Basic stitches · Beginner
Half double crochet
To half double crochet, take the yarn over the hook, push the hook into the next stitch and pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through all three loops on the hook. The stitch stands between single crochet (UK double crochet) and double crochet (UK treble) in height, and United Kingdom patterns call it half treble.
- Abbreviation
- hdc
- In UK terms
- half treble (htr)
- Chart symbol
an upright line with a bar across the top
How to work it
Yarn over
Take the yarn that leads to the ball over the hook from back to front: up behind the hook and over its top toward you. The yarn over stays on the hook beside the loop you started with, and counts as a loop: there are two loops on the hook.
Hook in
Keep both on the hook. Find the next stitch of the row below, the first one you have not yet worked into. Its top is two strands that lie side by side like a V. Push the hook under both strands, from the side that faces you through to the back. There are still two loops on the hook.
Pull up a loop
The head of the hook is now at the back of the work. There, take the yarn over the hook again, the same way, and draw it back through the stitch, to the side that faces you. There are three loops on the hook.
Close it
Take the yarn over the hook once more, the same way, and draw it through all three loops at once. One loop is left on the hook and the stitch is made.
At a glance
- Used for
- a solid, fairly close fabric, as for blankets
- Height
- Taller than a single crochet, shorter than a double crochet
- To turn
- Chain 2. Patterns differ on whether it counts as a stitch, so go by the pattern.
- On a starting chain
- The first stitch goes in the third chain from the hook.
The first two moves are those of a double crochet. The ending is different: one pull through all three loops on the hook.
On a starting chain, yarn over and work the first stitch into the third chain from the hook. When the two skipped chains are not counted as a stitch, a chain of 22 gives a row of 20 half double crochet.
At the end of a row, chain 2 and turn. What comes next depends on whether the pattern counts that chain as a stitch. Not counted: pass over the chain at both ends. The row starts in the very first stitch, the one the chain grows from, and ends in the last half double crochet of the row below. Counted: the chain is the first stitch. The row starts in the second stitch and ends with a stitch in the top of the turning chain below.
The yarn over made before the hook goes in stays in the finished stitch as an extra strand, just behind the two top loops. It is called the third loop, and some patterns work into it in place of the top loops.
Tips
- Count your stitches each time you finish a row.
- In turned rows, every other row shows the back of its stitches, which does not look quite like the front. The pictures here draw every row alike.
When it goes wrong
- My rows are getting wider, or narrower.
- The edges are where it goes wrong. If the chain 2 does not count, working into it adds a stitch, and skipping the first stitch loses one. If the chain 2 counts, working into the stitch at its base adds a stitch, and leaving out the stitch in the top of the turning chain loses one.
- I do not know whether to work into the turning chain.
- Look in the pattern's notes for whether the chain 2 counts as a stitch. In single crochet (UK double crochet) the turning chain never counts as a stitch. In double crochet (UK treble) and treble crochet (UK double treble) it counts unless the pattern says otherwise. In half double crochet (UK half treble) patterns differ, so go by the pattern, and where the pattern is silent choose one way and keep to it.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- In the third loop. Half double crochet worked into the third loop of the stitch below, which pushes the two top loops forward so that they show on the face of the fabric. This is often called camel stitch.
Patterns that use it
Questions
- Is half double crochet the same as half treble?
- Yes. Half double crochet (hdc) is the United States name, and half treble (htr) is the name in United Kingdom patterns.
- How many loops are on the hook before the last pull?
- Three: the loop that was on the hook, the yarn over made before the hook went in, and the loop pulled up through the stitch. The last pull goes through all three.
- What is the third loop of a half double crochet?
- The strand that the first yarn over leaves in the stitch, just behind the two loops at its top. It is the yarn over made before the hook goes in.