In need of a good DYI project or want to brush up on you crochet knowledge, well my dears, you have come to the right place.
The 3 little pigs...I mean stitches...
There are three main stitches in crochet, and the rest are variations of them. Starting with the smallest stitch, you have Single Crochet (SC), Half Double Crochet (HDC), and Double Crochet (DC), which each increases in size and length to give your project a different design, thickness, and height. Throughout the rest of the blog, we will go over each stitch in detail so that by the end, you'll hopefully feel like an expert ;)
**JUST A LITTLE TIP....while you are learning the names of the stitches and reading your crochet patterns, keep in mind the language it is written in. What!?...you say...the pattern already looked as if ancient aliens wrote it...well not to fret.
Imagine you find a vintage crochet pattern for an awesome bag. Despite following the pattern, stitch by stitch, the resulting bag is off. What went wrong? Surprise! The pattern you were working from was written in British crochet terms.
This happens more now than it did before because of the Internet, which provides access to crochet patterns from around the world. Understanding how the two styles of pattern writing matches-up can save you from future headaches.
While chain stitch, is a chain stitch and a slip stitch, is a slip stitch, these are the terms that differ:
Most people will list on their patterns if it's English or British terminology, but if it's not read through the pattern and see if you're familiar with the rest of the lingo, like gauge (English) or tension (British). If there's several other terms you don't understand it's a good indication it's written with British terminology or you can also "Google" the terms you don't know.
Single Crochet Stitch
Single crochet is the shortest and most basic of all stitches. It requires less yarn to make each stitch, but can take more yarn to do the pattern since the stitches are small and compact. Here is a picture of what the stitch looks like and below is a video posted by Crochet Guru in 2013. It's a great step by step of how to do the single.
Half Double Crochet Stitch
The half double crochet stitch is taller than a single crochet stitch, and shorter than double crochet stitch. You make the half double similar to how you make the single, with just an extra yarn-over (when you wrap the yarn around the hook) at the beginning.
Half double crochet makes a solid piece of fabric without large holes. To the right is a picture of how the half double crochet looks and an instructional video by Crochet Guru posted in 2013 that will guide you through all the steps of making the half double.
Double Crochet Stitch
Double crochet stitches are basic crochet stitches that create an open, tall fabric and
regardless of the project you are crocheting, this classic stitch will be your go-to stitch time and time again. Once again to the right is picture showing what a double looks like and below that is a video again by Crochet Guru showing the steps on how to complete the stitch.
Keep Practicing!
Now that you have learned 3 of the must-know-stitches your arsenal of creativity is armed and ready! The main thing to remember is that practice makes perfect.