Crochet stitch challenge #5 - Suzette stitch
Introduction
Welcome to the 5th edition of my self-imposed stitch challenge. I had fun trying to figure out how to do increases and decreases with the Suzette stitch. I present here 2 different ways to increase the Suzette stitch, both of which use a different stitch pattern as the increase. If you use this when making something that gets bigger, the increases aren't very noticeable so I was pleased with the results.
Squares worked in the round
For my squares worked in the round, I've used either the Wattle stitch (sc, ch 1, dc) or the Sedge stitch (sc, hdc, dc) as the corner stitch to add an increase. In subsequent rounds, the corner stitch is either worked into the ch 1 sp (Wattle stitch) or the hdc (Sedge stitch) and a Suzette stitch (sc, dc) is worked in the sc of the Wattle or Sedge stitch to add an extra repeat for each side. A quirk of these 3 stitch patterns is that in order to get the pattern to look right, you need to work as if you are working in rows. Therefore, from the end of round 2 onwards, I finished my rounds with a slip stitch then chained up and turned so that my first stitch of the new round began in the last single crochet (or sometimes ch 1 or hdc) of the previous round. The photos below show my finished squares worked in the round. On the left is the Suzette plus wattle stitch version and on the right the Suzette plus sedge stitch version. As you can see, they're both very similar in how they turned out. I should point out that they are a little bigger than some of my other squares and have 4 fewer stitches in the final round because I forgot to switch to using single crochet for the final round (which would have led to me using 4 sc in each corner to give 12 sc per side). I like how both squares have turned out. The one using sedge stitch is technically less holey than the wattle stitch version but both produce a reasonably hole free fabric. Before I add these two to the final project, I may redo the final rounds so that they are in single crochet and match the size of the other squares.
Squares worked corner to corner
When working from corner to corner, if you add the wattle or sedge stitch at the edges of each corner in every second row, you will get an increase in your pattern in a similar way to adding them in the corners. For the decreases in the corner to corner squares, I used an hdc2tog on each side - this is the only time that a stitch is worked into a double crochet in any of these squares (apart from the borders for the corner to corner squares which are worked into each stitch across the top and bottom. Technically, these "squares" do not come out as square in shape due to how I've ended each row. I'm guessing if I ended each row with a single crochet then things would look better in my final square. However, I wasn't as worried about that as perhaps I should have been, in part because I added a single crochet border around each square which kind of evens things out. The photo below shows my corner to corner squares prior to the final round of single crochet. On the left is the Suzette mixed with wattle stitch version and on the right is the Suzette mixed with sedge stitch version. As I said earlier, neither is 'square' though I think they don't look quite as bad as some of the other corner to corner 'squares' that I have made during my stitch challenge.
Since both the wattle and the sedge stitch patterns often end with a single crochet (and the wattle stitch begins and ends with a single crochet), I'm thinking of re-doing some of the corner to corner versions so that I can add my increases as a single crochet or 2 sc on each edge. This would make things potentially easier for doing the decreases, though I'm unsure what shape I'd get at the end - they might still not be particularly square in shape. If I do those at some point I might add them in here or make a new post about them since they might allow me to do increases properly for the Wattle and Sedge stitches.
