Crochet guide
How to crochet shapes
Every flat crochet shape comes from one rule about where the stitches are added. Keep the same count and you get a rectangle. Add stitches evenly all round and you get a circle. Add them only at corners and you get a square or a hexagon. Add them at the edges of a row and you get a triangle.
On this page 10 parts
The rules, side by side
| Shape | Worked in | The rule that shapes it |
|---|---|---|
| Rectangle or square | Rows | The same number of stitches in every row |
| Circle | Rounds | Every round adds the same number of stitches, spread evenly |
| Square | Rounds | Extra stitches at four corners on every round |
| Triangle | Rows | Stitches added, or taken away, at the edges |
| Half circle | Rows | Rows worked from a ring and turned, each longer than the last |
| Oval | Rounds | Rounds worked along both sides of a chain, with increases at the two ends |
| Hexagon | Rounds | Extra stitches at six corners on every round |
Stitch names on this page are United States terms, with the United Kingdom name in brackets. These are rules, not patterns: for the stitch counts of a real piece, follow a pattern.
Rectangle and square, in rows
Make a chain as wide as the piece and work back and forth. Every row has the same number of stitches. Stop when the piece is as long as it is wide, and it is a square.
The shape goes wrong when the count drifts. Count at the end of each row: counting stitches and rows and straight edges show how.
Circle
A circle is worked in rounds from a ring. It stays flat when every round adds as many stitches as the first round had, spread evenly. In single crochet (UK double crochet) the first round usually has 6 stitches. In double crochet (UK treble crochet) it usually has 12. A taller stitch needs more.
So each round has one more stitch between its increases than the round before. Too many stitches make the edge ruffle. Too few make the circle curl up into a bowl.
Flat circle gives the rounds one by one.
Square, in rounds
A square can also grow from its center. Work one stitch in each stitch along the four sides, and put extra stitches at each of the four corners on every round.
- In single crochet, a common corner is 3 stitches worked into the corner stitch.
- In double crochet, a common corner is 2 double crochet, 2 chains and 2 double crochet, all worked into the corner space of the round before.
Triangle
A triangle is worked in rows. There are two ways to work one.
- From the point up. Start with a stitch or two and increase at the edges. The triangle is done when it is as wide as you want.
- From the base down. Start with a chain as wide as the base and decrease at the edges until the rows come to a point. You have to know the width before you begin.
How often you increase or decrease sets how wide the triangle is for its height. See increases and decreases.
Half circle
A half circle is worked from a ring like a circle, but in rows. Turn at the end of each row and do not work all the way round. Each row has more stitches than the row before, as each round of a circle has.
Oval
An oval starts from a chain and not from a ring. Work along one side of the chain, put extra stitches in the last chain to turn the end, and come back along the other side of the chain. The chain you began in takes extra stitches as well, so that both ends are rounded. In the rounds that follow, increase only at the two rounded ends, as you would for a circle. Work the straight sides even. A longer chain gives a longer oval.
Hexagon
A hexagon is worked in rounds from the center, like a square, but with six corners. Set up six corners in the first round. On every round after, work even along the six sides and put extra stitches at each corner.
Heart and star
Both start as a small piece worked in rounds from a ring.
- A heart is shaped by stitches of different heights in the same round. Tall stitches build the two rounded tops and the point, and short stitches sit between them.
- A five-pointed star is a small circle with five points added round its edge. Each point is a short chain with stitches worked back down it, from short to tall.
Where to go next
- For the counts behind the circle, see the math of crochet.
- To make a piece larger or smaller, see how to make a crochet pattern bigger or smaller.
- To join squares or hexagons into a blanket, see joining squares.