One repeat

Repeats

If you’ve used worsted weight yarn and are matching my gauge, each repeat will give you about 8-9″ of strap.

You will need at least 5 repeats in order to get around the body of the bag, and then you’ll need a few more repeats to have a strap that goes over your shoulder or across your body.

Keep in mind how your yarn stretches (acrylic is more stretchy than cotton, but the interlocking crochet technique creates mesh layers that are quite flexible). I measure the strap length by stretching it out before doing the final 3 rows.

To have a strap that will go over my shoulder and allow the bag to hang near my hip I have created a piece 70” long (9 repeats). When updating I used a stiffer yarn and had a looser gauge. I only needed 8 repeats to get a strap 70” long.

When it’s long enough, finish with the final 3 rows.

Counting Rows

One of the common problems I’ve seen is that people get confused on which row they’re on. It’s hard to follow the pattern if you don’t know which row you’re supposed to be crocheting!

It can be difficult counting rows with any crochet pattern, but it’s especially hard when we are trying a new stitch and are unfamiliar with how the designer is doing things.

With my interlocking crochet designs I count the very bottom foundation row as row 0. It’s not really part of the design, it’s just how you start the project. There are other designers who count their rows differently! 

Let’s Count Together

• I find it easiest to count rows when looking at the Wrong Side / WS of the project
• I count my Main Color / MC layer and ignore the other layer until I’m at the top (the blue layer is the MC in this photo)
• The bottom line of blue is the foundation row – it counts as row 0
• The first red dot (near the bottom) is on a blue row that we can’t see well because of the white layer; you can see how the other red dots are on blue
• The first red dot is on row 2; I count by putting my fingers in the window. The bottom window has row 0 on the bottom and row 2 on the top, so I would say “2” (referring to the top of that window).
• The next window has row 4 at the top
• I count the blue windows by 2 (2, 4, 6, 8, etc)
• The window where I have a stitch marker is “28”; the red dot below it is 26 and the red dot above it is 28, so with my finger in that window I’d say “28”
• The red top at the very top is row 30 and we see that the white layer is one row taller, so the white row that has been completed is row 31

Stitch Markers

I usually use stitch markers to help me keep track of the rows.

I usually do it every 20 rows, but you might prefer every 10 rows.

With a repeating pattern like this strap, marking every 20 rows isn’t very helpful. We are more interested in knowing what row we are crocheting and less interesting in knowing the total number of rows that have been crocheted.

Therefore,

• I put my stitch marker in the final window of each repeat (comparing to the previous photo with the red dots, the stitch marker has been moved up one window)
• when counting rows to determine what I’m crocheting, I now use this window as “0” and still go up by 2 for each MC window
• I do not use a stitch marker except for to mark the repeats but that means we have to count up to 30 rows every time we forget which row we are on
  • You might want to use different colored stitch markers or have some sort of system to tell you which markers are used to count repeats and which are being used to count every 10 rows or whatever helps you stay on track
• Leave the stitch markers until you’re finished the strap so that you know how many repeats you’ve done

Interlocking Crochet Strap

70-80” total length (approx. 225-250 yards of each color). Adjust length if needed.

Foundation Rows

1. Using MC create 6 windows:
   1. I prefer the chainless technique (chain 5, dc into first stitch, chain 1, tr into same space, *chain 1, tr into 2^nd part of the previous tr* repeat as many times as needed). See how at https://youtu.be/_3So3Pe8GWc?t=100
   2. Alternatively, you can chain 15, then DC in 5^th chain from your hook. *Ch 1, Sk 1, DC* repeat until the end. Place stitch marker so your work doesn’t unravel.
2. With your AC, Ch 13. Pull the tail of your AC through the first MC window on the right end (see picture to the right). DC through the back of the next window into the 5^th chain from your hook. See how at https://youtu.be/_3So3Pe8GWc?si=Lmu8M9F60Hv6zRYz&t=321

3. *Ch 1, Sk 1, DC through the back* repeat to end. Place stitch marker so your work doesn’t unravel. Both stitch markers should be on the same end.

WS – ACB

24 MC – Ch3, (1B, 1F) x2, 1B, ES

25 AC – Ch3 in back, 4B, EB

RS – ACF

26 MC – Ch3, 1F, 3B, 1F, ES

27 AC – Ch3 in front, 4F, EF

WS – ACB

28 MC – Ch3, (1B, 1F) x2, 1B, ES

29 AC – Ch3 in back, 1B, 2F, 1B, EB

RS – ACF

30 MC – Ch3, (1F, 1B) x2, 1F, ES

31 AC – Ch3 in front, 4F, EF

Repeat Rows 4 through 31 until you reach your desired length. Then finish with rows 32-34. Jump up to the discussion about how many repeats are needed.

You may want to put a stitch marker on each repeat of Row 4 to make counting the rows easier.

WS – ACFront

32 MC – Ch3, 1B, 3F, 1B, ES

33 AC – Ch3 in front, 4F, EF

Cut and tie off AC.

RS

34 MC – Ch3, 5B, ES

Cut and tie off MC, leaving tail long enough for sewing the short ends of the strap together. Be careful not to twist your strap.

Weave in ends.