Without further ado, here are the instructions should you choose to make some squares like mine:
Suzette stitch in the round - Version 1, with Wattle stitch corners
Begin with a magic ring
Rnd 1 Sc 4 into the magic ring. (4)
Rnd 2 (Sc, ch 1, dc) in each st around, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (4 sc, 4 dc, 4 ch)
Rnd 3 *Sk the dc, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the ch 1 sp, (sc, dc) in the sc* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (8 sc, 8 dc, 4 ch)
Rnd 4 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the ch 1 sp, (sc, dc) in the next sc* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (12 sc, 12 dc, 4 ch)
Rnd 5 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the ch 1 sp, [(sc, dc) in the next sc] 2 times* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (16 sc, 16 dc, 4 ch)
Rnd 6 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the ch 1 sp, [(sc, dc) in the next sc] 3 times* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, fasten off and weave in the ends. (20 sc, 20 dc, 4 ch)
Suzette stitch in the round - Version 2, with Sedge stitch corners
Begin with a magic ring
Rnd 1 Sc 4 into the magic ring. (4 sc)
Rnd 2 (Sc, hdc, dc) in each st around, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (4 sc, 4 hdc, 4 dc)
Rnd 3 *Sk the dc, (sc, hdc, dc) in the hdc, (sc, dc) in the sc* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (8 sc, 4 hdc, 8 dc)
Rnd 4 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, hdc, dc) in the hdc sp, (sc, dc) in the next sc* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (12 sc, 4 hdc, 12 dc)
Rnd 5 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, hdc, dc) in the hdc sp, [(sc, dc) in the next sc] 2 times* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, ch 1 and turn. (16 sc, 4 hdc, 16 dc)
Rnd 6 *Sk the dc, (sc, dc) in the next st, (sc, hdc, dc) in the hdc sp, [(sc, dc) in the next sc] 3 times* 4 times, join to the first st with a sl st, fasten off and weave in the ends. (20 sc, 4 hdc, 20 dc)
Suzette stitch with Wattle stitch worked Corner to Corner
With your chosen colour ch 2
Row 1 Sc in the 2nd ch from hook, ch 1 and turn. (1)
Row 2 2 Hdc in the st, ch 1 and turn (2)
Row 3 (Sc, dc) in each st across, ch 1 and turn. (4)
Row 4 *Sk 1, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the next st*, 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (6)
Row 5 *Sk 1, (sc, dc) in each of the next 2 sts* 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (8)
Row 6 *Sk 1, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the next st, *sk 1, (sc, dc)* 2 times, sk 1, (sc, ch 1, dc) in the next st, ch 1 and turn. (10)
Row 7 Sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next 2 sts, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 3 times, (sc, dc) in the last sc, ch 1 and turn. (12)
Row 8 Hdc2tog, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 4 times, Hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (10)
Row 9 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 2 times. Sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (8)
Row 10 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (6)
Row 11 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (4)
Row 12 Hdc2tog 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (2)
Row 13 Sc2tog, ch 1 do not turn. (1)
Row 14 Sc evenly around the "square" {note it will not necessarily look like a square or diamond shape given how the rows end}, 12 sc per side. Fasten off and weave in the ends.
Suzette stitch with Sedge stitch worked Corner to Corner
Ch 2
Row 1 Sc in the 2nd ch from hook, ch 1 and turn. (1)
Row 2 2 Hdc in the st, ch 1 and turn (2)
Row 3 (Sc, dc) in each st across, ch 1 and turn. (4)
Row 4 *Sk 1, (sc, hdc, dc) in the next st*, 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (6)
Row 5 *Sk 1, (sc, dc) in each of the next 2 sts* 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (8)
Row 6 *Sk 1, (sc, hdc, dc) in the next st, *sk 1, (sc, dc)* 2 times, sk 1, (sc, hdc, dc) in the next st, ch 1 and turn. (10)
Row 7 Sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next 2 sts, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 3 times, (sc, dc) in the last sc, ch 1 and turn. (12)
Row 8 Hdc2tog, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 4 times, Hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (10)
Row 9 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, *sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st* 2 times. Sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (8)
Row 10 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (6)
Row 11 Hdc2tog, (sc, dc) in the next st, sk 1, hdc2tog, ch 1 and turn. (4)
Row 12 Hdc2tog 2 times, ch 1 and turn. (2)
Row 13 Sc2tog, ch 1 do not turn. (1)
Row 14 Sc evenly around the "square" {note it will not necessarily look like a square or diamond shape given how the rows end}, 12 sc per side. Fasten off and weave in the ends.
Final comparisons
Just to show all the versions side by side, I present here photos of my finished squares for Suzette, Wattle and Sedge stitch in rows, rounds and corner to corner.
Suzette (burgundy) versus Wattle (purple) versus Sedge (olive) stitch in rows:
Suzette in rows (burgundy) versus Suzette plus wattle in rounds (orange) versus Suzette plus wattle corner to corner (green) versus wattle in rows (purple)
Suzette in rows (burgundy) versus Suzette plus sedge in rounds (red) versus Suzette plus sedge corner to corner (pale blue) versus sedge stitch in rows (olive):
