Tag: Beginners

How To Do Decrease in Double Crochet – too many loops?

This article explains crochet decrease techniques used in a double crochet stitch.

The basics of single crochet stitch were explained in my previous article https://yarnonhook.com/2018/12/07/3-usual-ways-of-shaping-by-decrease/ 

1. Single decreasing in double crochet within a row (dc2tog)

  • Stitch to the position of the decrease. In my case I worked 15 DC with 2CH turning. My decrease position is 6th and 7th DC stitch. 
  • Yarn over (aka 1 loop on the hook), take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (stitch 6th in my case – you have 2 loops). 
  • Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch. You have 3 loops on the hook. (nearly completed DC stitch, but DO NOT COMPLETE). 
  • Yarn over in the barb of the hook and pull it through the first 2 loops only! Leaving 2 loops on the hook. 
  • Yarn over (aka 1 loop) and take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (7th stitch – you have 3 loops). 
  • Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch ( 7th stitch). DO NOT COMPLETE THE STITCH! You have 4 loops on the hook. 
  • Wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull it through the first 2 loops only! Leaving 3 loops on the hook. 
  • Wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull it through all 3 loops on the hook, completing the decrease stitch (1 loops remains on the hook). 
  • Make sure that the tension is tight otherwise with decreases the usual problem is “holes”… and you do not want to have unnecessary holes in your pattern. Extremely important especially when you are crocheting together more than 2 loops. 
  • A little project with dc2tog decrease on the picture below: 

2. Double decrease in double crochet within a row (dc3tog)

  • Stitch to the position of the decrease. In my case I worked 15 DC with 2CH turning. My decrease position is 6th, 7th & 8th DC stitch. 
  • Yarn over (aka 1 loop), take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (6th stitch – you have 2 loops). 
  • Pull the yarn, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch (6th stitch – have 3 loops on the hook). 
  • Yarn over in the barb of the hook and pull it through the first 2 loops only! Leaving 2 loops on the hook. 
  • Yarn over (aka 1 loop) and take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (7th stitch – you have 3 loops). 
  • Yarn over and insert the hook through the next stitch (7th stitch) wrapping the yarn in the barb of the hook and pulling it through the picked stitch (you have 4 loops on the hook). 
  • Wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull it through the first 2 loops only! Leaving 3 loops on the hook. 
  • Yarn over (it appears like 4 loops on the hook) 
  • Insert the hook through the next stitch (8th stitch) wrapping the yarn in the barb of the hook and pulling it through the picked stitch (you have 5 loops on the hook). 
  • Wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull it through the first 2 loops only! Leaving 4 loops on the hook. 
  • Wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull it through all 4 loops on the hook, completing the decrease stitch (1 loops remains on the hook). 
  • Make sure that the tension is tight otherwise with decreases the usual problem is “holes”… and you do not want to have unnecessary holes in your pattern. Extremely important especially when you are crocheting together more than 2 loops. 
  • A little project with dc3tog decrease on the picture below: 

Happy Crocheting!

I.

3 Usual Ways Of Shaping By Decrease

The next most important thing that you will learn in crochet is increase and crochet decrease techniques. The basics of crochet increase were explained in my previous article 4 Most Common Ways of Shaping by Increase.

Shaping by crochet decreasing, it simply means shortening the rows by skipping or invisibly removing the “present crochet stitches”.

Increases and decreases are used to change the shape and drape of all of your crochet projects.

Usage of crochet shaping in general

How crochet flat circles become hats? or amigurumi characters? and how flat crochet projects become fitted instead of just lumpy and chunky and square or rectangle only?

By the way, if you like the hat on the picture above, here is a free pattern link: Boy Hat – Free Pattern and if you like the purple bear ear, which belongs to a car organiser, the free pattern can be found here: Bear Girl Car Crochet Organiser – Free Pattern.

This article is all about decreasing, which is in my opinion, the harder of the two techniques (well, not as hard you may think 🙂 as you will see shortly).

To increase stitches as per the instructions here 4 Most Common Ways of Shaping by Increase is easy peasy work.

To shape by crochet decrease, you need to work a little bit more with the tension as you do not want to leave an “extra holes” behind in your project especially with decreasing more than 2 loops together.

Acronyms

Crochet decrease of any kind is usually abbreviated as “dec”, but a pattern may also say to “crochet the next 2 stitches together”, aka “2 tog”.

Note, that there might be more stitches together, therefore the instructions might be written as “3 tog or X tog“, where the X is representing any number of stitches crocheted together.

1. Decreasing by skipping a stitch – the easiest 🙂

Note: In a looser stitches like DC or TR it may leave a “holes” behind. So this one is good for tighter stitches e.g. slip stitch, single crochet or half double crochet stitch. 

