another one needing gauge help!

ok well i am a pretty experienced crocheter and i have been able to get away with not having the exact gauge but its about time i got this all figure out. generally when i crochet i have to figure out gauge with a calculator in hand dividing and multiplying to figure out the stitches...

whenever i crochet the correct amount of stitches across it ends up too short vertically and horizontally so i change the needle size to a larger one and it corrects the width problem but the height of the swatch is still too short...

HELP!

how do i obtain the correct height and width according to the gauge needed?

thanks so much

I have trouble making stitches tall enough, too, leading to unwelcome ruffles in round doilies. It helps if I remember to draw thru the first yarn over quite long, almost to the top of the previous stitch. I hope that makes sense.

A more extreme fix is to make extended scs, dcs, etc., where you draw a loop through the stitch below in the normal way, then draw a loop through that loop, and then complete the stitch in the normal way.

ok thanks i'll try the first one, it might help some. but i don't know about the second just because it might make the piece too holey and loose... have you ever tried it doing a pattern in tc when it calls for dc? how does it turn out?

I experimented with tc for dc a long time ago in fillet crochet. I think I liked my swatch, but never made a project with tc. It was a long time ago.

Another idea - carefully study a how-to video, concentrating on how the stitches are formed. There may be some subtlety you and I are missing.

Pauline