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    Home » Crochet » Crochet Tutorials » Crochet Resources » Crochet Educational Articles » How to see the Crochet Stitch that will make you use more Yarn

    How to see the Crochet Stitch that will make you use more Yarn

    October 14, 2018 by Nicole Riley

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    Yarn eater - basic crochet stitch revealed
    This post includes affiliate links.

    The secret of which basic crochet stitch is considered a yarn eater is finally revealed. There is one basic crochet stitch – single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and treble crochet – that uses the most yarn when crocheting. That best basic crochet will make you save money and yarn.

    I can finally sleep well. It has bothered me for years that I did not know which basic crochet stitch is considered a yarn eater.

    Every time you looked at your yarn stash and know you needed to create a quick, but yarn preserving crochet project, didn’t you wish you would know exactly which basic crochet stitch to use? Especially as a crochet beginner you wanted to know which stitch allows you to have the fastest crochet item.

    At least, I thought that way. Please, tell me I am not the only one who wanted to know which basic crochet stitch is considered a yarn eater. I mean, seriously, did we all come to the point where we crocheted a project an lost at yarn chicken?

    Yarn eater experiment for basic crochet stitches

    I am furious every time, I lose at yarn chicken. In case you do not know, yarn chicken is imaginary game between you and the yarn where you will see which/who will win while finishing a project. If you win you had yarn left over after your project and if you ran out of yarn before finishing the project, you lost at yarn chicken.

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    Every time I loose at yarn chicken, I think about “I wished, I would have known, before starting a project, which stitch is a yarn eater!”

    Well, as I started getting more upset with myself that I did not know the answer to that question, I finally said “Enough is enough, let’s do the experiment.”

    How to figure out which Basic Crochet Stitch is a Yarn Eater

    I came up with a logical experiment that would allow me to figure how which stitch is a yarn eater and which one is not. So, before, I tell you the answer to the so wanted question, let me tell and show you first how I designed the experiment to make it the most successful. You know, like an actual science experiment works (did I tell you that I have a science degree? 😀 ).

    Materials:

    • worsted weighted yarn (same skein for all swatches)
    • same 5.0mm hook
    • same scissors
    • gauge ruler
    • same crocheter to make tension the same
    • scale (measure weight of swatches)

    yarn eater basic crochet stitch experiment

    Experimental design

    1. collect all the materials and have a quiet, un-disturbed space and time
    2. figure out how many stitches per row make 4 inches
    3. crochet all 4 swatches (sc, hdc, dc, tr) to make a 4 x 4 inch square
    4. cut off yarn ends of each swatch to make length of yarn used for swatch equal
    5. weigh swatches and see if one can tell the difference
    6. if scale did not help, frog the swatches and compare lengths of yarn between swatches
    7. determine the winner and loser, which basic stitch is a yarn eater

    Now, that explained to show what I used and how I designed the experiment to determine the yarn eater of 4 basic crochet stitches, let’s finally get started with the experiment.

    I crocheted all 4 swatches by having a beginning chain of 13 plus 1 for single crochet and half double crochet, plus 2 for double crochet and plus 3 for treble crochet. Then I ignored the additional chains after the 13 chains and started crocheted the stitches – one swatch per basic crochet stitch – until I had swatches that were 4 x 4 inches in size. I also did not use turning chains, but rather pulled the last loop a bit longer to start the next row (to prevent added yarn for turning chains and make the swatches comparable).

    Basic crochet stitch swatches for yarn eater experiment

    I, then, tried to weigh all the swatches, but because my scale did not have any decimal digits I was not able to see the difference between the weight of the swatches. So I had to frog them all and add a colored stitch marker to them to determine which frogged pile was for which basic crochet stitch.

    As you can see, I determined that pink is for single crochet, red for half double crochet, blue for double crochet and purple for treble crochet.

    experiment to show which basic crochet stitch is a yarn eater

    Next, I held the stitch markers together and started pulling the yarn strands equally to see which strand is the shortest and which ones would come next. That was very exciting, as I had no idea which would be the yearn eater. Finally, I reached the first yarn end, then the next, then the next and finally the last one. I taped them together such that I would not loose the spot where the strands ended.

    basic crochet stitch that is a yarn eater - single crochet

    Finally, I went the other direction again to figure out which one is the shortest. It was the yarn strand for the treble crochet swatch. That one was followed by double crochet, half double crochet and single crochet. Which means the basic crochet stitch ” single crochet” is the yarn eater whereas the treble crochet stitch uses the least amount of yarn. Now, you know which basic stitch to use the next time you have to make a project where you do not know which yarn to use.

    You should really watch my video below though. It shows the entire process of me making the swatches and testing the weight and showing you live how I determined the winner. Nothing was edited when it came to showing the results. It was such an exciting process to show it live on camera. I am sure you will love it as much as I do.

    Which Basic Crochet Stitch is a Yarn Eater – Video Reveal

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    If you love this yarn eater reveal as much as I do, please use the social media share buttons above or below and share this pattern link with the world and your friends. They and I will thank you! I promise

    basic crochet stitch yarn easter revealed with experiement

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nancy

      October 15, 2018 at 9:34 am

      Very interesting. Thanks for this experiment. I am a relatively new crocheter and I quickly found out I am a tight crocheter. I figured that out when I crocheted an adult size hat pattern and it turned out a good size for a toddler. LOL! I was wondering if I was using more or less yarn by being a tight crocheter. I must be using more yarn by making my stitches smaller. This tight crocheting habit is not all bad – it is an advantage when making amigurumi.

    2. Larryn Griffith

      October 15, 2018 at 11:20 am

      This is a very interesting post! Thank you for going through all of that , for being so meticulous, and for sharing your results.

    3. PaulaNelson

      October 15, 2018 at 1:00 pm

      Amazing! ?

    4. Tracy King

      October 18, 2018 at 11:25 am

      Very good to know! Thanks for your hard work. Also just so you know the little side bar that says Facebook, Pinterest,twitter and google + blocks some of your post and some of the comment block when I am on my iPad or phone. Scrolling doesn’t help at all because it just stays in the way and turning my phone or iPad doesn’t help either. I do not want to upset you or seem like I am complaining, I just thought you would want to know.

      • Nicole Riley

        October 18, 2018 at 12:28 pm

        That little sidebar only appears on desktop or ipad. I have never seen it on my iphone. Thank you for letting me know. I will look into changing it in the future.

    5. Lina

      October 27, 2018 at 7:32 am

      Thank you!

    6. Shawn

      November 02, 2018 at 1:43 pm

      This is a great read!! Thank you so much for “doing the math”!! ☺️

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    Nicole Riley of Nicki's Homemade Crafts - Crochet Patterns and Tutorials

    Hi, I'm Nicole! I’m the designer behind Nicki’s Homemade Crafts. I love teaching you how to crochet & explain the science behind it.

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