Texture · Easy
Spider stitch
Spider stitch is small groups of a single crochet (UK double crochet), one chain and a second single crochet, all worked into one place. In the first row one chain is skipped between groups. In every later row each group goes into the chain space at the middle of the group below it. One row repeats.
How to work it
Three moves in one place
Work a single crochet, chain 1, and work a second single crochet into the same place as the first. That is one group. In the first row, skip one chain and work the next group into the chain after it.
Work every later group into a chain space
From the second row on, put the hook into the gap under the chain at the middle of a group, not into a stitch, and work the whole new group there. The two single crochets on either side of that chain are passed over. Go on to the chain space of the next group and do the same.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain a multiple of 2 (8 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 20, which is 10 times the multiple of 2.
- The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Row 1 is the right side.
- A stitch worked into a chain space passes over any stitches that lie before the space; they are left unworked.
- Stitches in parentheses, or several of one stitch, are all worked into the one place named after them.
- The two chains skipped at the start of row 1 are not worked into; the first of them stays as a small loop at that corner, where every later row has its turning chain.
- Foundation. Ch 20.
- Row 1 (RS). (sc, ch 1, sc) in 3rd ch from hook, [sk next ch, (sc, ch 1, sc) in next ch] 8 times, sc in next ch (19 sc, 9 ch-1 sps).
- Row 2. Ch 1, turn; [(sc, ch 1, sc) in next ch-1 sp] 9 times, sc in last st (19 sc, 9 ch-1 sps).
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)
- RS
- right side
- sk
- skip
- sp
- space
- st
- stitch
At a glance
- Also called
- single crochet V-stitch
- Used for
- washcloths and dishcloths; blankets; scarves
- Multiple
- The chain is a multiple of 2 (8 or more).
- Row repeat
- Row 2.
- One group
- A single crochet, 1 chain and a single crochet, all in one place
- Where a group goes
- Into the chain space at the middle of the group below
- Start and end of a row
- A row begins with a chain 1 that does not count and a group in the first chain space, and ends with one single crochet in the last stitch.
The fabric is dense and textured. To give it more drape, use a larger hook than the yarn would usually take.
Nothing is used but the chain and the single crochet, and the same row is worked again and again, so the stitch is one a beginner can manage. The one thing to learn is where the chain space is: it lies between the two single crochets of its group, under the one chain, and is not easy to find at first.
Published rows differ at the edges. Some begin and end every row with a group and have no single crochet on its own; others turn with 2 chains. The rows here turn with 1 chain and end each row with one single crochet. Between the edges the fabric is the same.
The same stitch is also taught as the single crochet V-stitch. The word spider is in the names of some open lace stitches too, such as lacy spider stitch and spider webs stitch. Those are other fabrics, made with long chains, and this page does not teach them.
When it goes wrong
- I cannot find the chain space.
- Look between the two single crochets of a group for the gap under the single chain. Push the hook through that gap from front to back. If the hook splits the yarn of a stitch beside it, take it out and try again.
- My rows get shorter.
- Count the groups at the end of each row: every row has the same number. Then check that the row ended with one single crochet in the last stitch.
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 spider stitch?
- For these rows the chain is a multiple of 2. Published rows with other edges start from other counts, so use the count that comes with the rows you follow.
- Is spider stitch the same as the single crochet V-stitch?
- Yes. Both names are given to a single crochet, a chain and a single crochet worked into one place, with each group worked into the chain space of the group below.
- What do I need to know before I try it?
- How to chain, how to single crochet, and how to work into a chain space.
- Is spider stitch a lace stitch?
- No. These rows make a dense fabric. Some open lace stitches have spider in their names, but they are different stitches.