Joining and seams · Easy
Join as you go
Join as you go means joining each new square to the squares already made while its last round is worked. Where that round would have a chain, a slip stitch is worked into the chain space of the square beside it. When the last square is finished the squares are all joined: there are no seams to sew.
How to work it
Join at each chain
At that corner the round has a chain. In its place, work a slip stitch into the corner chain space of the finished square, then finish the corner of the new square. Work on along the side: each time the round would have a chain, work a slip stitch into the chain space of the finished square that lies opposite, then go on with the next group of stitches. Join once more at the corner at the far end of the side.
Add the squares in rows
Join a first row of squares one after another. In the next row, every square after the first is joined on two sides in the same round: to the square above it and to the square beside it.
At a glance
- Also called
- JAYGO
- Used for
- blankets and other pieces made of granny squares; any motif whose last round has chain spaces along its sides and at its corners
- Needs
- A last round with chain spaces along the sides and at the corners.
- The join
- A slip stitch in the steps above, worked into the chain space of the finished square in place of a chain. Some makers use another join.
- Seams to sew afterwards
- None.
It suits squares whose last round is groups of stitches with chains between them, such as a granny square in double crochet (UK treble). The chains are where the joins go, so a last round with no chain spaces gives the join nowhere to stand.
The join itself differs from maker to maker. The steps above use a slip stitch. Some work a single crochet (UK double crochet) into the chain space where others work a slip stitch. Others chain 1, take the hook out of the loop, put it through the chain space of the finished square from front to back, pick the loop up again and draw it through, then chain 1 more. A pattern written for joining as you go says which it uses. Whichever you choose, use it at every join.
Where four squares meet, the corner of the new square has more than one corner space beside it. Makers differ here as well: one way is to join into the corner space of the square that lies diagonally across. Choose one way and keep to it at every such corner.
Tips
- The two squares need the same number of chain spaces along the side, so that every join has a chain space opposite it.
Questions
- What does join as you go mean in crochet?
- The squares are joined to each other while the last round of each one is worked, so that nothing is sewn together afterwards.
- Can I join any square as I go?
- The method needs chain spaces in the last round, along the sides and at the corners. A square without them is seamed to its neighbors afterwards.
- Is the join a slip stitch or a single crochet?
- Either. The steps above use a slip stitch, and some makers work a single crochet in the same place. Follow the pattern, or choose one and keep to it.
- How is a square joined on two sides?
- In one round. Work the last round to the first side that touches a finished square, join along it, turn the corner, and join along the next side in the same way.