I will be glad to see if I can diagnose the problem. We can move this to email if you want. Mine is mary@twistedyarns.com. Hope to here from you soon.

If you can wait a couple days, I'll be happy to do a video showing you exactly how to do it on the crystal wave pattern. Thank you for the great idea! If you can't wait, the principle is the same however, I would remove the base chain for only a few at a time then work the new stitches to replace the chains and cluster. When you remove the chain from the cluster of stitches, you will have double crochets and a single crochet to pick up on your hook all at the same time and then create a chain through them to replace what was removed. Then you can create the 3 chains in between them and repeat. I'm assuming that the crystal wave pattern was skip 3 chains, (1 sc, 3 dc) in next chain repeated across the row.

Thank you so much. This is a scary proposition so I’m not sure on my confidence level in attempting it. I’m barreling through the rest of the baby blanket and thought I’d see how much it affects the border first. I have had limited success figuring out how to avoid buckling borders despite many adjustments. The too tight foundation chain (shorter than upper section despite correct stitch count) probably will be an issue though. I’d love to see a video if you can get one out! Thank you for replying !

The pattern was skip 3 ch, sc, ch 3 , 3 dc in same stitch This pattern: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-omVO78plGuM.html

@@melindashaw7097 This stitch is just a variation of the Stairway to Heaven stitch. That was 30 some years ago! I'll be happy to do a swatch and show you how to fix the starting edge! I will reply to your comment when I post the video.

@@TwistedYarns I looked up (googled) Stairway to Heaven stitch and it doesn’t look the same. It looks like a crystal waves stitch. Maybe I didn’t find what you are referring to.

Amen. Help comes from strange places...even youtube!

You are so welcome. I'm glad this was helpful!