Basic stitches · Easy
Extended single crochet
Work a single crochet (UK double crochet) with one extra chain at its foot and you have an extended single crochet. Push the hook in and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through one loop only, then yarn over and pull through both loops. The stitch comes out a little taller and looser than the plain one.
How to work it
Pull up a loop
Push the hook under both strands at the top of the next stitch, from the side that faces you through to the back. Take the yarn over the hook and draw it back through the stitch. There are two loops on the hook, as in a single crochet.
Through one loop
Take the yarn over the hook again and draw it through the first loop only, the one nearest the head of the hook. That makes one chain at the foot of the stitch. There are still two loops on the hook.
Through both
Take the yarn over the hook once more and draw it through both loops. One loop is left on the hook and the stitch is made.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain any number (4 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 22.
- The ch 2 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Row 1 is the right side.
- Foundation. Ch 22.
- Row 1 (RS). Esc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across (20 esc).
- Row 2. Ch 2, turn; esc in each st across (20 esc).
Repeat row 2 for the pattern.
What each symbol meansHow to read a chart
Abbreviations in these rows
- ch
- chain stitch
- RS
- right side
- st
- stitch
- yo
- yarn over
- esc
- extended single crochet: insert hook in the st, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 1 loop, yo, pull through 2 loops.
At a glance
- Used for
- a closed fabric that bends and drapes more than plain single crochet, as for scarves; a row that should be a little taller than single crochet without going up to the next stitch
- Abbreviation
- esc; some patterns write exsc
- Height
- Taller than a single crochet. Most descriptions place it between single crochet and half double crochet (UK half treble), though some crocheters find it comes out taller than a half double crochet.
- To turn
- Chain 1 in most instructions, not counted as a stitch. Some makers chain 2 because the stitch is taller, as the rows on this page do.
- On a starting chain
- With a chain 1 the first stitch goes in the second chain from the hook; with a chain 2, in the third.
- Multiple
- Any number of chains (4 or more).
- Row repeat
- Row 2.
- Sides
- Looks much the same on both sides.
- 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 extra chain is the whole difference from a single crochet. It lifts the stitch a little and loosens the fabric, which bends and drapes more than plain single crochet while staying closed, without holes.
Any of the basic stitches can be extended in the same way: after the loop is pulled up, yarn over and pull through one loop, then finish the stitch as usual.
Tips
- Say it as you finish each stitch: through one, through two.
When it goes wrong
- My stitch looks like a plain single crochet.
- The pull through one loop was left out. After the loop is pulled up there are two loops on the hook. The next yarn over goes through the first of them only, and two loops are still on the hook afterwards.
- My edges are uneven.
- Keep to one turning chain for the whole piece, 1 or 2, and do not work into it: the first stitch of a row goes into the first stitch, and the last into the last stitch of the row below.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- Is extended single crochet the same as half double crochet?
- No. A half double crochet starts with a yarn over before the hook goes in and ends with one pull through three loops. An extended single crochet starts like a single crochet and has a chain worked at its foot.
- Is it esc or exsc?
- Both are in use for the same stitch. Look at the list of abbreviations in your pattern.