Working in rows · Beginner
Back loop and front loop
Back loop only (BLO) means working a stitch under one strand of the two at its top: the back loop, the strand farther from you. Front loop only (FLO) uses the strand nearer to you. The strand left free shows as a ridge on the fabric. The usual way is under both loops, so a pattern says when it wants one only.
How to work it
Back loop only: hook in
For back loop only, push the hook in between the two strands and under the back loop alone, from the side that faces you through to the back. The front loop is not on the hook: it stays in front of the hook, free. The loop you started with is still the only loop on the hook.
Front loop only: hook in
For front loop only, go to the next stitch of the row below. Push the hook under its front loop alone, from the side that faces you: the head of the hook comes up between the two strands, in front of the back loop. The back loop is not on the hook. The loop you started with is still the only loop on the hook.
At a glance
- Also called
- back loop only, front loop only, BLO, FLO
- Used for
- a ridge across the fabric, as a pattern asks for it; ribbed fabric, made of rows worked in the back loop only; the invisible decrease, which is worked through front loops
- Abbreviations
- BLO or BL for back loop only, FLO or FL for front loop only
- Front loop
- The strand at the top of the stitch that is nearer to you
- Back loop
- The strand at the top of the stitch that is farther from you
- Unless the pattern says
- Work under both loops.
- The ridge
- Working under the back loop only leaves a ridge on the side of the work that faces you as you make the stitch. Working under the front loop only leaves it on the other side.
- Third loop
- In half double crochet (UK half treble): a strand just under the two top loops, left by the yarn over that begins the stitch.
Front and back are named from where you sit, not from the two sides of the finished piece. The front loop is whichever strand is nearer to you while you make the stitch. When the work is turned at the end of a row, the strand that was the front loop of a stitch becomes its back loop.
Nothing else about the stitch changes. The yarn overs and the pulls are the same as when the hook goes under both loops; only the place the hook goes in is different.
The strand that is left free stays on the surface of the fabric. Along a whole row, those free strands lie end to end and make a line, which is the ridge.
Rows worked in the back loop only, one after another, make a ribbed fabric.
Half double crochet has a third loop as well. The yarn over at the start of the stitch leaves a horizontal strand just under the two top loops. In work that goes round and round without turning, it lies behind the back loop; in turned rows it faces you, below the front loop. A pattern that says "third loop" means this strand and not the back loop. A stitch worked into it pushes the V at the top of the old stitch forward onto the face of the fabric, which is how camel stitch is made.
Tips
- To find the third loop of a half double crochet in the round, tip the top edge of the work toward you and look just behind the two top loops.
When it goes wrong
- I cannot tell which loop is which.
- Hold the work as you do to crochet, and look down on the top of the stitch. Of the two strands, the one nearer to you is the front loop and the one farther from you is the back loop.
- My fabric has ridges that the pattern does not show.
- The hook has been going under one loop only. Unless the pattern says otherwise, it goes under both loops at the top of the stitch.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- What does BLO mean in a crochet pattern?
- Back loop only. The stitch is worked under the back loop alone: the strand at the top of the stitch that is farther from you.
- What does FLO mean in a crochet pattern?
- Front loop only. The stitch is worked under the front loop alone: the strand at the top of the stitch that is nearer to you.
- Which loops do I use when the pattern does not say?
- Both. The hook goes under both loops unless the pattern asks for one.
- Does back loop only look different from front loop only?
- Yes. The loop left free makes a ridge. Back loop only leaves the ridge on the side that faces you as you work, and front loop only leaves it on the other side.
- What is the third loop in crochet?
- A strand that a half double crochet has beside its two top loops. It lies just under them and is left by the yarn over that begins the stitch. It is not the back loop.