How To: Double Crochet Stitch

How To: Double Crochet Stitch

This is my favorite stitch.  It adds good height, so when making an afghan, if this stitch is used the most, it seems to go faster for me.  So, lets start with the chain...to give height to the edge of the DC (double crochet) you usually start your double crochet stitch in the 3rd chain from the hook.

YO, and insert hook into 3rd ch from hook.

YO, and pull through ch space.  This will give you 3 loops on the hook

YO, and pull through 2 of the loops on the hook

YO once more and pull through the last 2 loops on the hook

That completes your Double Crochet Stitch.  Now finish the chain to practice and even out your stitches.



How To: Single Crochet Stitch

How To: Single Crochet Stitch

Ok, so now that you have your chain, use 1 ch space as the edge to build up the side.  In the 2nd ch space, we will start the single crochet stitch. 

Now, yo (yarn over) and pull through the chain

Now, yo again and pull through both loops on the hook



That completes the single crochet.  Now finish out the chain with single crochets to practice and you should be able to maintain even stitches. 

How To: Chain

To start, make a slip knot at the start of your yarn. 

YO (yarn over) - now, this is the funny part...I have been told that I do this backwards and the yarn should come from the front to the back, I do it that way for the chain, but for actual stitches, I yarn from back to front.I have never had any trouble with how I do it...so, my suggestion once again is to do it how you are comfortable.

Now, pull the yarn through the loop.



Woo Hoo!!! You just started your chain.  Now, for good practice, chain a long strand just to try and get each stitch even. 

This picture is the top of the chain.  It's just a braid, but important to understand that this is what it looks like.  There are 2 strands of yarn on top.  These are considered Front Loop (frond lp) and Back Loop (back lp).  Some patterns call for stitches to be made in a single strand of yarn instead of both.  When this is done on an afghan, it gives it more texture to sight and touch. (I will go over this at a later time)

To be honest, I don't mind crocheting chains, but my least favorite part is the first row of anything when you have to crochet in the chain.  Once I get past that, it's all a breeze.