One of the things that can bedevil any crocheter is keeping stitch tension uniform over a large project, and I recently came across a handy solution that someone had shared on Facebook:

I call it a crochet tension regulator, and it has helped me enormously since I started using it on the fourth bag in the practically perfect series. In the above photo, I am using it to finish work on my second try at the ninth round of the second ten-round granny square.

Before I began using the tension regulator, I found myself having to rework multiple squares to get them closer in size to previously made squares.

So far, with this fourth bag, all of the frogging has been related to colors not working out as I expected, and none has been as a result of a too large or too small square, and after working that ninth round for the second time, I got the look that I wanted and was able to move onto the last round of the square which, when all was said and done, looked like this:

And if you want to make your own crochet tension regulator and give it a whirl, I’ve put together this tutorial.