Working in rows · Beginner
Turning chain
To turn your work at the end of a row, make a turning chain and turn the piece around with the hook still in the loop. The turning chain brings the hook up to the height of the next row: 1 chain for single crochet (UK double crochet), 2 for half double crochet (UK half treble), 3 for double crochet (UK treble) and 4 for treble crochet (UK double treble).
How to work it
Chain
Make the turning chain: one chain stitch after another, each a yarn over drawn through the loop on the hook, as many as the pattern gives. The usual numbers go by the stitch of the row you are about to work: 1 for single crochet, 2 for half double crochet, 3 for double crochet and 4 for treble crochet. One loop is on the hook when the chains are made.
At a glance
- Used for
- the start of every row that is worked back and forth; the start of a round, to reach the height of its stitches
- Abbreviation
- tch
- In UK terms
- The numbers of chains are the same and the stitch names differ: US single crochet is UK double crochet, US half double crochet is UK half treble, US double crochet is UK treble, and US treble crochet is UK double treble.
- Usual number
- Single crochet 1, half double crochet 2, double crochet 3, treble crochet 4
- Which way to turn
- Either way, clockwise or counterclockwise. Turn the same way every time, and keep the hook in the loop.
- Does it count as a stitch?
- In single crochet (UK double crochet) the turning chain never counts as a stitch. In double crochet (UK treble) and treble crochet (UK double treble) it counts unless the pattern says otherwise. In half double crochet (UK half treble) patterns differ, so go by the pattern, and where the pattern is silent choose one way and keep to it.
Each basic stitch has a height, and the first stitch of a row needs the yarn at that height before it can be made. The turning chain supplies it: one chain is about as tall as a single crochet, and each taller stitch takes one chain more. A row begun without it is dragged down at its first stitch, and the edge of the work comes out cramped and uneven.
Where the stitches at the two ends of a row go depends on whether the chain is a stitch. If it is, it already stands over the first stitch of the row below, so the first worked stitch goes into the second stitch, and the row ends with a stitch into the top chain of the turning chain below. If it is not, the first worked stitch goes into the very first stitch, the one the chain rises from, and the row ends in the last stitch of the row below, with nothing worked into the chain.
On the first row there is nothing to turn, and the chains skipped at the start of the foundation chain do the same job. That is why the first single crochet goes in the second chain from the hook, the first half double crochet in the third, the first double crochet in the fourth and the first treble crochet in the fifth.
Some patterns write "ch 1, turn" at the end of a row, and others put it at the start of the next row. They mean the same thing, and it makes no difference whether you chain first or turn first.
Tips
- Count your stitches each time you finish a row. If the turning chain counts as a stitch, count it.
- The picture of step 2 shows a row of double crochet (UK treble), which takes three chains. Other stitches take the numbers given above.
When it goes wrong
- My piece is getting wider.
- A stitch is being added at an edge. Either a stitch is going into the base of a turning chain that counts as a stitch, or a stitch is going into a turning chain that does not.
- My piece is getting narrower.
- A stitch is being lost at an edge. Either the first stitch is being skipped after a turning chain that does not count, or the last stitch, the one in the top of a turning chain that counts, is being left out.
- The pattern does not say whether the turning chain counts.
- Go by the stitch, as set out under "Does it count as a stitch?" above. In half double crochet, where patterns differ, choose one way and keep to it for the whole piece.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- How do I turn my work in crochet?
- At the end of the row, make the turning chain, then turn the piece around so that the other side faces you, keeping the hook in the loop. The next row is worked back along the tops of the stitches you have just made.
- How many chains do I make to turn in single crochet?
- One, and it does not count as a stitch. The first single crochet of the new row goes into the first stitch.
- Which way do I turn my work?
- Either way, as long as you turn it the same way every time.
- Do I chain first or turn first?
- It makes no difference. A pattern may write "ch 1, turn" at the end of a row or at the start of the next. Do it the same way throughout a piece.
- Does the turning chain count as a stitch?
- In single crochet (UK double crochet) the turning chain never counts as a stitch. In double crochet (UK treble) and treble crochet (UK double treble) it counts unless the pattern says otherwise. In half double crochet (UK half treble) patterns differ, so go by the pattern, and where the pattern is silent choose one way and keep to it. When it counts, the pattern's stitch counts include it.