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Changing color · Easy

Surface crochet

Surface crochet is a line of slip stitches worked on top of a finished piece of crochet. The yarn is held behind the fabric. The hook goes in from the front, catches the yarn and draws a loop back through to the front and through the loop already on the hook. The line can go wherever you like: straight, on a slant, round a corner or in a curve.

How to work it

  1. Plan the line

    Decide where the line will run before you begin. Plain single crochet (UK double crochet) is the fabric to learn on: it is dense, and the gaps between its stitches make a grid for the hook to go into. For letters and curves, mark the path first.

  2. Bring up the first loop

    Hold the new yarn behind the fabric. Push the hook through the fabric from the front, where the line begins, catch the yarn and pull a loop through to the front. Leave a tail behind the fabric to weave in later. Many makers put a slip knot in the yarn first and pull the knot's loop through.

  3. Make a slip stitch

    A finished piece of single crochet, lying flat. Three slip stitches in a second yarn lie on its surface in a line, like a short chain. One loop of that yarn is on the hook. A ring marks the next gap between stitches along the line, where the hook goes in next. The yarn itself is behind the fabric and is not seen.

    Push the hook into the next gap along the line, from front to back. Catch the yarn behind the fabric, pull a loop through to the front, and draw it through the loop on the hook. One slip stitch lies on the surface.

  4. Follow the line

    A line of slip stitches on the surface of a piece of single crochet. It runs along a row from the right, one loop for each stitch it passes, then turns a corner and runs up across the rows, one loop for each row.

    Repeat, one stitch for each gap. To turn a corner or bend the line, put the hook into the next gap in the new direction: beside the last one, above it, or on a slant from it.

  5. Keep it loose

    Each stitch should lie flat on the fabric. Stitches pulled tight draw the fabric in under the line and make it curl.

  6. Finish the line

    Cut the yarn behind the fabric, leaving a tail. Pull the tail through to the front and through the last loop. Then, with a yarn needle, take it back down through the fabric where it came up, so that it holds the last loop flat. Weave both tails in on the back.

At a glance

Also called
surface slip stitch
Used for
lines and stripes added after a piece is finished; letters and the outlines of shapes; tidying the edge where one color meets another
The stitch
Slip stitch, worked through finished fabric.
The yarn
Behind the fabric all the way.
The hook
In from the front, one gap for each stitch.
A good fabric to start on
Single crochet.
Direction
Any: along a row, up across the rows, on a slant or in a curve.

Because the yarn stays behind the fabric, every yarn over is made at the back, out of sight. That is the one thing about surface crochet that is unlike ordinary slip stitches.

On single crochet every stitch of the fabric gives one place for the hook, so the stitches of the line come out evenly spaced without measuring. Other fabrics take a surface line too, taller stitches among them.

The line is added after the piece is made, so it can cross rows and color changes freely. It is used to draw lines, letters and the outlines of shapes, and to smooth the stepped edge where two colors of a picture meet.

When it goes wrong

The fabric puckers or curls along the line.
The slip stitches are too tight. Work the line again more loosely, so that each stitch lies flat on the fabric.
The last stitch of the line stands up.
Bring the tail up through the last loop and take it back down through the fabric at the same place. Pulled gently, it holds the loop flat.

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 surface slip stitch?
Another name for surface crochet: slip stitches worked on the surface of a finished piece, with the yarn held behind it.
Where does the hook go in surface crochet?
Through the fabric from the front to the back, in the gap between two stitches, one gap for each slip stitch. The yarn is caught behind the fabric and pulled through to the front.
How do you finish off surface crochet?
Cut the yarn, pull the tail to the front through the last loop, then take it back down through the fabric at the same place with a yarn needle and weave it in on the back.

Where to go next

Stitches