Slip Stitch Crochet Around the Edge—Pin Loom Technique

This is a tutorial on one method of preparing to join Weave-it squares. I’m not an expert, but I’m getting experienced.

Let’s start by examining this ugly square.

Single crochet on the Left (tan); Slip Stitches with chains on the Right (dark blue).

This was my practice square. I left a long tail at the beginning (Corner 1) and all the other corners too, but none was long enough to cover the sides. The colors aren’t my favorite, so I didn’t mind practicing on this one.

***Click on photos to enlarge. Click the back arrow to return to these instructions.

My first time adding text to a picture; I hope it’s helpful.

The single crochet side (from Corner 1 partway to Corner 3) looked too bulky to me. It’s hard to see in the photo, but you might notice the edge isn’t smooth and the stitches look somewhat crammed in.

The slip stitch with chains side (from Corner 4 down around Corner 2 and partway to Corner 1) also looked crammed in. I slip stitched in the loops and added one chain in the space between the loops: sl st 2, ch 1. In the photo you can see how the edge looks rippled.

I also ran into some difficulty with working over the tan yarn tail along the bottom edge. I’d never done it with sl st before.

Let’s look at my first successful square. I decided to use a single color and leave a long tail at Corner 4. This means I had to weave with an EXTRA long length of yarn, but it wasn’t too bad.

Now for the nitty gritty, i.e. THE INSTRUCTIONS.

Here’s a raw square in the same diagonal lines pattern stitch (Loomette Weave #10). I’ve decided I don’t like this pattern in two high value contrasting yarns, but at least we can see the stitches well.

Finished square about to be edged.

Sample 1 Colors used:
Color 1 (C1): Red Heart Soft “Navy” — Layers 1 and 2 (L 1 & 2)
Color 2 (C2): Red Heart Soft “Light Grey Heather” — L 3 & 4

Sample 2 Colors used:
Color 1 (C1): Red Heart Soft “Light Grey Heather” — L 1,2, & 3
Color 2 (C2): Red Heart Soft “Charcoal” — L 4

(Instructions for warping the loom and weaving the pattern “Loomette Weave #10” are not included herein. See: http://www.eloomanation.com/pdf/LoometteWeaves.pdf)

Tie-on tails are all shorter than one length of pins (< 4″). It doesn’t matter if they’re longer though.

Before beginning to weave L 4, wrap C2 yarn 10 times around perimeter of pins; cut; thread needle. Weave L 4.

You should have 5 3/4 to 6 wraps of yarn left over after weaving row 16.

Decide which side of the square you want for the front. The sl sts will lie across the front edges of the square.

Use F (3.75mm) crochet hook (or your preferred size) and begin at Corner 4. See diagram below.

Top and bottom edges have 16 sl st plus 1 ch in the corner; the side edges have 15 sl sts plus 1 chain; a total of 66 sts.

Insert hook into top Right loop; yarn over (YO) hook; pull through; one loop on hook. YO and pull through; first sl st made.

The tapestry needle indicates where to insert the hook: under top loop, above Row 16 strand. You can take the hook either from the back of this loop or the front. (I prefer taking it from the back; it makes a slightly neater stitch.) That first sl st is going to look a little wonky.

Hook in place to begin sl stitching.

Close-up of first four sl sts. See how the first one is mushy-looking?

Keep the sl sts a bit loose so they’ll lie flat without causing the edge to pucker. Continue sl st across: 16 sts. Ch 1 in Corner 3 and continue from Corner 3 to Corner 1 to Corner 2, and back up to Corner 4. The trickiest parts are the corners. Depending on whether or not you’ve changed colors, and where you’ve changed them, the corner loops sometimes disappear. I suggest trying this out on a one-color square till you get the hang of it, but Corners 1 and 4 will always have a loose end that isn’t a loop. It’s OK; it’s not brain surgery. Just make sure you have 16 sl sts + 1 ch at top and bottom and 15 sl sts + 1 chain on L and R (1 ch st in each corner).

The hardest thing to explain is how to sl st over a tail of yarn so you won’t have to work it in later. If these instructions aren’t helpful skip them and work the yarn tails in later–it won’t kill you (unless you’re doing, like, 300 squares for a project. In that case, you’ll thank me once you get this figured out).

Sometimes you’ll be working from the cut end of a yarn tail toward the corner and other times you’ll work over the attached end of the yarn tail away from the corner (toward the cut end)–this is so you’re never working over two tails on the same side (reduces bulk).

Prepare to be patient . . .

Hold the tail against the back of your square along the edge where you’re slip stitching. KEEP IT ON THE BACK SIDE.

The loops are in usually pairs; when they’re not you have sort of create one by slip stitching around the tail and then laying the tail along the edge and crocheting over it.

You’ll alternate taking the tail of yarn over the hook and then under the hook as you continue to sl st along the edge.

***Note: “tail” or “tail of yarn” refers to a short piece of yarn to be crocheted over. “C2” or “working yarn” refers to the very, very long tail we’re using to do the sl sts and chs.

Now, for a long series of photos (because I don’t know how to do videos yet).

Here we are at corner 1; ch 1 to turn the corner.

At Corner 1, ch 1; ready to sl st around the light gray tail.

Take the C1 tail yarn over the hook, but don’t pull through.

YO C1, but don’t pull through.

YO C2 and pull through. There’s a sl st on the tail. Bring the C1 tail horizontal behind the square. You’ll now sl st over the tail so you won’t have to work it in later.

C2 sl st on the C1 tail.

Tail is behind square. Insert hook into first loop of the first pair along this edge. Note: the tail is Under the hook. Take working YO, sl st.

Tail is behind square, U hook; YO with C2, then pull it through.

Insert hook into second loop in that pair. Now bring tail Over hook. YO with working yarn; sl st.

Tail yarn is over hook for the second loop’s sl st.

Sl st completed; tail encased in stitching.

The next pair of photographs shows a mistake so you’ll know what that looks like. In the last st (second loop in the pair) we took the tail Over the hook, so now we need to take it under, but I didn’t. I accidentally took it over again.

Here’s a mistake. On first loops the tail goes under. On second loops it goes over, but I took it over during the first loop.

Sl st complete, but tail is not encased. Undo this one st and take the tail under the hook.

Sl st complete, but tail is not encased. Undo this st and take the tail under the hook.

Here’s the corrected sl st just before pulling through to complete the st. See how the tail is encased instead of floating.

A little difficult to see, but this is the back side of the square with the yarn tail being encased under the sl sts. It makes a kind of wavy line.

Continue alternating the tail under and over till it’s encased. You can just encase for a few sts or as many as you want. In this example the tail goes under during the first loop, over during the second. On another row, the opposite may be the case.

Sl st around square, with 1 ch in each corner.

Corner 2 has two intertwined loops. Sl st in first one, ch 1, sl st in second loop; continue on to Corner 4.

What if I have to encase two tails on the same edge? Not a problem, just encase the first one to the halfway point, then drop it out and start encasing the second one. When you have to encase starting at the cut end, don’t worry about getting the yarn perfectly flat while you sl st over and under it. You can pull it straight after you’re done locking it in place.

I’ve got 64 sts done and have to fit in two more. In the photo you can see the loop made by the very beginning step of the sl st process. The dark gray loop was formed by taking the yarn end from Row 16 and slip stitching it in the corner.