Shaping Crochet
As is the case with all activity related to fabric and clothing, shaping is an intrinsic part. With a little shaping, you can transform a plain Jane bag into a stunning designer piece. A bit of shaping changes a cylindrical creation into a cap or leg warmers. Shaping as you would already know is fundamental to making any piece of clothing and most accessories be it socks, baby clothes, skirts, tops, jackets, blouses, shirts, mittens, shawls, ties or scarves. So let"s talk about shaping today.I wonder if you"ve noticed, shaping in a crochet project is essentially the technique of increasing or decreasing stitches at the right junctures. Increase the stitches to make the heel in socks, bodice in a pullover, sleeves for upper arms, bottoms of kids" pants, and circular or oblong rugs, doilies or placemats. Conversely, decrease stitches to make the waist or neck in a sweater, shawls, wraps or capelets.
To make shaped crocheted items you need to learn to increase or decrease stitches, something easy to do in sc and dc, but a bit tricky in other stitches. People wanting to learn to increase and decrease stitches in Tunisian crochet can refer to http://www.crochetkim.com/classes/shapingclass.html or http://crochet.about.com/library/n062803.htm.
Learn to increase when crocheting in circles from http://crochet.about.com/library/n062803.htm.
A pattern for making oblong rugs is given at http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa100299.htm.
A primer on shaping waist is given at http://www.crochetme.com/Feb_Mar_2005/reads_waist_shaping.html.
Another aspect of shaping is blocking and stiffening the crocheted item so it comes in its desired shape. This particularly refers to shaping doilies, afghans, bookmarks, handkerchiefs and similar items. You must have noticed how crocheted articles tend to have curled edges or the general unprofessional bumpy look. All these issues can be taken care of by properly blocking, stiffening and shaping the item. Refer to another issue of this newsletter for information about shaping afghans.
Have fun shaping your crocheted items!