What is Join As You Go Ribbing?
Join As You Go Ribbing, or JAYG ribbing is an excellent technique you can use with all sorts of crochet projects. Its meaning is literal; as you work your ribbing, up and down, you anchor it to a main piece of crochet fabric with a couple of slip stitches every other row.
I have used a few different stitch patterns for Join As You Go ribbing and now have my favourites (I’ll share a few stitch patterns below). JAYG is perfect for crochet sweaters and cardigans, you can use it for the waistband, neck band and cuffs. It also works brilliantly for a blanket or shawl border.
I often find that the starting point is the fiddliest bit of many crochet patterns and that’s true here, I’m afraid. But as is normal, after a couple of goes it becomes much easier and you’ll have wondered why you were so worried about trying it in the first place!
To take away any confusion, I have also put together a video tutorial showing three ways to work Join As You Go Ribbing. This includes crocheting ribbing around a corner!
If you’re not ready for JAYG (but I’m certain that you are!), you can work your ribbing separately and stitch it on after. Check out my blog post on my absolute favourite Crochet Ribbing Stitches. That post also comes with a video tutorial to demonstrate how I work the ribbing stitches.
A Couple of Tips for Tidy JAYG Crochet Ribbing
There is very little restriction on what ribbing stitch patterns you can use for Join As You Go, it’s entirely up to you but I will share a few of my favourites that you may want to try on your own crochet items.
With any of these patterns, you’ll want a round/row of foundation stitches to work into. It’s best that this is in the same yarn and same colour as the ribbing or main fabric because it will help blend the joining stitches tidily. Obviously, this depends on what you determine to be the right side or wrong side. Experiment with a swatch before you embark on your actual project to work out what side you’d like to start on.
Even if the stitch patterns themselves look the same on both sides, where they’re joined to the fabric you can see the slip stitches on one side. Aim to make this the wrong side where possible and in some of the patterns below, I do point out which is the right side but in the case of the Yarn Over Sl St pattern, my favourite side of that stitch happens to show the slip stitch joins. Ah well, you can’t win them all. But, this is why it’s a good idea to use the same colour for the foundation, it hides your sins….
Please note that for all of the stitch patterns included here, I haven’t paid much attention to stitch multiples. I’m often happy to fudge the row I end on. I hope you’re not outraged. I am better behaved in my published patterns, I promise!
How Many Stitches Do you Need For Crochet Ribbing?
The number of chains you need to start your Join As You Go Ribbing is entirely up to you. The patterns here have been lifted from some of my designs and they have been written for different yarn weights and with different design elements in mind. Also, the depth of your ribbing will mostly depend on your aesthetic and what you think looks best.
However, as a general rule, I use fewer chains for heavier weights of yarn. The buttonband for the Perfect cardigan, which is an aran weight garment, has about 8 sts. My Little Fluffy Clouds cardigan is crocheted with DK yarn and there are a couple more stitches for a (roughly) similar depth.
Make a swatch and decide how many stitches look the best for what you’d like the ribbing for.
Which Stitch Pattern is Best for Crochet Ribbing
I cover more on this in my first crochet ribbing blog post but a lot of it is down to personal preference as well as what you’re using it for. This is just my opinion but if you accept that it doesn’t quite grip or stretch like a knitted rib does, then you won’t be disappointed.
Do you want your crochet ribbing to be easy to work up? Look great? Have some stretch?
Each of these factors is impacted by the stitch that you choose. If you’re using only slip stitches in the back loop only, they’re more stretchy so have great functionality; they look awesome as well. But they’re also fiddly and require consistent tension. If it’s a beginner project then single crochet back loop only (blo or BLO) would be a good choice. That’s why I’ve included the latter here but if you read the other blog post, you’ll know it’s not actually one I like very much…
How Many Slip Stitches Should I Join With?
The number of slip stitches required for anchoring to the foundation row depends on a couple of different factors:
Do you want it to be flat or flared? The stitches you’ve chosen to use, how wide are they?
The wider the stitch, the more slip stitches you should use. This is why some of my patterns use three slip stitches and others, only two.
Take a look at my colourful crochet sweater, Milis (pic below). It has Join As You Go Ribbing at the neckline, waistband and cuffs. The stitch pattern uses a combo on US hdc / UK htr and slip stitches. There’s approx 5cm positive ease in this sweater which is less than other designs I’ve made. I was a bit worried that adding shaping at the waist and cuffs (by cinching it in) would affect the fit so the ribbing here is flat/inline with the sweater.
Conversely, I dislike fitted, tight necklines, I feel strangled. Therefore, I often design open necks with lots of breathing space. Milis had lots of that but I needed to be careful. Too much space and it’d end up as an off-the-shoulder top, which was not the intention. All of this to say, I used the same stitch pattern throughout but for the cuffs and waist, I attached the ribbing with two slip stitches; at the neckline, I used three.
