One thing about writing a crochet pattern is that even after putting in a lot of work, you don’t necessarily have something that you are ready to share, which is where I find myself with my “Pop goes the granny square” pattern.

After getting sidetracked for several hours yesterday, I finally got back to business and finished the final two rounds of my Life Saver® inspired granny square:

I had been uncertain about certain aspects of the square, but once I finished it, I was quite taken with how well it had turned out and began working out the details of a children’s blanket in my head.

One thought led to another, and before long, I had a firm grasp on why I have so many WIPs (Works in Progress): my imagination simply runs away with my crochet hook and leaves me to clean up the resulting mess.

With that in mind, I set aside my dreams of a child’s blanket for the time being, and worked on writing the pattern and documenting two of my favorite tools in my crochet tool kit which happen to be two overlooked crochet techniques.

The first video demonstrates what I think of as one of the most important crochet techniques: how to work through the back ridge loop of the foundation chain to get a nice tidy edge (this can also be done with something called a foundation single crochet, but which is not quite as tidy):

The second video explores the difference between a clockwise and counter-clockwise turn at the end of a row:

and while I have no particular opinion as to which is best (each has its place), I do think that it is a detail that crocheters should consider when they ply their craft.

Both of these techniques are small pieces, almost imperceptible aspects of any project, but these small pieces have the power to make your edges tidier, straighter, and easier to manage.