  1. Stitch to the position of the decrease (in my case I used 15 x SC stitches with 1 CH turning at the end of the row).
  2. Miss one stitch and take the hook, form front to back, through the next stitch as per the picture below. In my case I worked 5 x SC and missed 6th SC, inserting the hook into 7th SC.
  3. Work the stitch in the same manner as your previous stitches. 
  4. If you want the decrease to happen always at the same spot – mark the stitch.
  5. A little project with skipping stitch decrease on the picture below: 

2. Single decrease in single crochet within a row (sc2tog)

  1. Stitch to the position of the decrease. In my case I worked 15x SC in total with 1 CH turning at the end of the row. My position of decrease was 6th & 7th SC from the hook. 
  2. Work 5 x SC and take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (6th one).
  3. Wrap the yarn and pull it trough, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch. DO NOT COMPLETE THE STITCH! You have 2 loops on the hook.
  4. Take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (7th).
  5. Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch. You have 3 loops on the hook.
  6. Complete the stitch – wrap yarn in the barb of the hook and pull the yarn through all 3 loops at once.
  7. Make sure that the tension is tight otherwise with decreases the usual problem is “holes”… and you do not want to have unnecessary holes in your pattern.
  8. A little project with sc2tog decrease on the picture below: 

3. Double decrease in single crochet within a row (sc3tog)

  1. Stitch to the position of the decrease. Take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch. In my case I worked 15 x SC with 1 CH turning. My position of decrease is 6th, 7th and 8th stitch from the hook. 
  2. Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch (stitch 6th). DO NOT COMPLETE THE STITCH! You have 2 loops on the hook.
  3. Take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (7th stitch).
  4. Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch (stitch 7th).  DO NOT COMPLETE THE STITCH! You have 3 loops on the hook. 
  5. Take the hook, from front to back, through the next stitch (8th stitch).
  6. Wrap the yarn and pull it through, from back to front over the hook and pull a loop through the picked stitch (stitch 8th). DO NOT COMPLETE THE STITCH! You have 4 loops on the hook. 
  7. Complete the stitch – wrap the yarn in the barb of the hook and pull the yarn through all 4 loops at once. 
  8. Make sure that the tension is tight otherwise with decreases the usual problem is “holes”… and you do not want to have unnecessary holes in your pattern. Extremely important especially when you are crocheting together more than 2 loops.
  9. A little project with sc3tog decrease on the picture below: 

Happy Crocheting !

I.

4 Most Common Ways of Shaping by Increase

Shaping is a very important skill, while you are working on a crochet project. In this post I will explain 4 x most common ways of shaping by increase technique. It should be noted that this post describes techniques for flat projects worked in rows or joined circles.

I am planning a specific blog post about how to shape Amigurumis so stay tuned in :).

As a beginner crocheter you probably follow religiously a pattern found on internet or in a magazine. Once you finish few projects you will realise how the stitches fit together and how the mechanics work.

These are all the elements you can reuse in your own designs later or it helps you to  guess how certain pieces are done or shaped and potentially discover pattern errors or modify the pattern for your own fit / use.

1. Single Increase within a row

This shaping technique gives you a mild hump somewhere in the middle of your flat project. It is used e.g. when shaping a sleeve of a jumper or making an “A” line soft frill skirt.

  1. Crochet until to the position of the increase as per your pattern instructions.
  2. For demonstration I will show you an increase in 11th position of 20 SC base chain stitches. IMG_0262
  3. I worked 10 SC (how to make single crochet stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) IMG_2552
  4. Increase is usually marked as INC, therefore in case of SC it will look like e.g. 1 x INC SC, translated from crochet language you do 1 x single crochet stitch increase.
  5. How to make 1x INC SC: Insert a hook into the 11th stitch and crochet SC. Once completed. Insert the hook into the same stitch, you have just worked on! IMG_5619Work the stitch exactly in the same manner as the first SC in the 11th stitch.
  6. You have completed 1 x INC SC. IMG_1068
  7. Continue with your pattern, in my case I crocheted another 10 x SC till the end. IMG_8733
  8. Make 1 CH (how to make chain stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) for turning your work.
  9. Turn your project and work 11SC, 1x INC SC, 10x SC – that means your increase point will be always at the same spot. IMG_8267

2. Double Increase within a row

This shaping technique gives you a sharp hump somewhere in the middle of your flat project. It is used e.g. when shaping a blanket edges or making an “A” line sharp frill skirt.

