How to Restore Foundation Chain in Crochet: tutorial

I have been working on a new design recently. And when I was almost done, I suddenly found out there was a mistake made in the very beginning, and I needed to rip several first rows. As an alternative, I could frog the entire project of course, and remake everything from the beginning. But it would be lots of extra work. So instead I decided to investigate a bit and find out, how is it possible to restore a foundation chain for any row, without frogging everything. My first attempt was successful and I decided to write down a tutorial. I hope it will be helpful for you.

When to use this trick?

a) It can be used when you (as me) made a mistake on some rows and need to frog something without remaking the whole project.

b) This trick can help you to repair old or torn project – a blanket, for example. Once you restore the foundation chain for one of the rows, you can continue crocheting in the opposite direction and enlarge your project to the desired size.

Important Note:

Before using this trick on your actual project, please, train once (or better several times) on a sample. Ideally use the same yarn as your project is made with. It will help you to regulate tension and be confident that the trick works well for you. And only when you master it – please, try to apply it for your project.

STEP 1

First of all you should decide which part you would like to frog and where exactly (for which row) you want to restore a foundation chain.

For the purposes of this tutorial I used Stone Washed XL* yarn by Scheepjes. I used contrasting colors for you to clearly see what is happening.

First I will show you how to restore a foundation chain for the row made with double crochet stitches (US terms are used here). I made a sample in two colors and with rows of single crochet and double crochet. As shown in the picture below, I would like to get rid of blue and yellow parts below (inside red rectangle).

I worked on the right side, but it is possible also to make a new foundation chain on the wrong side. It will bring a little bit different effect. So you can experiment a bit (on a sample piece!!!) and see what you like more.

STEP 2

Turn your piece at 180 degrees (so that top is down now) and find the stitches where you will make a new foundation chain (marked with red).

Now you will restore the foundation chain by making a row of surface slip stitches into the posts of stitches which you want to be the first row. I used yarn of contrasting color, but you should probably work with the same yarn (it would be blue in my case).

I didn’t make a slip knot in the beginning, but you can find it useful.

Take a smaller hook and insert it under BOTH bars of the first stitch, yarn over and draw up a loop. *Insert the hook into both bars of next stitch, yarn over, draw up a loop (now you will have 2 loops on the hook) and pull 2nd loop thought 1st one. Repeat from * for EVERY stitch till the end of the row. Make sure that you carefully insert the hook under both bars and cover every single stitch of the row. Try to keep your tension under control, don’t pull too much and don’t work too tight. This row of surface slip stitches must be of the same width as your project. After making slip stitch into the last stitch, fasten off carefully and cut the yarn.

 A new foundation chain is finished!

STEP 3

Now you need to unweave (very carefully and gently) the row above new foundation chain. Cut one of the stitches of the row above and start to carefully unweave stitch by stitch. You can use a tapestry needle to help you.

Congratulations!! You are done! In the pictures below you can see how new foundation chain looks on the right and wrong sides.

You can also restore foundation chain for the row of single crochet stitches. Just act in the same way as for double crochet stitches. The bars of sc are a bit shorter, so you will probably need even a smaller hook. And you should be more attentive about the tension, so that your surface slip stitches are not too tight.

 

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