Single Crochet -- Part 2

In the last installment, we talked about making single crochet stitches with either no foundation row (just a piece of cloth) or a chain stitch foundation. In this installment, we'll talk about making single crochet stitches in the top of a stitch or in a chain space.

First to recap about making sc's in ch sts. --- Here's the 6-foot chain again. This time it's much different. It's wider and a lot sturdier. I used the technique in the last picture of the last installment to single crochet in each chain stitch of the chain (except, of course, the one used in turning the work). You'll notice that it curls a lot. That can be fixed by blocking.

I've also made progress on the terry cloth dish towel. I've done sc 1, *ch 2, sc 1* to the end. That was the first row (done on the right side of the fabric). Also, all the sc's were made into the fabric.

Next ch 1 and turn the work. (The ch 1 is a substitute for the first stitch in this next row -- a row of single crochet stitches.) Then single crochet twice into each chain space. In the picture, I've already worked 3 chain spaces and am preparing to sc in the next chain space. (This is the beginning of Step 1. Step 2 is done just as before.) When I get to the end, I'll single crochet into the top of the last st (which was the first st of the previous row).

Row 2: Turn, ch 1, sc 2 in each ch sp across, sc in last st.

You're probably thinking that you'll end up with fewer stitches than you started out with. And you'd be right. The number of stitches will be decreased by about a third.

If I had wanted to keep the same number of stitches, I would have done one of the following:
Turn, ch 1, *sc 2 in each ch sp, sc in next sc* across
or
Turn, ch 1, sc 3 in each ch sp across
or
Turn, ch 1, sc in each st across
I would have taken the first option. First of all, it's easier to sc into a ch sp than a ch st. Second, it keeps the sts lined up vertically.

Finally, a word about what the top of a stitch looks like. It looks like a chain selvage on the edge of a knitted garment. When the directions say to sc into the next sc, it means to put the hook under the 2 loops on the top of the stitch (as part of Step 1). Then do Step 2 as usual. It really doesn't matter how you crochet the last st of this row, though, since it will be hidden by the edging.

Here, (a rippled afghan) is an example of what a crocheted piece looks like when one crochets in the back loops only instead of both loops.