  1. Crochet until to the position of the increase as per your pattern instructions.
  2. For demonstration I will show you an increase in 11th position of 20 SC base chain stitches.
  3. I worked 10 SC (how to make single crochet stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) IMG_1396
  4. Increase is usually marked as INC, therefore in case of SC it will look like e.g. 1 x INC SC, translated from crochet language you do 1 x single crochet stitch increase, however in this part, we will make double INC SC.
  5. How to make 1x INC SC: Insert a hook into the 11th stitch and crochet SC. Once completed. Insert the hook into the same stitch, you have just worked on! IMG_6287Work the stitch exactly in the same manner as the first SC in the 11th stitch.
  6. You have completed 1 x INC SC.
  7. Insert the hook into the same stitch, you have just worked on! Work the stitch exactly in the same manner as the first SC in the 11th stitch.
  8. You have completed second 1 x INC SC. = double INC SC IMG_4528
  9. It means in total you will have 3 x SC stitches in one stitch to make a double INC SC. IMG_3263
  10. Continue with your pattern, in my case I crocheted another 10 x SC till the end.
  11. Make 1 CH (how to make chain stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) for turning your work.
  12. Turn your project and work 11SC, 1x double INC SC, 10x SC – that means your increase point will be always at the same spot. IMG_1785

3. Increasing at the end of a row

This shaping technique gives you a mild stepped increase at the end of a row of your flat project. How steep is the step or how mild is the shaping transition depends how many stitches you add in.

It is used e.g. when shaping a blanket edges, sleeves, triangle shapes from bottom up or other geometrical and non-geometrical shapes.

  1. Crochet until to the position of the increase as per your pattern instructions.
  2. For demonstration I will show you an increase at the end of 20 SC base chain stitches. IMG_9026
  3. I worked 20 SC (how to make single crochet stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) IMG_6912
  4. Increase is usually marked as INC, therefore in case of SC it will look like e.g. 1 x INC SC, translated from crochet language you do 1 x single crochet stitch increase.
  5. How to make 1x INC SC: Insert a hook into the 20th stitch and crochet SC. IMG_8555Once completed. Insert the hook into the same stitch, you have just worked on! Work the stitch exactly in the same manner as the first SC in the 20th stitch.
  6. You have completed 1 x INC SC at the end of the row.
  7. Make 1 CH (how to make chain stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) for turning your work. IMG_2655
  8. Repeat steps 5. – 6. and continue till the end of the row. IMG_5966

4. Stepped increasing at the end of a row

This shaping technique gives you a very sharp stepped increase at the end of a row of your flat project. How long is the step depends how many chain stitches you add in at the end of the row.

It is used e.g. when shaping a blanket edges, garments, decorative items other geometrical and non-geometrical shapes.

  1. Crochet until to the position of the increase as per your pattern instructions.
  2. For demonstration I will show you an increase at the end of 20 SC base chain stitches.
  3. I worked 20 SC (how to make single crochet stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) IMG_9672
  4. Work 2 full rows with turns at the end of each row.
  5. Work almost till the end of the next row before the increasing will happen. Leave 6 stitches unworked (in my case). In total I worked only 14 SC. IMG_4611
  6. Remove your hook from the loop and lock it in the marker or safety pin. IMG_7269
  7. Join in a new ball of yarn ( for visualisation I used a different colour yarn – purple) to the last stitch of the previous row in the stitch 20th (how to join a new yarn have a look here 4 Easy Ways How to Join Yarns ) IMG_2245
  8. Work a single chain for each additional stitch required. In my case I worked 4 CH. IMG_3338
  9. Fasten off the new yarn (in my case purple yarn) and return the hook into the locked stitch. IMG_6940
  10. Work the remaining 6 unworked stitches and across the new section of 4 CH stitches in the same manner as for the foundation chain.
  11. Make 1 CH (how to make chain stitch, have a look here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ) for turning your work. IMG_2635

 

In the next post I will explain shaping of flat projects by decrease techniques, so if you want to learn or refresh your crocheting knowledge, subscribe to my blog so you won’t miss it!

I.

Treble Crochet Stitch (tr) – Double “Trouble”

Treble Crochet Stitch (tr) – Usage

The Treble Crochet Stitch (tr), also called a Double Treble Crochet Stitch (dtr) in British Terminology. IMG_4489

It is 1 x longer than Double Crochet (dc) (in British Terminology known as Treble Crochet Stitch (tr)) How to make Double Crochet (dc) – Treble Crochet (tr) stitch and it creates longer openings between the stitches producing a very loose fabric – excellent for blankets, loose garments (e.g. jumpers, beanies) or decorative items for your home (e.g. rugs, table clothes, chair covers etc.).

