Post stitches and cables · Easy
Front post double crochet
A front post stitch in double crochet (UK treble) is a double crochet worked round the post of a stitch, not into its top. Take the yarn over, pass the hook from the front round behind the post and out to the front again, pull up a loop, and finish like any double crochet. The stitch stands forward as a raised rib. Patterns write it FPdc or fpdc.
How to work it
Yarn over, and go round the post from the front
Take the yarn over the hook. Find the post of the next stitch, the upright part below its top. Push the hook in at the front of the work just before that post, take it behind the post, and bring it out at the front again just after the post. The post now lies across the hook.
Pull up a loop round the post
Take the yarn over the hook and draw it back round the post, the way the hook came. There are three loops on the hook, and the new loop goes round 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 stands in front of the row below.
At a glance
- Also called
- FPdc, fpdc
- Used for
- ribbing, worked in turn with back post double crochet; the raised grid of waffle stitch; cables and other raised patterns
- Abbreviation
- FPdc, also written fpdc
- In UK terms
- raised treble front (RtrF)
- The hook goes
- From front to back to front, 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
The only thing that differs from a plain double crochet is where the hook goes. Because the loop is pulled up round a post and not through a top, the whole stitch is pushed toward you, and the top of the stitch below is left behind it. The same move with a treble crochet (UK double treble) gives a taller raised stitch.
A post stitch comes out a little shorter than a plain stitch. That is why a row of them begins with 2 chains. Some ribbing patterns also end the row with a half double crochet (UK half treble) in the last stitch.
Which side counts as the front depends on the side you are looking at. A front post stitch seen from the other side of the fabric looks like a back post stitch. In ribbing, work a front post stitch round every stitch that stands forward on the side facing you.
When it goes wrong
- I cannot see where the hook goes in.
- Look for the gaps on either side of the post. The hook goes in through the gap before the post and comes out through the gap after it, with the post in front of the hook.
- My row has too many stitches.
- After each front post stitch, skip the top of the stitch behind it. Working into that top as well adds a stitch.
- The stitch is raised on the wrong side.
- The hook went round the post from the back. For a front post stitch the hook starts at the front, and the post ends up lying over the hook.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Back post double crochet. The hook goes round the post from the back, and the stitch sits back.
- Front post treble crochet. The same move with two yarn overs, for a taller raised stitch.
Patterns that use it
Questions
- What does fpdc mean in crochet?
- Front post double crochet: a double crochet worked round the post of a stitch from the front, so that it stands forward.
- Does a front 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 and the row keeps its count.
- How many chains do I turn with?
- Usually 2, because post stitches are shorter than plain double crochet. The pattern says whether those chains count as a stitch.
- What is fpdc in UK terms?
- Raised treble front, written RtrF.