Texture · Easy
Herringbone half double crochet
The herringbone version of a half double crochet (UK half treble) has one move that is different. Yarn over and put the hook into the stitch as usual. Then yarn over, pull up a loop and draw that loop straight on through the next loop on the hook, in one move. Two loops are left: yarn over and pull through both. The stitches slant, and row on row they look like a herringbone weave.
How to work it
Pull up a loop, and straight on through one more
Yarn over and pull up a loop. Three loops are on the hook. Do not yarn over again: draw the loop you have just pulled up straight on through the next loop on the hook. Two loops are left.
Work every stitch and every row the same
Work the same stitch into each stitch across. At the end of the row chain 2, turn, and work back in the same way. The stitches of one row slant one way and the stitches of the next row slant the other way.
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). Hhdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across (20 hhdc).
- Row 2. Ch 2, turn; hhdc in each st across (20 hhdc).
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
- hhdc
- herringbone half double crochet: yo, insert hook in the st, yo, pull up a loop and pull it straight through the first loop on hook, yo, pull through the 2 loops on hook.
At a glance
- Used for
- a woven look on scarves, blankets and dishcloths; a close fabric about the height of half double crochet
- Abbreviation
- hhdc, as in the rows on this page, or hbhdc. Patterns differ.
- In UK terms
- herringbone half treble
- Loops on the hook
- 3 after the loop is pulled up, 2 after it is drawn through the next loop
- Multiple
- Any number of chains (4 or more).
- Row repeat
- Row 2.
- 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 only difference from a plain half double crochet is in the middle of the stitch. A plain one pulls up a loop, then takes a new yarn over through all three loops. The herringbone one pulls the new loop through the stitch and through one loop on the hook without a new yarn over, and only then yarns over for the last two loops.
That extra pull tilts the stitch. Worked back and forth in turned rows, the tilt changes direction from row to row, and that is what makes the herringbone pattern. The stitch is about as tall as a plain half double crochet.
In the rows on this page the 2 chains at the start of a row do not count as a stitch: the first stitch of the row goes into the first stitch. Some patterns count those chains as a stitch, so go by the pattern.
Herringbone double crochet (UK treble) is made the same way one size taller, and a pattern that says only "herringbone stitch" often means that one. Read how the pattern describes its own stitch.
When it goes wrong
- My stitches look like plain half double crochet.
- A yarn over crept in after the loop was pulled up. Pull the loop through the stitch and through the next loop on the hook in one move, and yarn over only when two loops are left.
- I end the stitch with one loop too many.
- Count as you go: three loops after pulling up, two after the pull through one loop, then yarn over and through both.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Herringbone double crochet. Yarn over, hook in, pull up a loop and draw it through the next loop on the hook. Then yarn over and pull through one loop, and yarn over and pull through the last two.
Questions
- What does hbhdc mean?
- Herringbone half double crochet. Some patterns shorten it to hhdc.
- How is it different from a plain half double crochet?
- After the loop is pulled up through the stitch, it is drawn straight on through one loop on the hook, with no yarn over between. A plain half double crochet yarns over at that point and pulls through all three loops.
- Why do the stitches slant?
- The extra pull through one loop tilts each stitch. In turned rows the tilt goes one way on one row and the other way on the next.