How to read a crochet pattern

Before the first row

The top of a pattern lists what the rows below take for granted.

What a pattern does not say

A pattern that begins with a chain starts with a slip knot on the hook, and most patterns do not tell you to make it. The slip knot is not a stitch, and neither is the loop that sits on your hook while you work. Neither is ever counted.

The first row

The foundation line is the starting chain: 21 chains. Some patterns put the chain at the start of row 1 instead; it means the same. RS marks the right side, which is explained further down this page.

Skip the chain next to the hook, work a single crochet (double crochet in United Kingdom patterns) into the second one, and then one into every chain to the end. The skipped chain is never worked into. The number in parentheses is what you should have when the row is done: 20 single crochet, one fewer than the chains. It is a check, not something more to do.

Turning

At the end of a row you make a turning chain, which lifts the yarn to the height of the next row, and turn the work so that you can go back across. Some patterns put the chain and the turn at the end of the row before; it comes to the same thing. A line that begins "Rows 2 to 24" is worked once for each of those rows.

A chain 1 is not a stitch, so the first single crochet of a row goes into the very first stitch, the one the chain comes out of. The last goes into the last stitch of the row below, never into a chain.

How many chains you make depends on how tall the stitch is.

A chain that counts takes the place of the first stitch of its row:

Here 22 chains give 20 double crochet, because the three skipped chains stand for the first one. In row 2 the three chains are the first stitch again. They stand over the first stitch of the row below and count as it, so skip that stitch and work the first double crochet into the second. The last double crochet goes into the top of the three chains at the far end; in row 2 those are the chains skipped at the start of row 1.

In the lines on this site a chain that counts always says so. A chain with no such note is not a stitch.

Where each stitch goes

• in next st: into the next stitch of the row below. Unless the line says otherwise, the hook goes under both loops at the top of that stitch.
• in each st across, or around: one in every stitch to the end of the row, or of the round.
• 2 sc in next st: two stitches in the same place, which is an increase.
• sc2tog: one stitch worked over the next two, which is a decrease.
• sk next st: skip that stitch and leave it unworked. See skip a stitch.
• in skipped st: go back to a stitch you skipped earlier in the row and work into it. Crossed stitches are made this way.
• in same st: into the stitch you have just worked into, so that one stitch holds more than one.
• in next ch-1 sp: into the space under a chain made in the row below, not into the chain itself. See chain space.
• In the space between stitches: into the gap between two stitches or two groups of stitches, below their tops, and not under the loops of either.
• in BLO of next st: under the back loop only, the one farther from you. FLO is the front loop, the one nearer to you.
• Around the post, shortened to FP (front post) or BP (back post): the hook goes around the upright body of the stitch in the row below, and not under the two loops at its top. See post stitches.

Repeats

• Square brackets hold steps to work more than once, and the number after them says how many times.
• An asterisk marks where a repeat begins: work what follows it, then go back to the asterisk and do it again, to the end of the row or as many times as the line says. Some patterns close the repeat with a second asterisk and say "repeat from * to *": work what lies between the two. A double asterisk inside a repeat marks where the last repeat stops early.
• Parentheses hold a group of stitches that all go into one stitch or space, and the words after them say where: (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp puts six double crochet and two chains into a single space.

Count the passes with care. The steps after an asterisk are worked once before the line tells you to repeat them, so "repeat from * 3 more times" means four times in all: once, and three more. A number after square brackets is different: it is the total.

Writers differ. Some use parentheses for repeats as well, and some keep square brackets for the count, so read a pattern's own notes first. The lines on this site use square brackets for every repeat and never use an asterisk.

Read row 1 in steps. Make a single crochet in the fourth chain from the hook. Then work the three steps in the brackets six times: chain 1, skip a chain, single crochet in the next chain. Each pass uses two chains, so 4 and 12 make the 16 you started with.

Row 2 turns with two chains, where plain single crochet turns with one. The second chain stands over the single crochet at the edge, which this row skips, so the two chains leave a space there: the turning chain space. They are not a stitch, and the last single crochet of the next row goes into that space. In row 2 itself every single crochet goes into a chain-1 space, and the last one goes into the space left by the chains skipped at the start of row 1.

A line in shorthand, piece by piece

Some patterns shorten a round to a line such as "Rnd 3: [sc 1, inc] x 6 (18)". Take it one piece at a time.

• "sc 1" is one single crochet in the next stitch.
• "inc" is an increase: two single crochet in the same stitch. See increases.
• The brackets and "x 6" say to work that pair six times.
• "(18)" is the count when the round is done. Each pass makes three stitches, one and then two, so six passes make 18.

Writers do not agree on how to write an increase, so look for the pattern's own list of abbreviations before you begin.

The count at the end

On this site the last parentheses of a line hold the count, with each thing named: (7 sc, 6 ch-1 sps, 1 turning ch sp). Other patterns mark the count in other ways, for example after a colon. Count at the end of every row.

Rows and rounds

A piece worked back and forth is written in rows. A piece worked around a center, such as a hat or a granny square, is written in rounds, shortened to rnd. A round piece begins with a ring: either a few chains joined into a circle with a slip stitch, or a magic ring, which can be pulled closed.

MR, for magic ring, is not on the standard list of abbreviations. A pattern that uses it, as the lines on this site do, says so in its own list. The slip stitch into the top of the three chains joins the end of the round to its beginning.

Right side and wrong side

The right side (RS) is the face of the piece that is meant to be seen, and the wrong side (WS) is the other. In rows that are turned, you see each side on every other row.

Which country's terms

This site uses United States terms. A United Kingdom pattern uses the same words for different stitches, so check which a pattern uses before you start.

The US and UK terms chart has every pair, and the abbreviations chart has every short form.

Charts and graphs

Some patterns add a chart. In a stitch chart every stitch is a symbol, drawn where it is worked, and the pattern's key says what each symbol means. A picture worked in colors comes as a graph of squares, one square for each stitch.