Working in the round · Beginner
Joining rounds
To join a round, work a slip stitch into the top of the first stitch of that round. The circle closes, and a chain then lifts the yarn to the height of the next round.
How to work it
Find the first stitch
Work the last stitch of the round. The next stitch along is the first stitch of the round, where you began. If the round began with a chain that stands for its first stitch, the top of that chain is the place.
Slip stitch into it
Push the hook under both loops at the top of that first stitch. Take the yarn over the hook and pull it through the stitch and through the loop on the hook. The round is joined.
Expect a seam
Round after round, the joins and starting chains stack up into a faint line. In rounds that are never turned, that line does not run straight out from the center: it slowly leans to one side.
At a glance
- Also called
- slip stitch join
- Used for
- flat circles, squares and other motifs worked from the center out; pieces whose last round must end level, with no step; rounds worked in stripes
- In a pattern
- Join, or join with sl st (UK ss) in first st
- Does the slip stitch count?
- No. It is not one of the stitches of the round, and on the next round no stitch is worked into it unless the pattern says so.
- Does the starting chain count?
- In single crochet the chain 1 is not counted as a stitch. In double crochet the chain 3 usually stands for the first stitch. Go by the pattern.
- Where the first stitch goes
- When the chain does not count, into the same stitch the chain stands on. When the chain counts as the first stitch, into the next stitch along.
Joined rounds end level. Each round is a closed ring, so the edge has no step, the stitches of a round are plain to count, and a stripe of color meets itself where it began.
The cost is the seam. Crochet stitches lean a little, and when every round is worked the same way round, each join sits slightly to one side of the join below. Over many rounds the line of joins travels across the work.
Makers deal with the leaning seam in two ways. One is to turn the work after joining each round, so that the rounds lean in turn one way and the other and the seam stays straight. The other is to give up the join and work in continuous rounds, which have no seam at all.
On the very last round the slip stitch can be replaced by a join sewn with a needle, the invisible join, which leaves a stitch top where the slip stitch would leave a small bump.
Tips
- Put a stitch marker in the first stitch of each round as soon as you make it. At the end of the round the marker shows where the slip stitch goes.
When it goes wrong
- My stitch count grows by one every round.
- Count the round and look at its start. A stitch worked into the slip stitch by mistake is an extra stitch. Mark the first true stitch of each round so that you can find it.
- The join leaves a bump.
- A slip stitch join leaves a small bump. To finish without it, close the last round with an invisible join instead.
- My seam leans across the work.
- That is how joined rounds worked in one direction behave. Turn the work after each join if the pattern allows, or work in continuous rounds.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- Where does the slip stitch go when I join a round?
- Into the top of the first stitch of the round, under both loops. If a chain stands for the first stitch, into the top of that chain.
- Do I chain before or after the slip stitch?
- After. The slip stitch closes the round you have just worked, and the chain begins the next one.
- Do I have to join every round?
- No. Continuous rounds are worked as a spiral with no slip stitch and no chain. The pattern says which way it is written.
- Is a slip stitch join the same as joining squares with slip stitches?
- No. A slip stitch join closes a round with one slip stitch into its first stitch. A line of slip stitches worked along the edges of two squares to hold them together is a slip stitch seam, which is one of the ways of joining squares.