Have you ever approached a crochet project that includes a square or rectangle shaped piece and you wind up with wonky edges? Or the dreaded trapezoid shape?

I'll tell you a quick story, my first ever crochet blanket attempt wound up being a trapezoid. I didn't know where to place the first and last stitches in each row and because I wasn't stitching in the right places, the whole thing quickly went downhill. I wound up with a blanket that was much smaller on one end and a lot of frustration.

I've learned a lot since then and finished many a project with perfectly straight edges - it really is very simple if you know where to stitch! (However with no one to show me and at the mercy of YouTube, this took a while to figure out on my own)

Follow this strategy with any crochet project - and be sure to share this tutorial with friends new to crochet!

(I'm using some Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton and my Clover Amour C hook - working on an ornament for the Christmas Traditions Ornament Crochet-A-Long!)



Also, you can follow this strategy from your first row above your starting chain but it is most important to just be consistent throughout your project - stitch this way on every row!

Beginning with a piece of crochet work, look at the row of stitches you've just made. Identify your turning chain (in this case, the Chain 1 that we made at the end of the last row, and then we turned our work)



Now look for the very first stitch after the turning chain, here is where you'll make your first stitch (doesn't matter what type of stitch it is!)





Now stitch in every stitch across. Notice that as you keep stitching it pulls the edge on the right into place and is looking mighty straight!





Now we are at the end of the row and have two stitches left - we will stitch once in each of these. BE SURE NOT TO STITCH IN THE TURNING CHAIN FROM THE ROW BEFORE!










Now that all of our stitches are done for this row, all that's left is our turning chain - Ch 1 and turn!



Look at how pretty and straight those edges are - yay!



Don't forget to PIN this tutorial to your Pinterest boards!



I hope this tutorial helped you make super clean work!