This simple change gathered the neckline just enough so that it fits just like Goldilocks. Not too big and not too small.
The JAYG Stitch Patterns
The Easiest JAYG Ribbing
Let’s start with the most simple stitch pattern for Join As You Go Ribbing. It’s all worked with US single crochet stitches / UK dc stitches. Both sides of the ribbing are the same and it’s all worked in the back loop only.
Pattern (US terms are used – my UK friends probably know that a US sc is a UK dc):
Chain 13 (or however many stitches you like). For this starting chain, work into the back bumps.
Row 1: 1sc in 2nd ch from hook, 11sc, sl st in next 2 sts of foundation round, turn. [12 sts]
Row 2: Miss 2 sl sts, 12sc BLO, turn.
Row 3: 1ch, 12sc BLO, sl st in next 2 sts of foundation round, turn.
Row 4 & 5: Rep Row 2 & 3.
The Road To Nowhere is an asymmetric crochet shawl that uses US sc / UK dc in the back loop only. The JAYG ribbing is worked all around the outside in painstaking fashion. Yes, it took ages. Yes, it’s so worth it!
The Front Third Loop Rib
I really love this one! Look at the tidy button band of the Perfect Cardigan (pictured below), it’s so pleasing!
What’s the front third loop?! Instead of working under the 2 loops that form a “V” at the top of the stitch, insert hook in the horizontal loop that sits at the front of the stitch below the “V”. This pushes the stitch forward to produce a rib-like effect.
Pattern:
With right side facing, attach the yarn to your project. For the starting chain, work into the back bumps.
Chain 8.
Row 1: 1hdc (a UK htr) in 2nd ch from hook, 6hdc to end, 3 sl sts into next 3 sts of main body, turn. 7 sts
Row 2: Miss 3 sl sts. Working in the front 3rd loop (here & throughout) 7hdc, turn.
Row 3: 1ch, 7hdc, 3 sl sts into next 3 sts of body, turn.
Repeat Rows 2 & 3.
Yarn Over Slip Stitch Ribbing
This ribbing uses a combination of yarn over slip stitches (YO sl st – aka a US hdc/ UK htr slip stitch) and regular slip stitches, all in the back loop only.
Pattern:
Chain 10 or however many stitches you like.
Row 1 (w/s): Working in back bumps, YO sl st in second ch from hook, YO sl st to end, sl st in next 2 sts of foundation row, turn – 9 sts.
Row 2 (r/s): Miss 2 sl sts, 9sl sts BLO, turn.
Row 3: ch1, 9YO slst BLO, sl st in next 2 sts of foundation row, turn.
Rep Rows 2 & 3 to end.
Fasten off.
If you’re interested in a tidying tweak for this ribbing pattern, on the last slip stitch of Row 2, work into both loops. Whilst not necessary, I think it creates a neater edge.
What About Creating Corners?
It took me a while to work out the best number of repeats. It depends on how acute your corner is but you can use JAYG ribbing around corners. Not only did I do this in the Road to Nowhere shawl, I also added ribbing to my Gudrun shawl, which was designed especially for the first issue of Moorit magazine.
When working the initial foundation row/round, make sure to have three stitches in a corner. The increase rows will be worked over those three stitches. Or if you prefer, play around with a number of increase rows that’s going to work best for your design.
Join As You Go Around a Corner
The below is pilfered from Road to Nowhere and uses single crochet BLO. Potentially, for other stitch patterns, this may be too many increases. You can also try other ribbing stitch patterns too. For example, Gudrun uses the front third loop rib around the outside.
Pattern:
Work in a 2-row stitch pattern of your choice until you get to the first stitch of a corner. Work 1 sl st into the first corner st.
Corner st 1: rep your two-row stitch pattern three times – sl st in same st after first two repeats, sl st in next st on last row of final rep.
Corner st 2: rep your two-row stitch pattern three times – sl st in same st after first two repeats, sl st in next st on last row of final rep.
Corner st 3: rep your two-row stitch pattern three times – sl st in same st after first two repeats, sl st in next st on last row of final rep.
Corner complete.
And that’s it! As always, I can write a lot about crochet! I hope you find these stitch patterns useful. Are you a fan of Join As You Go crochet ribbing?! What do you use it for?
Whilst I’ve linked to Ravelry for the patterns above, you can also find my crochet designs in my Etsy shop and Lovecrafts.
For more Crochet Tips and Tricks, take a look HERE. And, as always, don’t forget to check out my Free Crochet Patterns Page here.
Cheers! xx
