This tip on crocheting with long stitches such as treble crochet was in the December 1996 issue of the Chain Link newsletter. Pauline Turner of Morecambe, England is the International Liaison for the Crochet Guild of America, and offers a Diploma Course in crochet.

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Tips for Long Stitches by Pauline Turner

Long trebles can be quite troublesome to keep even. Points to look for when working a fabric in long trebles are:

1. The size of the loop on the hook, before commencing the wrapping of the yarn round the hook. This loop should sit neatly around the hook stem, with no stretch.
2. Keeping the number of yarn round hook wrappings close together. Avoid the yarn wrapping round the hook in a diagonal spiral, more like a coil of wire.
3. Keeping the hook at a diagonal to the work, not wrapping the yarn round and then lifting the hook into a horizontal position, so that it looks more like a knitting needle than a hook.
4. Keeping your finger on the loops around the hook until they have been worked off. If you do so, you will be in control, not the work!

Neater edges in long stitches:

It is possible to make tall stitches have a neater look at the ends of rows by using the "increase, decrease" method. To improve the look at the edges of a long treble, work a 2st cluster, placing the first st in the same place as the turning chain and the second stitch in the normal place. The first long treble will fill up the large hole that inevitably occurs after the turning chain. This hole becomes larger the taller the stitch made.