Four Crochet Mistakes, and How to Fix Them Fast
Curling edges, mystery holes, and tension creep — diagnosed and solved.
Most crochet problems have a small number of common causes. Once you can recognise the pattern, fixing it — and avoiding it next time — gets much faster.
Your project curls at the edges
Cause: tension tighter than the pattern's gauge, or single crochet rows without a turning chain that matches stitch height.
Fix: go up half a hook size and re-check your gauge swatch. If it's a single crochet piece, confirm you're using the turning chain height the pattern specifies. Not sure which hook to try next? See our hook size guide.
Unexplained holes in the fabric
Cause: a skipped stitch, most often at the start or end of a row, or working into the wrong loop.
Fix: count stitches at the end of every row while learning. If you find a hole after the fact, it's usually faster to frog back to it than to try to patch it invisibly. A set of stitch markers makes it much easier to spot exactly where a row starts and ends.
Tension gets looser as you go
Cause: your grip relaxes naturally the longer you crochet in one sitting.
Fix: take short breaks every 20–30 minutes and consciously reset your grip when you pick the work back up, rather than trying to correct it by pulling stitches tighter later. If gauge itself is unfamiliar territory, our guide to reading a pattern covers it in more depth.
Rows get wider or narrower without you increasing or decreasing
Cause: an accidental extra stitch (often the turning chain being counted as a stitch when it shouldn't be) or a missed stitch at the row's edge.
Fix: check the pattern's instructions on whether the turning chain counts as a stitch — this single detail causes more width drift than almost anything else.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my crochet project curl at the edges?
Curling is almost always caused by tension that's tighter than the pattern's gauge, or by working single crochet in straight rows without turning chains that match your stitch height. Going up half a hook size usually resolves it.
Why do I have random holes in my crochet fabric?
Small unintended holes usually come from accidentally skipping a stitch, most often the first or last stitch in a row, or from working into the wrong loop. Counting stitches at the end of each row catches this before it's several rows old.
How do I fix uneven tension across a project?
Tension typically loosens as a crocheter relaxes over a session. Taking short breaks and consciously resetting your grip every few rows keeps tension more consistent than trying to force it tighter later.
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