Mesh and lace · Easy
Lace and openwork stitches
A crochet fabric is open when chains take the place of stitches: each chain lies over a skipped stitch and leaves a hole under it. Tall stitches make the holes deeper. The six kinds of openwork here run from a plain mesh to lace with picots. All of them are made with chains, single crochet (UK double crochet) and double crochet (UK treble); the one other stitch is the slip stitch that may close a picot.
How to work it
Mesh: a grid of square holes
Work a double crochet, chain 1, skip one stitch, and repeat. On every later row each double crochet goes into the double crochet below it, so the holes line up in a grid. This is the plainest openwork. Filet crochet is built on a mesh like it, usually with 2 chains over each hole, and fills some of the holes with stitches to draw a picture.
Chain arches: a net of loops
Chain 5, then fasten the chain to the row below with a single crochet, and repeat. On the next row each single crochet goes into the middle of an arch, so every arch sits over the place where two arches below meet. Patterns call this fabric a trellis. Each hole is five chains wide, against one chain in a mesh.
V-stitch: a small hole in every V
Work a double crochet, 1 chain and a second double crochet all into one stitch, then skip two stitches before the next V. On later rows each V goes into the chain space, the hole under the chain, at the middle of the V below. One row repeats, and the fabric is light.
Open shells: fans with a chain in the middle
Work two double crochets, 1 chain and two more double crochets all into one place. The chain opens the middle of the group, and on the next row a new shell goes into that chain space. Patterns call the group an open shell.
Arcade stitch: fans on arches
One row makes arches of 3 chains, with three single crochets between one arch and the next. The row after it fills each arch with seven double crochets. The fabric is lacy, with solid fans and open arches in turn.
Picots: small loops on the lace
A picot is 3 chains closed into a tiny loop. Worked in the middle of a row, picots are part of many lace patterns: one stitch pattern sets a picot on every arch of a net. They also trim the borders of blankets and the points of doilies.
At a glance
- Used for
- shawls, wraps and light scarves; market bags and other net bags
- What opens the fabric
- Chains worked over skipped stitches, and tall stitches
- For a plain grid
- mesh stitch
- For a net of loops
- chain arches, also called a trellis
- For one row that repeats
- mesh stitch, V-stitch or open shells
- For fans and arches
- arcade stitch
- For a trimmed edge
- picots
Every kind here is built the same way. A chain is worked where a stitch would have gone, and the stitch under it is skipped. The more chains there are between two stitches, the wider the hole. Taller stitches open the fabric further: treble crochet (UK double treble) is taller than double crochet, and its fabric is looser and more open.
Openwork hangs softly. A lacy stitch drapes more than a solid one such as rows of single crochet, which is why these stitches are used for shawls, wraps and light scarves.
The hook changes the fabric as much as the stitch does. A larger hook makes looser stitches and a fabric that hangs more; a smaller hook tightens it. Work a swatch, a small test piece, in two or three hook sizes before you start, and keep the one whose fabric hangs the way you want.
Doilies and other traditional lace are worked in fine thread. The stitches themselves do not need it: the same rows can be worked in the yarn a project calls for.
Blocking is the usual last step for openwork. The page on blocking says how.
When it goes wrong
- My holes do not line up.
- Check where each stitch goes. In a mesh every double crochet goes into the double crochet below it, and the chain space is skipped. In V-stitch and open shells it is the other way round: the whole group goes into the chain space.
- My lace is stiff.
- Go up a hook size and keep the stitches loose. A bigger hook gives the fabric more room to move.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Mesh stitch. The rows, the multiple and the last stitch of each row.
- V-stitch. The one row that repeats, with its multiple.
- Fan stitch. The open shell of two, a chain and two, row by row.
- Shell stitch. The solid shell of five double crochets, for a closer fabric.
- Arcade stitch. The four rows that repeat.
- Picot stitch. How to close a picot, and the two places patterns close it.
- Filet crochet. Pictures made by filling some squares of a mesh.
Questions
- Which open stitch should a beginner try first?
- Mesh stitch or V-stitch. Each is one row that repeats, made of nothing but chains and double crochet.
- What makes crochet lacy?
- Chains worked over skipped stitches, which leave holes, and tall stitches, which make a looser fabric. A lace pattern arranges those holes.
- Does a bigger hook make crochet more open?
- Yes. A larger hook makes looser stitches and a fabric that hangs more softly. Try a swatch before you start a whole piece.
- Is filet crochet the same as mesh?
- Filet crochet is built on a mesh. Some squares of the grid are left open and others are filled with stitches, and the filled squares make the design.