Mesh and lace · Easy
Picot stitch
A picot is a small loop of chain stitches that stands up from the edge of the work. To make one, chain 3 and close the chains with a slip stitch, either into the first of the three chains or into the top of the stitch the chains grew from. Picots trim edges and are part of many lace patterns.
How to work it
Chain 3
Work along the edge, in single crochet (UK double crochet) or whatever the edge is made of, to the place where the picot goes. With one loop on the hook, make 3 chain stitches. They stand up from the top of the last stitch you made.
Go back into the first chain
Push the hook into the first of the three chains, the one nearest the row. Counting back from the hook it is the third chain, and the loop on the hook is not counted. The chains fold over into a small ring.
Carry on along the edge
Work the next stitches of the edge as the pattern says, and make the next picot where the pattern puts it. A pattern says how many plain stitches lie between two picots.
At a glance
- Also called
- picot
- Used for
- edgings, on blankets and other pieces; thread crochet such as doilies and snowflakes; lace and mesh patterns, where a picot fills a space or tips a point
- Written as
- picot. Patterns spell out how they make theirs, as in: ch 3, sl st (UK ss) in 3rd ch from hook.
- Made of
- Chain stitches closed with a slip stitch
- Chains
- Three is usual. More chains make a bigger picot.
- Closed in
- The first chain, or the top of the stitch below the chains
- On a chart
- The standard set of chart symbols has one for a chain-3 picot
Patterns close a picot in one of two places, and the two look different. Closed in the first chain, as in the steps above, the picot stands out more from the edge. Closed in the top of the stitch below the chains, it sits close on the edge and blends into it. For that second way, chain 3, push the hook back into the top of the stitch you made just before the chains, and slip stitch there.
Makers also differ in which part of the first chain the hook goes into. Some push it under the V on the front of the chain. Others push it into the bump on the back of the chain.
A pattern that uses picots says in its notes which kind it means and how many chains it has. Picots of 4 chains or more are also used. Follow the pattern's own words.
When it goes wrong
- I cannot find the first chain.
- Count back from the hook: the loop on the hook does not count, and the third chain you come to is the first one you made.
- My pattern only says picot.
- Look in its notes or list of special stitches, where the picot is spelled out. Words like 3rd ch from hook or first ch mean the picot is closed in the chain. Words like top of last stitch made mean it is closed in the stitch below.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Variations
- Picot closed in the stitch below. Chain 3, then slip stitch into the top of the stitch the chains stand on. It blends into the edge more than the chain-closed picot.
- Larger picots. Chain 4 or more and close in the same way. A pattern names such a picot by its chains, as in ch-4 picot.
Questions
- What is a picot in crochet?
- A small loop of chains, closed with a slip stitch, that stands up from the fabric. It is used to trim edges and inside lace patterns.
- How many chains are in a picot?
- Three in the usual picot. Patterns also use 4 or more for a bigger loop, and say so.
- Where does the slip stitch go?
- Into the first of the chains, which is the third chain from the hook, or into the top of the stitch below the chains. Both are in use, and a pattern says which.
- How do I add a picot edging to a blanket?
- Work single crochet along the edge and make a picot after every few stitches, with the same number of plain stitches between one picot and the next.