The Easy Way Tutorial

It is easy! You just have to YO twice, insert hook, YO, draw up a loop, (4 loops on hook), YO, pull through 2 loops, YO, pull through 2 loops, YO, pull through remaining 2 loops and THAT IS IT! 🙂 img_8064.jpg

Ok, was it too fast? 🙂 Let’s have a look at this stitch a little bit closer and slower:

Treble Crochet Stitch (tr/dtr) – How To

  1. Work the required number of the chain stitches (your base chain). How to make a chain stitch you can learn here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch. In my case I made 10 CH. IMG_8054
  2. Made 4 more CH – turning stitches IMG_8055
  3. YO, from back to front, over the hook 2 x img_8056.jpg
  4. Insert the hook, from front to back, through the  5th CH (4 CH as turning!!) – you should have 4 loops on the hook img_8057.jpg
  5. YO img_8058.jpg
  6. Draw the hook backwards to pull the yarn through the 1st chain stitch – 4 loops remain on the hook
  7. YO img_0023.jpg
  8. Pull the yarn through the first 2 loops on the hook – 3 loops remain on the hook img_8059.jpg
  9. YO IMG_8060
  10. Pull the yarn through the first 2 loops on the hook – 2 loops remain on the hook img_8061.jpg
  11. YO img_8062.jpg
  12. Pull the yarn through the first 2 loops on the hook – 1 loop remain on the hook – stitch is completed! img_8063.jpg
  13. Continue with steps 3 – 12 to form second and subsequent stitches until the end of the base chain. IMG_8064
  14. Make 4CH – turning stitches and turn your work IMG_8065
  15. 2 x YO and insert the hook into the stitch with the head of the hook going under both strings of the stitch in previous row by following step 13 img_8066.jpg
  16. Continue till the end of the row, making a stitch into the top of each (tr)/(dtr) of the previous row. img_8067.jpgDo not forgot to make the turning stitches as Treble Crochet Stitch (tr) is tall stitch and the edges would not be straight or they will look squashed without turning chains. IMG_1379

Good Job!

 

I.

 

How to make Double Crochet (dc) – Treble Crochet (tr) stitch

In this post I will explain how to make Double Crochet (dc) Stitch. In British terminology also known as Treble Crochet (tr) stitch.

Personally I like this stitch a lot, it is easy to make, your piece is quickly done, stitch is stretchy and widely suitable for broad spectrum of projects.

However, if you are Amigurumi maker, you will not need this stitch as much as majority  Amigurumi projects are done in a single crochet stitch (Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch ).

Double Crochet stitch (dc) does not necessarily mean double trouble :). Double means that it is long stitch – longer than half double crochet (Half Double Crochet – half short & half long ) and longer than single or slip stitch (How to make a Slip Stitch (ss) the smallest stitch of all and Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch). Stretches well in height as well as width, which can be handy when working with 100% cotton yarn. img_3926.jpg

Double Crochet Stitch – Usage

The Double Crochet Stitch is the very common crochet stitch, belonging to the absolute beginners crocheting foundation stitches. It is made of two single crochet stitches in height, but it is not as tight as the single crochet stitch. The double crochet is a beautiful stretchy stitch, suitable for blankets any other garments including socks. IMG_0851I used it even on a dog jumper :). You can read here all about the dog jumper project: Crochet Minion Dog Outfit – (L) Free Pattern.

Double Crochet Stitch Tutorial – How To

  1. Work the required number of your base chain stitches as per your pattern. Chain stitch explained here Chain stitch & Single Crochet Stitch In my case it is 10 CH (chain stitches). IMG_9178
  2. Some patterns tells you to make extra 3 chain stitches – turning at the end. I am not big fan of that as it always gives me a little hole between the first stitch and subsequent stitch on each side 😦 . I am turning Double Crochet Stitch with 1 chain stitch only, but you do what ever you works for you (3 or 1 chain stitch to turn).
  3. I worked 1 CH (chain stitch) as turning.
  4. Wrap the yarn from back to front (yarn over – yo) IMG_4144
  5. Insert the hook from front to back through the 2nd chain stitch, in case you turning with 1 CH only!!!! (otherwise insert the hook into 4th chain stitch from the hook – turning with 3CH).
  6. You should have 3 loops of the yarn on your hook IMG_5646
  7. Yarn over
  8. Pull the yarn through 2 loops only by drawing the hook backwards. You should ended up with 2 loops on your hook.
  9. Yarn over img_4123.jpg
  10. Pull the yarn through the 2 remaining loops by drawing the hook backwards
  11. One loop remains on the hook – Double Crochet Stitch is completed! 🙂 img_1831.jpg
  12. Work till the end by repeating steps 4 and 6 to 11 
  13. At the end work 1CH (or 3CH) for turning, turn your work and continue with the same manner as step 12.  You insert the hook under the two strings of the dc stitch from previous row.
  14. Continue step 13 until your piece measures the desired length or your pattern instructs you otherwise.

Also if you prefer to watch a video tutorial how to make Double Crochet Stitch (dc) click on the following link here : How to make Double Crochet Stitch (dc)

Well done !

I.

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