Texture · Easy
Crossed stitches
Crossed stitches are a pair of stitches worked out of order, so that they cross like an X. For crossed double crochet (UK treble), skip one stitch, work a double crochet in the next stitch, then go back and work a double crochet in the stitch you skipped. The second stitch crosses the first, in front of it or behind it, as the pattern says.
How to work it
Work a double crochet there
Finish the double crochet in that stitch. The stitch you passed over is still empty.
Go back to the skipped stitch
Yarn over and take the hook back to the stitch you skipped, passing in front of the double crochet you have just made. Put the hook into the skipped stitch.
Work the second double crochet
Finish a double crochet in the skipped stitch. It lies across the front of the first, and the two make an X.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain a multiple of 2 plus 1 (7 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 21, which is 10 times the multiple of 2, plus 1.
- The ch 3 at the start of a row counts as a dc. The last stitch of the next row is worked into the top of it.
- The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Row 1 is the wrong side.
- Work the second double crochet of each pair into the stitch that was skipped, in front of the first, so the two cross.
- Foundation. Ch 21.
- Row 1 (WS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across (20 sc).
- Row 2. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; [sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st] 9 times, dc in last st (20 dc).
- Row 3. Ch 1, turn; sc in next 19 sts, sc in top of turning ch (20 sc).
Repeat rows 2 and 3 for the pattern.
What each symbol meansHow to read a chart
Abbreviations in these rows
- ch
- chain stitch
- sc
- single crochet (UK double crochet)
- dc
- double crochet (UK treble)
- WS
- wrong side
- sk
- skip
- st
- stitch
At a glance
- Also called
- crossed double crochet
- Used for
- rows of small Xs on scarves, blankets and dishcloths; a band of texture on a hat or a sweater
- Abbreviation
- Patterns write it out (sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st) or define a short form of their own, such as crossed dc.
- In UK terms
- crossed treble
- Stitches used
- 2 for each pair: the one skipped and the one after it
- Multiple
- The chain is a multiple of 2 plus 1 (7 or more).
- Row repeat
- Rows 2 and 3.
- Edges
- The side edges are straight: where a row begins with a chain that counts, that chain is the edge stitch and the last stitch of the next row goes into its top; 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 second stitch can pass the first in two ways. In front: the hook is held in front of the first stitch as it goes back, which is how the steps on this page do it. Behind: the hook goes behind the first stitch. Some patterns say only to work the second stitch over the first. A pattern says which one it wants.
In the rows on this page a row of crossed pairs is followed by a row of single crochet (UK double crochet), and those two rows repeat.
The same idea works with taller stitches, such as treble crochet (UK double treble), and with more than one stitch skipped.
Cross post stitches in the same way and the result is a cable.
When it goes wrong
- My row has lost stitches.
- Every pair uses two stitches of the row below: the skipped stitch and the one after it. If a skipped stitch is never gone back to, the row is one stitch short. Count the pairs as you go.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Cables. Post stitches crossed in pairs or in groups, which stand out from the fabric like ropes.
- Back crossed stitches. The hook goes behind the first stitch on its way back to the skipped stitch, so that the second stitch lies behind the first.
- Crossed treble crochet. The same pair worked in treble crochet, which makes a taller X.
Patterns that use it
Questions
- What is the X stitch in crochet?
- On this page it is crossed double crochet: a pair of double crochets crossed over each other, which looks like an X.
- Does the second stitch go in front of the first or behind it?
- Either. Patterns use both. Follow the pattern.
- What is crossed double crochet in UK terms?
- Crossed treble. A US double crochet is a UK treble.