Julie Holetz

Crocheting a basic edging of one or two rows or rounds on the outer edges of a design can smooth out the rough spots and add a finished, professional look to your crocheted items. You can even add crocheted edgings to other materials. Here are a few options: Crochet a round of single crochet stitches around the bottom edge, neck edge, and cuffs of a sweater, especially one that you worked in a heavier-weight yarn.

People have experimented quite a bit with the art of crochet over the years. They've taken the basic stitches and found unique ways of manipulating them to create variations on the original art form. They've also combined the use of the crochet hook with other tools to produce totally new techniques. They've even experimented with a variety of materials to broaden the scope of the craft.

Some crochet pieces are joined together while working the last row or round. Joining pieces as you go saves you from the daunting task of having to sew or crochet lots (and lots!) of pieces together at the end of a project. Because motifs use an endless variety of stitch patterns, not all of them are joined in the same spot, but some general guidelines do exist: Motifs that have side edges, like squares or triangles, are usually joined along one or more sides.

Joining two crochet pieces with another row of stitches creates a different look from the other seams. Instead of working through the double thickness of two crocheted pieces, you work back and forth between them, usually on the right side of the piece. The row between the two pieces can be as narrow as a single stitch, or it can be wide and lacy.

Occasionally you may find that the edges of your crochet project are actually growing. If your work is getting wider and you didn't intend for it to, that means you've unknowingly added stitches somewhere.To trim your project back down to size, count the stitches in the last row to determine how many extra stitches you have.

You don't have to be an expert in crochet to make a difference with it. The moment you found out how to guide your hook through the stitches you became empowered to make positive changes in the world. here are nine ways that you can do good things with crochet — for your friends, your community, and your planet.

Ties and drawstrings make fun and easy closures for the front (or back) of a garment. They can be as simple as a single tie attached to each side of a light sweater's front or as elaborate as a threaded drawstring criss-crossing the back of a summer halter top.You usually attach ties to the top-front portion of a garment, close to the neck opening, or at the beginning of the front neck shaping, centered over the chest.

This simple cuff is the perfect crochet project to get you started with joining motifs as you go, which means you don't have to do any seaming at the end. This project uses crochet thread that's easy to find in most yarn and craft stores.Crochet thread is available in a variety of colors and fibers, so you can make a cuff for any occasion.

You can slip stitch two pieces together to create a flat seam, which crocheters often use when they want the seam to be invisible (think of a side seam joining the front and back of a sweater). To slip stitch a seam in this fashion: Lay the 2 pieces to be joined side by side on a flat surface, with right sides facing up (for a right side seam) or wrong sides facing up (for a wrong side seam).