Tutorial: The offset stitch- extra stitch method

There are many methods to planned pooling, but after many hours of trial and error, I found this method to be the easiest. With this method, I do not have to look at charts, deal with chaining (or not chaining) at the edges, or fudging with math to get the pattern to show. It is consistent and works with almost every variegated yarn that is able to color pool. With this method, I can just pick up a ball of yarn and start pooling.

Before I start any project, I first make a swatch. These work up very quickly and give you an idea of what kind of yarn you are working with and if you need to adjust your tension or hook size. I highly recommend always doing a swatch before starting any project. It will save you a lot of frustration in the end.

The yarn I am working with today is Red Heart Super Saver Pooling Yarn in colorway: Haute. If this is your first time planned pooling, I highly suggest a pooling yarn. They are made to be very beginner friendly. They usually have easy sequences and consistent lengths of color. Please check out my yarn list to pick out one that you like.

Step 1:

The first thing to do is to find the yarn's color sequence before it repeats. In this yarn, the sequence is white, gray, red, white, gray, black.

Step 2:

Now that you have found the sequence, you will chain through one full sequence. In my case, I chained through white, gray, red, white, gray, black. I stop when I have the next color of my sequence on my hook. In my case, it is white. This is called my chaining row.

Here is a close up:

Step 3:

Now we will start our pattern. For this project, we will use the moss stitch (sc, ch1, sk 1, repeat to end).

I start in the second chain from the hook and place my first stitch. I continue until I have used up that color. In this case, I was able to fit 3 moss stitches in white. This is my "magic" number with this set of white stitches. You want to end with the next color on your hook. (In this case, gray) If you find this is not the case, you can unravel (frog) your stitches, then loosen or tighten your stitches or use a different size hook to adjust. Please be aware, you may end up with a different number of stitches than mine even though you are using the same yarn. Every skein of yarn and every crocheter is different. If you end up with 4 stitches as your "magic" number, that is ok. Just remember that magic number for that color set in the sequence.

Step 4:

I continue working on the first row with my next color, gray. Here I was able to fit in 3 stitches before it turned to the next color, red. So for this set of gray stitches, my "magic" number is 3.

I continue in the same mann with my red. It's magic number of stitches is also 3 stitches before the next color, white.

I continue with white, again 3 stitches. Please be aware that even though white presented previously in this sequence , there is a possibility that this white grouping may be longer or shorter than the first set of white. In this case, it was the same, 3 stitches.

I continue with gray, again 3 stitches, until I reach my last color, black. So if you are keeping track, my magic numbers are White:3, Gray:3, Red:3, White 3, and now we will finish with our black stiches

Step 5:

This next step is the most important and the secret to making a clean planned pooling project. My last color group of my sequence before I turn my project is black and it, like the other colors, works up with 3 stitches, it's magic number. BUT, instead of keeping the 3 stitches, I frog/undo them, tighten my tension, and make 4 stitches out of it instead. (see pic below)

The reason why we add this extra stitch is two fold. The first is to create an offset stitch. This offset stitch is an extra stitch on the first row and every other row that will create the color shift that is necessary to make the argyle/plaid pattern. This offset stitch can be made with any color on the first row, so if you find one of your colors to have a little extra yarn length, you can use that color to create the offset shift.( It does not have to be the last color on your row like mine). Once you have selected your offset stitch, place a stitch marker near that color to remind yourself to create that offset extra stitch every other row. So to reiterate, the magic numbers for this yarn are White:3, Gray:3, Red:3, White 3, and Black 3 ...EXCEPT where I have this stitch marker. When I see this stitch marker, I tighten my tension and place 4 black stitches instead of 3. In all other case, when I come to black, I will make 3 stitches.

Here is a zoomed in picture of what I just explained. Another benefit of this extra offset stitch is that it creates straight edges in your piece. By adding this extra stitch, you do not need to chain at the beginning or ends of rows or deal with edge tension issues like other planned pooling methods.

Now we turn our work and start on row 2.

Note:

If you are making a blanket or anything bigger than this swatch and have multiple sequences, you only have to do this extra offset stitch once in the whole row. (on the first row and every other row). For instance, if I was making a blanket and had multiple sequences, I would have 4 black stitches once on the first row and once every other row which would be noted by my moving stitch marker. In every other case of black stitches, I would continue with 3 stitches, my "magic" number for black.

Step 6:

Now that we have turned our work, this is what the start of row 2 should look like.

