Wonky edges or crooked corners, as well as ill-fitting garments – if something’s not quite right, It’s the result of tension! What tension really is, believe it or not, is how tightly you’re holding the yarn and making each stitch! The good news: it’s normal, you can correct this, and creating crochet doesn’t depend on perfect tension.
Why crochet tension changes
- You’re still building muscle memory
This is a classic example of starting feel tight, loosening up more or less halfway through and then tightening up slightly again when you focus. This affects the continuity of the stitches and is common for beginners.
- Altering your grip without you even realising it
If you hold your yarn a bit differently on any of these loops, that can make it shorter or longer. If you then wrap the thread around your fingers differently, pull tighter this can mean even hook strikes increase or decrease. When you need Crochet Kits, visit //www.woolcouturecompany.com/collections/crochet-kits
- Different yarns behave differently
That pure cotton can get grabby between the layers and make you stitch tighter. Wool and acrylic will typically also have an easier glide. They can make you pull too hard if your stitches are a little hidden by how fuzzy some yarns are.
- Hook style and material matter
A metal hook glides a little bit faster than bamboo or plastic. Even two hooks of the same size can have differences because of the shape of their heads.
- Language of hands is dictated by mood, pace and posture
If you crochet fast, get stressed, or are not sitting quite right your shoulders and hands will tighten – which in turn tightens up on everything else!
Fixing (or getting better at) tension
- Slow down for a few rows
If you see small stitches or messy fabric, stop and crochet the next 10–20 stitches slowly.
- Check your yarn feed
Check that the yarn has room to swing. Whether it is being caught on your jewellery, snagged by rough skin or wound around your fingers a little too unyieldingly, this leads to pulling that’s more forceful than intended.
- Size up (or down) your hook
Next, if you always tend to crochet too tightly just go up one hook size. If they are loose and gappy, down size by one. It does not take long to fix this.
- Simple “tension reset” routine
Make a point to shrug your shoulders and spread/relaxing out your hands, just as wriggling the wrists intermittently. It might be very basic, but does the job.
- Practice swatching for big projects
A 10cm square swatch is essential when it comes to identifying tension issues early – very much needed for garments and blankets.
