Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

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Knitting Friday 

So little knitting is being done and apparently so little thinking because I re-knit the white top I mentioned last week, tried it on and noticed another knitting error. This one was just below the neck band where I was working a row of *YO, K2tog* when I must have decided that 12 stitches of just K would look nice. What a dope! Anyway, it went back to the frog pond, was worked into a hank by using the back of a tall chair, was washed in soap and conditioner and is now hanging in the basement with about 10 plastic hangers in the loop of the hank to stretch out the kinks. It's not that this is expensive white/off-white cotton but it is much better quality than a lot of white cotton out there and it's white. I only have about 5 skeins of white yarn in either cotton or wool.

But all these travails bring me to a mini lesson. It's a crochet lesson and I think it's the one crochet technique all knitters should know. It's called the foundation single crochet FSC (I guess you could make it as foundation half-double crochet or foundation double crochet.) and I used it as the neckband in that recently frogged white top and was surprised how nice it looked.

Crocheting takes more yarn than knitting (I knitted my Mario blanket because a crocheted square vs. a knitted square was crochet = x yards and knit = x yards minus 1/3) but you can make the foundation single crochet as the entire neckband. That is, you work just one row and then change to knitting and work the yoke.

Definitions:
 YOH - Yarn over hook
double loops - these are the front and back loops at the top (and bottom) of every crochet stitch. When I say "Work in the double loops." I mean work your stitch as you would regularly work a crochet stitch and not as "Work back loop only." or "Work front loop only."
foundation single crochet FSC - is a crochet technique where you work your foundation chain and the next row of single crochet at the same time. A FSC is really a series of extended single crochets. 
extended single crochet, ESC - While a FSC is made with ESCs, ESCs are usually worked as a regular row in a crochet pattern and you might see directions like: Work *1 row double crochet, 1 row half-double crochet, 1 row ESC*.  Before you start your FSC, it's good to know how to make an ESC.
1. With one loop already on your hook, put hook through a chain or a stitch.
2. YOH and pull the loop through so there are now two loops on your hook. 
3. YOH and draw loop through the first loop only on your hook. (Two loops still on your hook.)
4. YOH and draw loop through the two loops on your hook. (One loop remains on your hook.)
5. Your ESC is made and you're ready to work your second ESC. 

Equipment:

Crochet hook which matches the size of the knitting needle you would use for your neckband. (Use any needle gauge to find your fit. I used an H hook which = US 8.)
Yarn you are using for the garment (that is, not waste yarn)

#1 chain 2

How To: With a FSC, you will be creating your chain at the same time you are creating a row of  single crochet so you chain as you go, not beforehand like in "Chain 302."

1. Chain 2 for the your 1st stitch.
2. Put your hook through second chain from hook (In pic #1, it's the chain loop just to the past the strand of yarn on the left.)
3. YOH and pull 1 loop through chain (2 loops on hook)
4. Work an ESC as above starting with #3 in the ESC directions.

#2

Now, I'm going to try and walk you through this with my not-very-good pictures. I'm doing this because while making your first ESC is easy, where to place all the rest as you work your FSC may be tricky.
1. In pic #2, I have drawn through that loop in the 2nd chain from the hook. (2 loops on hook.)
2. In pic #3, I have started the ESC by yarning over the hook and drawing through the only the 1st loop on the hook. Still 2 loops on the hook.

#3

3.In pic #4, I have completed 1 ESC by YOH and drawing a loop through both loops on the hook (1 loop on hook now) and I'm ready to start my second ESC.
4. Here's the tricky part: Once you complete your 1st ESC, turn the top of your work slightly towards you so you can see the loops you are working into. 
5. You will be working your next ESC into both loops of the stitch just past the stitch on your hook.
6. As you work along, these loops become easy to see and will look like a pair of horizontal brackets. However, to me, this 1st double loop always look like the figure 8.

#4

7. In pic #4, I've tried to show the 1st top double loops you'll be working in but I don't think it's a good picture.
8. Anyway, just remember that an ESC is worked in the 1st double loops (or 1st stitch) from the hook until you make a FSC as long as you need to get around your head and as wide as you want for a neckband. (Longer FSC for a lower, dropped neck, shorter FSC for a jewel neck.. The advantage is that you try it on as you go.)
9. Pic #5 shows part of my FSC neckband. I find that 80 ESCs in a FSC makes a neckband just a little more snug than 80 knitting stitches would make.

#5

A note about your FSC. I hope you can see from #5 that a FSC has a top and bottom. While you are working your ESCs in the double loops on the top, there are also bottom loops for each ESC. When you get the FSC as long as you want, you're going to pick up 1 knitting stitch in the double loops of each ESC in the FSC. You can use the double loops on the top or the bottom however, I like to pick up the bottom loops (the ones you are not working on) because the top loops are more even and make for a nicer neckband since a FSC seems to curve with the top loops curving inward as a neckband should. But it's your choice.

# 7 FSC on 16" US 8

Once you have finished your FSC, take your knitting needles (US 8) and pick up one double loop from each ESC. In #7, I've picked up 80 ESCs with my 16" needles. As you can see, the needles are too short for them. That's because 80 ESCs are thicker than 80 cast-on knitting stitches. So I just switched them to 24" US 8 for a better fit. (#8) The rest is pretty easy. Next row and working in the round (it's so much easier to join a FSC than a cast-on knit row) increase every stitch (Kfb) around.

#8 ESC on 24" US 8

#9 1 increase row done

Picture #9 shows this one increase row. I'm still working on 24" US 8 here but now I'll change to my yoke/body needles, US 10.5. I decided to work in a pattern of 2 rounds YO, K2tog, 2 rounds K. I like to start with the pattern row (YO, K2tog) after the FSC because that seems to keep it from curling.

#10 Yoke w/ESC neckband

And finally, here's a few rows of the yoke with the 1 row FSC as the neckband in the center. I found that an FSC neckband looks more professional (finished) than my regular seed stitch neckbands.

So, if you just want to learn one procedure in crocheting, this is the one I would suggest. It's a fast, on-the-fly, yet professional looking neckband and it's a try-on-as-you-go one also.

Hope this mini-lesson was helpful. See you next week. Happy knitting!