Lee Sartori - A Modern Guide to Textured Crochet: A Collection of Wonderfully Tactile Stitches

There are so many wonderful tools and materials out there in yarn shops and online, and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. What is the best yarn to crochet with? What types of crochet hooks will work best for me? What is a tension swatch, and should I bother with one? How do I block my work to finish it? Heres a look into these questions with some of my favourite tools, materials and processes.

Choosing Yarns for Textured Stitches: What to Consider

While many types of yarn can be used, I lean towards a beautiful merino yarn. Merino tends to be a finer type of wool, and therefore smoother. If you can find merino superwash, thats even better. Superwash means that the wool has been treated to remove the outside scales of the fibre, so it is smoother and also wont felt in the wash.

Another important factor in choosing a yarn for texture is to take a look at the ply of the yarn. The ply refers to how many strands make up the yarn. For example, a yarn that has a ply of 3 or more will be smoother because of the way the strands are twisted together. A 3-ply yarn will be thicker than a 2-ply yarn, and therefore will provide more definition to your textured crochet.

The last thing I look at when choosing a good yarn for working texture is the texture of the yarn itself. Check whether or not the yarn has a halo, which is a little bit of fuzz around the ply. You want to choose a yarn that is as smooth as possible, with little to no halo at all.

Specific Yarns Used in the Swatches

Lion Brand Yarn 100% Superwash Merino

WeCrochet Gloss DK

WeCrochet Brava Sport

Why Some Yarn Colours are Better Than Others

When crocheting a textured stitch, I often find that using a solid colour provides the optimal amount of stitch definition. I also lean towards less vibrant colours so that your eye can really take in the texture itself without being overwhelmed by the colour. You want the texture to be the dominant feature of your crochet, and sometimes a vibrant colour can take away from that.

Tonal yarns are a great way to really make a texture pop, especially if the tone can shift cleanly in repeats of the texture itself. It can help elevate the texture by making the individual repeats stand out from each other and show off how they are formed, especially if some of the texture overlaps. Again, choosing a less vibrant tonal yarn is a great idea.

I tend to stay away from a variegated yarn when working with textured stitches as this type of colourway tends to detract from the texture. If you do want to work with a variegated yarn, I highly recommend a light variation such as something in all-cool tones (like the yarn used for the feather stitch, on ), or all-warm tones.

The Importance of Tension and Blocking

Everyone has a different tension when they crochet, and that is why its important to find your correct tension when youre making something designed by someone else. Because we are all different, its important to remember that if the designer gets ten stitches in 2.5cm (1in) using a 4mm (US G-6) crochet hook, that doesnt mean you will automatically get the same tension when you crochet. And thats okay! It just means that when you measure your tension, youll have to change to a hook size up or down in order to match the designers tension. That way, youll ensure the proper fit for items like hats and other wearables where size is important.