Texture · Beginner

Lemon peel stitch

Lemon peel stitch is single crochet (UK double crochet) and double crochet (UK treble) taking turns along the row. In the next row each single crochet goes into a double crochet and each double crochet into a single crochet, which gives a bumpy, puckered fabric. It is also called griddle stitch.

How to work it

Start the row with a single crochet
Chain 1 and turn. That chain does not count as a stitch. Work a single crochet into the very first stitch, which is the double crochet that ended the row below.
Then a double crochet into the next stitch
The next stitch of the row below is a single crochet. Work a double crochet into it. The picture shows the pair: a short stitch on a tall one, and a tall stitch on a short one.
Keep taking turns to the end
Carry on across the row: a single crochet into each double crochet, a double crochet into each single crochet. The row has an even number of stitches, so it begins with a single crochet and ends with a double crochet, and so does every row.

The stitch pattern, row by row

Multiple: Chain a multiple of 2 plus 1 (7 or more).
Starting chain: The rows here are written for a chain of 21, which is 10 times the multiple of 2, plus 1.

The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
Row 1 is the right side.

Foundation. Ch 21.
Row 1 (RS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook, dc in next ch, [sc in next ch, dc in next ch] 9 times (10 sc, 10 dc).
Row 2. Ch 1, turn; [sc in next st, dc in next st] 10 times (10 sc, 10 dc).

Repeat row 2 for the pattern.

Symbol chart of lemon peel stitch: 3 rows on the foundation chain, each row numbered at the side it starts from. Odd rows are drawn dark and even rows green, so that neighbors can be told apart.

What each symbol means How to read a chart

Abbreviations in these rows

ch: chain stitch
sc: single crochet (UK double crochet)
dc: double crochet (UK treble)
RS: right side
st: stitch

At a glance

Also called: griddle stitch
Used for: dishcloths, scarves and baby blankets; a first textured stitch, once single crochet and double crochet are familiar
Multiple: The chain is a multiple of 2 plus 1 (7 or more).
Row repeat: Row 2.
Made of: Single crochet and double crochet
Where the stitches go: A single crochet into each double crochet, a double crochet into each single crochet
Start and end of a row: A row begins with a chain 1 that does not count and a single crochet in the first stitch, and ends with a double crochet in the last stitch.

The two stitches are different heights, so the fabric puckers a little all over. That pebbled surface, like the skin of a lemon, is what the stitch is named for.

Griddle stitch is the same alternation of the two stitches. Some published griddle stitch rows begin each row with chain 3, which stands for the first double crochet, and end with a single crochet in the top of that chain. The rows here begin with a chain 1 that does not count. Between the edges the fabric is the same.

Every row is the same row, and it has the same number of stitches as the one before. That makes the stitch easy to keep going once the first two rows are in place.

When it goes wrong

My stitch count changes from row to row.: Count after each row. The usual slip is at the start: the chain 1 does not count, so the first single crochet goes into the very first stitch, not the second.
I have two of the same stitch side by side.: One stitch went into the wrong kind. Look at the row below: each tall stitch gets a single crochet and each short stitch gets a double crochet.

Left-handed

The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.

Patterns that use it

8 × 8 in Beginner