Yarn under the hook using Esther’s method . . .
. . . or yarn over the hook as usual?
Who would have thought that grabbing the yarn from the front or the back would make a difference?
Not only does the design slant less with the yarn under technique, but there’s a sharper color transition. Less of the carried color is seen (especially where colors are changed) in the top two rows of cats. Why is that? Perhaps because the yarn twists slightly differently when yarning under.
If only I had paid closer attention in Guatemalan so many years ago! I always wondered why the motifs on their tapestry crocheted fabric slanted less than mine.
So now there’s a subtle additional tapestry crochet design choice! For tapestry crocheting zig-zags or the bottoms of hearts (where more of a slant is desired) then yarn over the hook. For less slant, yarn under!
Thank you for explaining this. All these years, I thought I was crocheting “wrong,” but now you tell me I was just using a different technique, one with certain advantages. For some reason, I feel much better about it!
Thanks for posting clear enough pics to figure out what was being described. Gotta’ admit, I couldn’t figure out what the fuss was as I’ve always done my YO with the yarn going under the hook.
Judy and Wendy – you’re lucky you’ve been doing it Esther’s way because it appears to produce a better result!
I just realized it, while making a small tote that is graphed: I’ve been doing it Esther’s way, too – I began crocheting graphs a long time agoand just always enveloped the yarn that way.
[…] what got me into this nonsense! (I started taking careful note of yarn overs after observing this post about tapestry crochet.) Crochet and Tunisian crochet normally use the clockwise wrapping and add […]
[…] Yarning under gives a different look […]
Hi! I just wanted to point out that the photos are at different points of forming the stitch. I do both that you have pictured. When inserting my hook into my work and pulling up a loop, I yarn under (or hook over) same as picture 1, but when I am doing all the other yarn overs required for the stitch, I yarn over as per picture 2. I saw somewhere that it’s which technique you use when inserting into the fabric that determines the amount of slant. Apparently no1 offsets the twist so you have straighter stacking. Or maybe it’s the other way. You should test it out. ?
[…] Yarning under and yarning over affects the slant of the motif, so I crocheted the third basket (right above) by yarning under. This last basket turned out much smaller, the motif doesn’t slant, and the fabric is very stiff. Why? I think the stitch is tighter because I manipulated the hook differently to keep the thread from sliding off the hook. Since I’m used to yarning over, yarning under was very awkward for me to do, but I kept reminding myself that challenges like this makes new brain cells, which I sorely need. […]
I used to do tapestry crochet years ago and had at least two of your books. Somewhere in many moves the books vanished. I was glad to find the FB group. I hope to start trying it again.
Is there a way to be notified when you post on the blog? If so, how do I subscribe?
Thanks ,
Sharon
I don’t post very often. There used to be a way to subscribe, but it was removed after being hacked.