You will notice that we did not use the rest of our chains on the previous row. This is because a sequence of moss stitches will eat up more yarn and appear to be shorter than the length of a sequence of chains. When our project is all done, we can easily unravel the excess tail and weave it in. The excess tail is also a good indicator of if you are on an odd row or even row. If the tail is on the right, you are working on an even row. If it is on the left, you are working on an odd row.

Step 7:

For the second row, place your next set of stitches. Our row 2 starts with 3 white stitches. Continue to the end of the row placing the correct number of stitches each time. ( In our case, our "magic" numbers are 3 white, 3 gray, 3 red, 3 white, 3 gray, 3 black)

Note that since this is the second row, we will not add the offset stitch in the set of black (stitch #16,#17,#18). We only add that extra stitch on the first row and every other row where we placed our stitch marker. The last stitch on the second row should be the next color of our sequence (in our case, white #19)

This is what our piece should look like. We will now turn our piece and our excess tail should be on the left side, indicating that we will be working on an odd row (row 3).

Step 8:

Now that our piece is turned, If you remember, we ended row 2 with one white stitch. On row 3, we start the row by finishing off the other two white stitches. (because our magic number for white is 3)

We continue to the end of the piece remembering to place 4 black stitches where our stitch marker reminds us of the extraoffset stitch.

Here are our 4 black stitches. Don't forget to move your stitch marker up as your work progresses. End with the last stitch, which is white. Then turn your work and continue to work as normal through row 4.

Please note that as your work progresses, you stitch marker will move. Eventually, depending on the size of your project, it will shift over to the right, go around the edge, and follow onto the other side of your piece.

Step 9

This is what Row 4 should look like when it's done. Remember, this row does not have the stitch marker, so you do not need to worry about the extra offset stitch. When you get to the end, turn your work and work through row 5.

Step 10

This is what row 5 looks like when finished. It is a stitch marker row, so it will have the extra offset stitch.

Step 11:

Continue to work in the same manor until you get to your desired length. You will eventually start to see the argyle pattern form.

And that's it! Easy Peasy! No charts, minimal tension changes, no need to chain at the ends of rows and you have straight edges! Your swatch is now done.

Tips and Tricks:

Now that we have gotten the basics of planned pooling, I want to go into more detail on how we know if we are placing our stitches correctly. By the third row, we should be able to see if our stitches are offsetting correctly by 1 stitch (the most common argyle pattern).

Here is a picture of the end of our third row.

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If we look closely at the stitches, we will see that the stitches from the first and third row are starting to shift up and to the right. (shown below)

When this work is turned and we work through our Row 4, you will see the colors of row 2 and 4 also shift up and to the right.

Consequently, since this work has been turned, rows 1 and 3 will now appear to be shifting up and to the left.

Below is a picture of the end of Row 5. In this picture, rows 1, 3 and 5, denoted in the blue circles, shift up and to the right because this is our working row. The previous even rows, 2 and 4 shown in purple circles appear to be shifting up and to the left. If we turn this work, then the alternative will be true where the even rows will be shifting up and to the right and the odd rows will be shifting up and to the left. This is what creates the argle pattern.

Now that we understand the shifting colors, we can use this knowledge to help keep us on track when we are placing our stitches. With planned pooling, the difference of one stitch can mess up our project. Instead of creating a color shifting argyle, we will get stacked stitches, a totally different look. So how do we know what color stitch goes next? We look at the stitch below and to the left.

In the picture below, I am putting my hook into the next chain 1 space. Looking at my working yarn, the next color stitch will be black. I confirm if this is correct by looking at the stitch below it and to the left. You can see that the stitch below and to the left is black, so we know this is correct. I can place my black stitch with confidence.

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Let's try that again. Here I am about to put my hook into the next space. I look down and to the left from where I will put my hook and see that it is a white stitch. I look at my working yarn and see that my next stitch will be white. It is, so I can confidently place my stitch.

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I want to note some things about this method. The way that I usually do the offset stitch, I add an extra stitch on the first row and every other row. (In this case, I added a 4th black stitch instead of it's magic number of 3. But there may be times when I just can't seem to squeeze in an extra stitch with any of my colors. Sometimes this happens when the color changes are too short. In these cases, or maybe because of your own personal preference, this method can also be done my deleting a stitch. So instead of squeezing in an extra 4th stitch, on the first row, I would loosen my tension and put in 2 stitches instead. This will also create an offset stitch, but in a slightly different way. Let me show you the difference in my next tutorial Planned Pooling 102: The offset stitch-decrease stitch method