Want to know why your crochet is tight?
This question of “Why is my crochet so tight” is common and normal. It can be a combination of not testing your tension using a gauge swatch, the tension in your hands, or using the wrong crochet size hook.
Take it from me, I had to practice my way out of this habit. Luckily for you, I will show you why and how to fix this.
Let’s go over the main reasons your crochet is so tight. Let’s go!
Are you crocheting too tightly?
With tension, the best way to practice is by relaxing your hand and allowing the yarn to be easily grabbed by the crochet hook. You can also test your tension by tapping the bottom of your crochet hook while in your hand.
When you tap it, you can tell you have too much tension if it is too stiff. Your hand should be relaxed enough that if someone taps the bottom of your crochet hook, it will gently slide/move.
The yarn in your other hand should easily breeze through your fingers to the crochet hook. Try not to “death grip” your yarn but let it glaze on by like the wind.
A way to check your tension is by creating a swatch and gauging your stitches. This is where you can see if your stitches are too loose or tight (small or big).
A gauge swatch is normally on a yarn label (14S x 19R) measured out to be 4×4 using a 4mm crochet hook. as an example.
Using the wrong size hook
This is a very common mistake beginners make when crocheting too tightly. Which is using the wrong crochet hook size for your project.
I made this mistake more times than some, but learned that reading the crochet label for the recommended hook size is one of the best things you can do!
As a crocheter, you have to buy more than one crochet hook if you can afford it. I prefer to use the clover crochet hook set for my crochet tools. They are comfortable, reliable (they don’t break easily), and lightweight. I highly recommend purchasing a Clover Crochet Hook Set, the most comfortable crochet hooks I’ve used for over 7 years!
Something that you can do while you work on perfecting your tension, you use a larger crochet hook to help compensate for the tension being too tightly.
Just remember to self-assess your tension before starting a project to look at your tension (this is gauging)
There you have it. You learned the key reasons why your crochet is so tight. Be sure to save this post and come back to it another time, and let me know in the comments if this helped you!
This post was all about answering your question “Why is my crochet so tight.”
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