Among the many opportunities that existing knitting techniques open up to the craftswomen, elongated loops (crochet) occupy not the last place. The scheme, a detailed description of the implementation and the main areas of application of such a technique will be described in this article.
What are elongated loops?
The formation of elongated loops is mainly used to decorate knitwear. Based on the differences in the technique of execution, three main types of elongated loops can be distinguished:
- Loose fringe loops.
- Picked up loops forming openwork patterns.
- V-shaped loops running along the surface of a continuous web.
Before crocheting elongated loops, you should think about yarn. For the manufacture of products with fringe loops, do not use multilayer yarns. Swollen, they can become confused and lose their neat appearance. However, the use of too thin yarn will not give a fringe effect, loops will be rare. The output is the use of yarn with tight torsion in several additions.
For knitting loops of the second type, melange or bright yarn is often chosen, since such patterns look elegant.
The stitches formed by the elongated loops of the last kind will be better seen on the background fabric, if you use yarn of different colors.
Most often, knitters choose contrasting threads for this work. There are no special tricks here, just for the formation of some single crochet columns, the hook is inserted into the forward rows of the canvas.
How to crochet elongated loops: the basic principles of making a fringe
This technique can be used to design the edge of the product or as the main pattern for the canvas. The second option is used if it is necessary to obtain an imitation of fur. With the right choice of color and texture of the thread, elongated loops help recreate the look of a sheepskin, which is useful for knitting collars, cuffs, jackets and coats, as well as when working on knitted boots.
Visually, the crochet scheme for crocheting elongated loops looks like in the next photo.
The first row should always be solid (best single crochet). Next, a lifting loop is made, a working thread is wound around the finger of the left hand. One or more turns are performed depending on how long the loops are needed. The next step is to knit a regular single crochet. It is advisable to tighten the knitting harder so that all the loops are the same length. When the column is ready, the thread is lowered from the finger and proceed to the similar execution of the following columns. The back row is knitted with single crochet or connecting posts. The latter have a lower height, which means that the fringe will be more dense.
Before crocheting elongated loops, be sure to practice on a control sample. This is not a recommendation, but a rule. So you can significantly optimize the process of knitting products, avoiding unnecessary alterations and blooms.
Crocheted elongated loops
This method is used when the loops should be very densely arranged. With this knitting, the elongated loops will be located in each row, since there are no return (wrong) ones.
The specificity of the circular fabric is that sometimes knitting occurs in a spiral, without lifting loops for each new row. In other cases, the traditional formation of rows is performed, with lifting loops and connecting posts at the end.
The latter method is justified if during the knitting process it is planned to change the color of the rows. Elongated loops, crocheted in a circle, are best suited for making shafts of knitted boots and jacket cuffs.
Pick up elongated loops
The procedure for performing this technique is shown in the photographs below.
To form long loops you will need a template. It can be a ruler, a cardboard strip, a thick knitting needle, or any other long object of the appropriate size.
When knitting each row, the template should be applied to the fabric and winding the thread first on it, and then pull out the loop for the single crochet. By the way, this method can be used instead of winding the thread on the finger described in the previous paragraph. How to crochet the extended loops and the sequence of further actions is very clearly visible in the photo.
When the row with long loops is finished, you need to make as many lifting loops as you need to go to the level of the new row. A pattern with elongated loops is formed when long loops of the first are picked up when making columns without a crochet of the second row. You can immediately remove them from the template or do it gradually so as not to confuse.
The third and subsequent rows can repeat the first and second or form a completely different pattern. In any case, such a canvas looks very expressive and attractive.
Feature of patterns with hooked loops
The photo below shows an example of what happens if each elongated loop is knitted sequentially with a single crochet.
If you want to get a more complex pattern, the columns of the second row are knitted after laying out long loops in a special way. They can be crossed with each other, put together in a bundle and rectified or perform other actions.