Working into Back of Crochet Chain

Hi guys, Mary Beth Temple here, and in this video, I want to talk about working in the back or the bump of the chain, especially when you're putting in your first row or round and are making a foundation. Now, I learned to crochet a million years ago and I was always taught to work in the front or the V of the chain, and we do have a video on that, but there are instances in which working in the back or the bump is a better choice. It gives you an edging that more closely mirrors the edge of the stitch when you're finished, it's easier to seam, it's easier to work additional stitches into, and it has more elasticity. So let's take a look at this magic technique of working in the back or the bump of the chain. So when you make a chain, specifically a foundation chain, you have your front, which has the Vs or you have your back, which has the bumps. Because each chain stitch has three legs, one, two, three, or looking at it from the back, one, two, three. And so many of us, most of us, I know I certainly was, when I was taught to crochet and to do a foundation chain, I was taught that you always went into the front or the V of the chain and we have a video on that that you can go check out. However, as my crocheting years have passed, I have come to discover that 9 times out of 10, I prefer to work in the back or the bump, and here is why. It gives you an edging that more closely mirrors the top edge of the stitch. So whether you're going back to put some edging on that later, or you need it for a seam, or you're just going to leave it hanging out, it looks more like the top of the stitch, it gives you a closer mirror. In addition, I find it to be more elastic, but let's take a look at that. So most of us were taught same, I'm just doing a single crochet, right? And it would say single crochet in second chain from hook. Some of us were taught to go under one leg, some of us were taught to go under two legs. What I like to do is turn the chain over and I'm going in the back or the bump. So I'm skipping that first one 'cause it's second chain from hook. I'm going front to back under that bump, yarn over from back to front. Remember, in crochet, we almost always yarn over from back to front and do my single crochet. Now I'm moving onto the next bump. And you see it, it pops up, it's showing you exactly where to go. Go to the next bump, front to back through the bump, yarn over, pull it up, yarn over, pull through two. And again, just because I'm doing single crochet, now you can do any stitch into this, it doesn't have to be single crochet, I'm just using single crochet for the point of demonstration. Let me put one more on there. Now take a look. There is the top of my stitches that I just finished. There's the bottom. Looks almost identical, right? The only difference is that these stitches are going this way and these are going this way. But if I want to go back later and put an edging or a seam, I have two sturdy loops to work under and they're super easy to count because they're very clear what they are. And again, it doesn't matter so much in this particular instance because I'm using a bulky yarn so you can see what I'm doing, but this stitch has more elasticity. A lot of times, if you work into the front of the chain, it wants to pull in width-wise and a lot of particularly brand new crocheters tend to chain tightly and then they make blankets, for example, or scarves, for example, and they get upset because the beginning of their work is more narrow than the end and the reason that is is because they have too much tension on their foundation chain. So isn't that a cool technique? Just by flipping that chain over and working into the back or bump, you get a more elastic edging, it's got a million uses. And if you're looking at any kind of pattern that says, double crochet in the fourth chain off the hook or whatever, 99 times out of 100, you can work in the back bump instead of the front and give yourself that nice edging without changing anything else about the pattern. So once again, I'm Mary Beth Temple. I thank you so much for spending some time with me and I'll see you again here real soon, bye-bye.