Texture · Easy
Sedge stitch
Sedge stitch is groups of three stitches worked into one place: a single crochet (UK double crochet), a half double crochet (UK half treble) and a double crochet (UK treble). Two stitches are skipped between groups. In every later row each group goes into a single crochet of the row below. One row repeats.
How to work it
Three stitches in one place
Into one stitch work a single crochet, then a half double crochet, then a double crochet. Each is taller than the one before, so the group rises like a small wedge.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain a multiple of 3 plus 2 (11 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 20, which is 6 times the multiple of 3, plus 2.
- The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Row 1 is the right side.
- Stitches in parentheses, or several of one stitch, are all worked into the one place named after them.
- Foundation. Ch 20.
- Row 1 (RS). (sc, hdc, dc) in 2nd ch from hook, [sk next 2 chs, (sc, hdc, dc) in next ch] 5 times, sk next 2 chs, sc in next ch (7 sc, 6 hdc, 6 dc).
- Row 2. Ch 1, turn; (sc, hdc, dc) in first st, [sk next 2 sts, (sc, hdc, dc) in next st] 5 times, sk next 2 sts, sc in last st (7 sc, 6 hdc, 6 dc).
Repeat row 2 for the pattern.
What each symbol meansHow to read a chart
Abbreviations in these rows
- ch
- chain stitch
- sc
- single crochet (UK double crochet)
- hdc
- half double crochet (UK half treble)
- dc
- double crochet (UK treble)
- RS
- right side
- sk
- skip
- st
- stitch
At a glance
- Also called
- cobblestone stitch
- Used for
- scarves; blankets; a textured fabric made with the basic stitches only
- Multiple
- The chain is a multiple of 3 plus 2 (11 or more).
- Row repeat
- Row 2.
- One group
- A single crochet, a half double crochet and a double crochet, all in one stitch
- Between groups
- Two stitches skipped
- Start and end of a row
- A row begins with a chain 1 that does not count and a whole group in the first stitch, and ends with one single crochet in the last stitch.
Three stitches go into every third stitch and the two between are skipped, so the count stays the same from row to row. Nothing but the basic stitches is used, and the groups give the fabric its texture.
Some published sedge stitch rows begin each row with only a half double crochet and a double crochet in the first stitch, with no single crochet there, and start from a chain that is a multiple of 3. The rows here make a whole group at the start of each row and start from a multiple of 3 plus 2.
The same rows are also published as cobblestone stitch. Blanket stitch is built the same way with other stitches in the group: a single crochet and two double crochets.
When it goes wrong
- I am not sure which stitch is the single crochet.
- It is the shortest stitch of each group. Working back along the row, the two taller stitches of a group come first and are skipped; the single crochet comes after them.
- My rows get longer or shorter.
- Count the groups at the end of each row: every row has the same number, and each row ends with one single crochet on its own.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- What is the multiple for sedge stitch?
- For these rows the chain is a multiple of 3 plus 2. Published rows that begin each row with two stitches in place of a whole group start from a multiple of 3, so use the count that comes with the rows you follow.
- Is sedge stitch the same as cobblestone stitch?
- Yes. Rows of a single crochet, a half double crochet and a double crochet in one stitch, with two stitches skipped between groups, are published under both names.
- What do I need to know before I try it?
- How to chain, single crochet, half double crochet and double crochet, and how to skip stitches.