Getting Started

Since this technique produces reversible single crochet fabric, it is ideal for cotton washcloths or dishcloths. (There is no need for a reversible design on the inside of a sweater!)

Yarn: Choose 2 smooth (non-textured) cotton yarns of the same weight; avoid yarns that tend to split. One color is light and the other is dark, and the 3 colors should have good contrast.

Hook: Gauge is not important for these patterns. Choose a hook that gives you a solid fabric without splitting the yarn. An H hook was used for all the patterns, but that is just a suggestion. Since cotton yarn is stiffer than acrylic and offers more resistance to the hook, I find that a metal hook is preferable to a plastic hook.

Changing color: Follow the graph, working 2 rows of one color than switching to the 2nd color with with the last loop of the ending sc or bsc on every even row. Chain 1 and turn with the new working color. Do not end off the dropped color. Carry both colors up one side and pick them up and drop them at the end of every second row.

Work over them this way:

Take the dropped color and loop it around behind the last stitch worked with the feeder yarn facing out:

bsc step 1-red dropped bsc step 2

single crochet- blue dropped

With the working color, work the first stitch of the new row over the dropped color, taking care not to pull that yarn through on the hook:

bsc completed (blue yarn) sc completed (red yarn)

Gently pull the dropped color to the correct tension, if necessary.

red pulled through blue pulled through

When you need to change color again, the dropped color will be just below the row.

This method makes the pick-up threads barely visible, eliminating the need for a border.

Continue changing colors this way until the last row of one color is completed, then end off that color and complete the piece with the last 2 rows of the other color.

Note: These examples were worked left-handed, but the photos can be held up to a mirror if necessary to see a right-handed version.

Starting a new skein of yarn: The projects are small, so you probably won't need to start a new skein, but if you do, you want to avoid knots because the designs are reversible. For complete instructions on adding a new skein of yarn in the same color, see the Textured sc tutorial on my Crochet BTF Google site:

https://sites.google.com/site/crochetbtf/textured-sc-tutorial