Post stitches and cables · Easy
Back post double crochet
A back post stitch in double crochet (UK treble) is a double crochet worked round the post of a stitch from the back of the work. Take the yarn over, bring the hook from the back to the front beside the post, across the front of the post and to the back again, pull up a loop, and finish like any double crochet. The stitch is pushed away from you. Patterns write it BPdc or bpdc.
How to work it
Yarn over, and go round the post from the back
Take the yarn over the hook. Find the post of the next stitch, the upright part below its top. Bring the hook from the back of the work to the front just before that post, take it across the front of the post, and push it to the back again just after the post. The hook now lies across the front of the post.
Finish the double crochet
Take the yarn over and draw it through two loops: two loops are left. Take the yarn over and draw it through those two: one loop is left. The stitch is made, and it sits behind the row below.
At a glance
- Also called
- BPdc, bpdc
- Used for
- ribbing, worked in turn with front post double crochet
- Abbreviation
- BPdc, also written bpdc
- In UK terms
- raised treble back (RtrB)
- The hook goes
- From back to front to back, round the post
- Takes the place of
- The stitch whose post it goes round. Skip that stitch's top.
- Loops after the loop is pulled up
- Three
- Turning chain
- Rows of post double crochet usually begin with 2 chains, one fewer than plain double crochet
It is the front post double crochet turned round. The moves on the hook are the same, and only the way the hook passes the post changes. Here the hook starts behind the work, so the finished stitch lies at the back of the fabric.
On the side facing you a back post stitch seems to sink into the fabric. On the other side the same stitch stands forward. So when you turn the work, a back post stitch from the row before looks like a front post stitch.
For ribbing, work front post and back post double crochet in turn along the row. On every row after that, work a back post stitch round each stitch that sits back on the side facing you and a front post stitch round each one that stands forward. Some ribbing patterns end each row with a half double crochet (UK half treble) in the last stitch.
When it goes wrong
- I cannot see where the hook goes.
- Look for the gaps on either side of the post. The hook comes forward through the gap before the post and goes back through the gap after it, so that the hook lies in front of the post.
- My row has too many stitches.
- After each back post stitch, skip the top of the stitch in front of it. Working into that top as well adds a stitch.
- The stitch stands forward when it should sit back.
- The hook went round the post from the front. For a back post stitch the hook starts behind the work, and the hook ends up lying across the front of the post.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Front post double crochet. The hook goes round the post from the front, and the stitch stands forward.
Questions
- What does bpdc mean in crochet?
- Back post double crochet: a double crochet worked round the post of a stitch from the back, so that it sits back on the side facing you.
- What is the difference between fpdc and bpdc?
- The side the hook starts from. In a front post stitch the hook passes behind the post and the stitch stands forward. In a back post stitch the hook passes in front of the post and the stitch sits back.
- Does a back post double crochet count as a stitch?
- Yes. It takes the place of the stitch it is worked round, so skip the top of that stitch.
- What is bpdc in UK terms?
- Raised treble back, written RtrB.