by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: January 29, 2009

So you decided to take up a hobby and the hobby you chose was crocheting. Well, you've made an excellent choice. As with most hobbies, however you have to learn more of how to perform in the field and so you're ready to move away from plain old crochet stitches, and clusters, and popcorn and want to create shells.

As with most crochet stitches, crocheting shells is fun, relaxing, and rewarding. Two very nice crochet shell stitches are the climbing' shells stitch and the 'aligned' shells stitch. The climbing shells stitch can be described as having rows of vertical stitches followed by rows of loose shells. This pattern alternates through the climbing stitching process. Aligned stitches could be described as rows and of rows of thick shells with lines between them. Aligned shells look more like shells one picks up at the beach compared to climbing shells that don't really appear shell-like.

Making climbing shells requires crocheting a chain. The length of the chain is determined by what item one is making and the thickness of the yarn to be used. After the chain is created, double crochet in the fourth chain from the hook, and in the next three chains. *Then you must skip two chains and make two double crochets-chain two-two double crochets in the chain following the two you skipped. This has been indicated by the asterisk above. Now you have completed one climbing shell.

In order to make the shell appear to climb, you must skip the next two shells, double crochet in the next five chains and repeat the process beginning from where you double crocheted in three chains in a row. After you've repeated as described above you will have two shells.

Making aligned shells requires crocheting a chain as described in para two. After you have your chain, make five double crochets in the sixth chain from the hook. Skip two chains. Double crochet in the next hook. *Now skip two chains again. Make five double crochets in the next chain and skip the next two chains. Double crochet in the following chain and then begin the process from second set of double crochets you made for this stitch.

After perfecting these two shell type stitches you should be able to use them for just about anything you want to crochet. If crocheting for someone other than yourself, in particular, for a new mom, consider using the aligned shells for making baby blankets, this stitch looks great with pink, white, and blue yarn. The soft materials that come in pastel colors look best. Seeing a grandchild or a friend's baby cuddled in a blanket of this type that you made rather than purchased is quite a thrill. This pattern is also great for scarves and purses.

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