To create the necessary contrast, you need to have fairly firm tension.

The difference between the light and dark spaces is what makes a filet design pop. Yarn over, insert your hook in the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, and draw through 1 loop on your hook (yarn over, draw through 2 loops) 2 times. Making an edc is easy because it’s basically a double crochet with a chain on the bottom. If, however, your double crochets are on the short side, mastering the extended double crochet (edc) stitch is essential for creating square and proportional filet crochet. If you make a taller double crochet, smile, pat yourself on the back, and crochet on with your double crochets. Most people tend to have rather short double crochet stitches, which produce rectangular filet crochet pieces instead of square. You can achieve square proportions by manipulating the height of your stitches. This will make your work proportional both vertically and horizontally. You definitely want the open and solid blocks to be truly square, which means making them as tall as they are wide. These tricks made all the difference for me.

What a revelation! It was magical and so simple. Although filet crochet is relatively easy to do, I wasn’t all that enamored with it until I discovered a few tips and tricks for creating balanced designs.

Open blocks are made using chain stitches, and solid blocks are filled in with double crochet or extended double crochet stitches. It is often achieved by reading a filet crochet chart that shows you which blocks to fill in and which blocks to leave open. Filet crochet is a technique with which you can create wonderful pictures, words, and intricate patterns using solid blocks of crochet in combination with open mesh.

Free online crochet chart maker