How to Crochet in Foundation Chains

Hi everyone! How are you today? I hope that you're having an amazing day! =D

In today's Instructable i want to give you some advices about how you can start working stitches when you have Foundation Chains.

Foundation Chains are just Chain stitches on a Slip Knot, and it's the most popular way to begin a Crochet project =)

I hope you find this tips useful and let's begin! =D

Once that we have the Foundation Chains that the pattern needs, we have to start working some extra chains to give the neccesary height to the stitches that we’re gonna make.

If we decide not to work these extra chains at the beginning of each row, the stitches are not going to take its normal form and our project it’s going to end up looking kind of weird.

But, how many chains do we need to work? To answer this question, first of all, we have to know what basic crochet stitch we’re going to start working, lucky for us, most of the patterns out there tell us how many chains we need to begin the first stitch of the row.

But in case that you have found a pattern that doesn’t tell you how many chains you need at the beginning of the row, you don’t have to worry at all, because unless you need to work on a very specific way, the number of chains that you must know, are the ones that you need to work for the basic crochet stitches, because the fantasy ones are made with them.

Now, let’s remember how many chains we have to work for basic stitches.

- For a Slip Stitch and a Single Crochet, you must work one extra chain.

- For a Half Double Crochet you need two chains.

- And for a Double Crochet you are gonna make three extra chains.

When you begin a new row, you can start working in two different ways, because you can or you can not count the extra chains as your first stitch.

For a project in a Foundation Chain, I strongly recommend you to count the extra chains as your first stitch, because if you don’t do it, your both sides of the project are going to end up having a weird shape, and also, you could get confused and work extra stitches.

If you have decided to count the extra chains as the first stitch, to find the exact foundation chain where you’re gonna start making the second stitch of the row, you have to ignore the extra chains that we work to give height to the stitch, now skip the next foundation chain, and in the next one is where you can work the second stitch.

Now, if you have decided not to count the extra chains as the first stitch, which is something only recommended when you’re working in rounds, you must ignore once again the extra chains, and we are going to work the first stitch in the nearest foundation chain.

Remember, this tips maybe won't apply to your project, always, pay attention to what your pattern says, and if it doesn’t tell you that you have to work on a specific way, than you can feel free to use this tips =)

P.S.

Don't forget to watch the video tutorial =) ... have a great day! ^_^