Puffs, bobbles and clusters · Easy
Bobble stitch
A bobble stitch is several unfinished stitches of double crochet (UK treble) worked into one stitch and closed together with one pull, which makes a round bump. It is made on a wrong-side row, because the bump pushes out on the side away from you. A puff stitch is made of long loops and not of unfinished stitches. A cluster is a smaller bobble, or one whose stitches stand in more than one place. A popcorn is made of finished stitches, gathered by taking the hook out and putting it back through the first.
How to work it
Four more in the same stitch
Do the same four more times in the same stitch. Each unfinished stitch leaves one more loop on the hook: three, four, five, then six.
Close the bobble
Yarn over and pull through all six loops at once. The five stitches are now held under one top, and one loop is on the hook.
Hold it with the next stitch
Work a single crochet (UK double crochet) into the next stitch. This shorter stitch draws the top of the bobble down, and the bobble pushes out on the side away from you. If it stays on your side, push it through with a finger.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain a multiple of 4 plus 2 (14 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 22, which is 5 times the multiple of 4, plus 2.
- The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Row 1 is the right side.
- The bobbles are made on wrong-side rows and push out to the right side; the single crochet after each one holds it there.
- Foundation. Ch 22.
- Row 1 (RS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across (21 sc).
- Row 2. Ch 1, turn; sc in next 2 sts, [bo in next st, sc in next 3 sts] 4 times, bo in next st, sc in next 2 sts (16 sc, 5 bo).
- Row 3. Ch 1, turn; sc in each st across (21 sc).
- Row 4. Ch 1, turn; sc in next 4 sts, [bo in next st, sc in next 3 sts] 4 times, sc in next st (17 sc, 4 bo).
- Row 5. Ch 1, turn; sc in each st across (21 sc).
Repeat rows 2 to 5 for the pattern.
What each symbol meansHow to read a chart
Abbreviations in these rows
- ch
- chain stitch
- sc
- single crochet (UK double crochet)
- RS
- right side
- sp
- space
- st
- stitch
- yo
- yarn over
- bo
- bobble: [yo, insert hook in the st or sp, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2 loops] 5 times in the same place, yo, pull through all 6 loops on hook.
At a glance
- Used for
- a bold, bumpy surface on blankets, pillow covers and bags; dots, rows and shapes that stand out from plain fabric
- Abbreviation
- bo. Some patterns write MB (make bobble) or dc5tog.
- In UK terms
- bobble, the same name, made of unfinished trebles
- Loops on the hook
- 6 before closing a bobble of five stitches; 5 for four stitches; 4 for three
- Multiple
- The chain is a multiple of 4 plus 2 (14 or more).
- Row repeat
- Rows 2 to 5.
- Sides
- Has a right side: row 1 and every second row after it are worked with it facing.
- Edges
- The side edges are straight: a row that begins with a chain that does not count begins and ends in a stitch, and that chain is not worked into.
The bobble on this page has five stitches, the most common size. Patterns also use three or four for a smaller bobble, and treble crochet (UK double treble) in place of double crochet for a taller one. The loops on the hook tell you where you are: one for the loop you began with, and one more for each unfinished stitch.
A bobble pushes out on the side away from you as you make it. That is why bobbles are made on wrong-side rows, with a plain row before the next bobble row: every bobble then stands on the right side. The two sides of the fabric are not alike. The front is covered in bumps and the back is nearly flat.
Bobbles stand out most when the stitches on each side of them are shorter, such as single crochet.
Some patterns add one chain after closing a bobble and some do not. The rows on this page do not. Read how your pattern describes its own bobble.
Bobbles use a lot of yarn, and a fabric full of them is thick.
The names bobble, cluster, puff and popcorn are not used the same way by everyone. Go by the steps the pattern gives and not by the name alone.
Tips
- Count the loops before you close: six loops for a bobble of five stitches.
When it goes wrong
- My bobbles are on the back of the work.
- They were made on a right-side row. A bobble pushes out on the side away from you, so make bobbles on wrong-side rows. A single bobble that has not gone through can be pushed through with a finger.
- My bobbles look flat.
- Put a shorter stitch, such as single crochet, on each side of every bobble.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Puff stitch. Long loops pulled up in one stitch and closed together, with no pull through two loops along the way.
- Cluster stitch. The same closing with fewer stitches, in one place or spread over several.
- Popcorn stitch. Five finished stitches of double crochet in one stitch, gathered by taking the hook out of the loop and putting it back through the first of them.
- Smaller and taller bobbles. Three or four unfinished stitches make a smaller bobble. Unfinished treble crochet stitches make a taller one.
Patterns that use it
Questions
- Is a bobble the same as dc5tog?
- Yes, when all five stitches are worked into one stitch. Dc5tog means five double crochet worked together. In one stitch they make a bobble. Spread over five stitches the same closing is a decrease.
- Why is a bobble made on the wrong side?
- Because it pushes out on the side away from you. Made on a wrong-side row, it stands on the right side.
- How is a bobble different from a popcorn stitch?
- A bobble is made of unfinished stitches that are closed with one pull through all the loops. A popcorn is made of finished stitches, and it is gathered by taking the hook out and putting it back through the first of them.
- Does a bobble take more yarn than a plain stitch?
- Yes. Every bobble holds five stitches in the space of one.