Straight Seam

Option 2 - Working in the Slip Stitch

You have a few options at your disposal if you want to maintain a straight seam while you are working in the round. I do have a second tutorial for a different method here. In this method, you are going to be alternating where you place your first and last Stitches in each round.

• When you are working in Even rounds, you will start your round by crocheting in the first Stitch of the previous round; Then, you will end the round by crocheting in the last Stitch of the previous round.

• When you are working in Odd rounds, you will start your round by skipping the first stitch and crocheting in the second stitch of the previous round; Then, you end the round by crocheting in the finishing slip stitch of the previous round (this is after the last stitch of the previous round).

I have provided some labeled photos to hopefully help you visualize the steps you will take when using this method.

Abbreviations (US Terms)

• SC - Single Crochet

• St - Stitch

• Sl St - Slip Stitch

• HDC - Half Double Crochet

• Sp - Space

• Sk - Skip

Round 2 - Where to Start and Where to Finish

In this image, I am displaying the end of my second round.

• I have already placed all of my HDC’s in the current round I am working on, and am now ready to close.

  • This is an example of what the even rounds will look like before I bring the first and last St’s together to close the round

  • Notice the gap between the first and last St’s of the round, this is normal, and will not be noticeable once I get farther into my work.

    • By placing a Sl St in the first HDC of the round, I am essentially pulling my last HDC over to sit right next to that starting Ch of the round.

• Arrow A is pointing to the first St of the previous round.

  • I have placed my first HDC of the round in this St.

    • This is the same St I placed my Sl St in to connect the beginning and end of the previous round.

• Arrow B is pointing to the Sl St of the previous round.

  • When I am working an even round, I am going to Sk over this and Sl St into the first HDC I created for my current round.

Round 3 - Where to Start and Where to Finish

In this image, I am displaying the end of my third round.

• I have already placed all of my HDC’s in the current round I am working on, and am now ready to close.

  • This is an example of what the odd rounds will look like before I bring the first and last St’s together to close the round

  • Notice there is no gap like there was at the end of the even round. Instead, the beginning chain is stretching to the left.

    • Contrary to the even round, by placing a Sl St in the first HDC of the round, I am instead pulling my starting Ch over to sit right next to that last HDC.

• Arrow A is pointing to the first St of the previous round.

  • In contrast to the even round, I have sk’d the first St of the previous round, and have instead begun crocheting in the second St of the previous round

• Arrow B is pointing to the Sl St of the previous round.

  • In contrast to the even round once again, instead of skipping over that Sl St connected the beginning and end of the previous round, I have placed my last HDC directly into that Sl St.

First Three Rounds Complete

In this image, I am displaying my first 3 completed rounds.

• You can see the sort of zig-zag this method is starting to form.

  • This “zig-zag”, for lack of a better word, is what is going to keep my seam straight. Without it, the start of each round will slowly start migrating and spiraling around the piece.

Presentation After Multiple Rows

In this image, I am displaying what the seam is going to look as I continue alternating my starting and finishing stitches between even and odd rows.

• There is still a slight curve, but this is because I am making a hat in these images, so the curve is simply the curve of the garment. The seam itself is not what is curving.