Basic stitches · Easy
Extended stitches
An extended stitch is a basic stitch with one extra move. After the loop is pulled up, the yarn is drawn through that one loop alone, which makes a chain inside the stitch; then the stitch is finished as usual. It comes out a little taller than the plain stitch. This page shows the move in double crochet (UK treble): the extended double crochet, which patterns write edc or exdc.
How to work it
Yarn over, and pull up a loop
Take the yarn over the hook and push the hook into the next stitch. Take the yarn over again and pull up a loop. There are three loops on the hook, just as for a plain double crochet.
Make the chain inside the stitch
Take the yarn over and draw it through the first loop on the hook only. This is the extra move. It makes one chain at the foot of the stitch, and there are still three loops on the hook.
Finish as a 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, and the stitch is made.
At a glance
- Also called
- edc, exdc, extended double crochet
- Used for
- a row a little taller than plain double crochet gives; garments and accessories that should drape
- Abbreviation
- edc; some patterns write exdc
- The extra move
- Yarn over and through one loop, straight after the loop is pulled up
- Loops on the hook
- Three after the loop is pulled up, and still three after the extra move
- Height
- A little taller than a plain double crochet
Any basic stitch can be extended in the same way: pull up the loop, draw the yarn through that loop alone, and then finish the stitch as you always would. The extra move sets a chain at the bottom of the stitch.
Extended stitches are a little taller than their plain forms, so an extended stitch falls between two basic stitches in height. They also give a fabric with more drape, which is why they are used in garments.
Single crochet (UK double crochet) can be extended too, and the extended single crochet has a page of its own. The extended treble crochet (UK double treble) is made the same way and is written etr.
A pattern says how many chains to turn with. Rows of extended half double crochet (UK half treble) are usually turned with 2 chains, which do not count as a stitch.
When it goes wrong
- My stitch looks like a plain double crochet.
- The extra move was left out. After you pull up the loop, draw the yarn through one loop only before you go on. A plain double crochet goes straight to the pulls through two loops.
- I lose count of the loops.
- Three after the loop is pulled up, three after the extra move, two after the first pull through two loops, and one when the stitch is finished.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Extended half double crochet. Written ehdc. Take the yarn over, push the hook into the next stitch, take the yarn over and pull up a loop: three loops. Take the yarn over and draw it through the first loop only: still three loops. Take the yarn over and draw it through all three.
- Extended single crochet. The same extra move in the shortest stitch, with its rows.
Questions
- What does edc mean in crochet?
- Extended double crochet: a double crochet with one extra move, a yarn over drawn through one loop, made straight after the loop is pulled up.
- What does extended mean in a crochet pattern?
- That the stitch has a chain worked inside it. After the loop is pulled up, the yarn is drawn through that one loop before the stitch is finished.
- Is an extended double crochet taller than a double crochet?
- Yes, a little. The chain at its foot adds height.
- How many chains do I turn with?
- Follow the pattern. For extended half double crochet, tutorials turn with 2 chains that do not count as a stitch.