The Single Crochet stitch is the simplest of the crochet stitches and the smallest one too. It is the most basic crochet stitch and all of the other common stitches in crochet are based on the humble single crochet stitch. Here I will show you how to make a single crochet stitch with full picture guides and a video tutorial as well.

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The Single crochet stitch is the easiest and smallest of all the crochet stitches. It creates a hole free fabric that is dense and warm. You can use any kind of yarn to make it and if you have a multicolour yarn that you want to really showcase the colour changes, then the Single Crochet stitch is perfect for that.

Because it is the smallest stitch, you will have to make many rows to get a sizeable piece of fabric. It works up slowly, but it is versatile.

The Single crochet stitch is easy to make, but most crocheters tend to crochet this stitch much tighter than most other stitches. This means that when using it alongside other crochet stitches you will need to be careful about loosening your tension or go up a hook size to ensure you don’t crochet too tightly.

This how to guide is part of Froggity Frog’s Learn To Crochet guides. Have you seen all the other guides in there? You can take a look here all the guides are free to access and you can discover all you need to learn how to crochet.

The yarn I used in this stitch guide is Stylecraft Cotton Classique DK, a 100% cotton yarn. It’s a non mercerised cotton that is lovely and soft, but it can get a bit splitty if you frog it a couple of times. It does makes lovely cosy blankets though and is the yarn that got me hooked on cotton as my fibre of choice. I think I first got a ball of this yarn in a mystery bag I got off ebay, and it was a great yarn discovery for me and I’ve been loving using this yarn ever since.

I also used my trusty Clover Amour hooks which are perfect if you are looking for a good value ergonomic crochet hook that won’t cause your hand to ache if you are crocheting for long periods of time. I’ve tried many different crochet hooks over the years, but I always end up coming back to my trusty Clovers. They just sit so well in my hand and never let me down.

How To Make The Single Crochet Stitch

Click here for the left hand video

Abbreviations

• Ch = Chain
• Sc = Single crochet

You can make your foundation chain in any number of stitches that you wish. Add 1 for your turning chain

Row 1. In the 2nd ch from your hook make a sc. Then make a sc in each chain of your foundation chain.

To make a single crochet. Start by inserting your hook into the next stitch.

Now yarn over – this means laying your yarn over the top of your hook.

Pull your hook and yarn through the stitch (2 loops on your hook). Now Yarn Over again.

Now pull your yarn through both loops on your hook. You have now made a single crochet stitch.

The front of a single crochet stitch looks like a V with a bar across the top. The back looks like an upside down V with 2 bars across the top.

Row 2. Turn and ch1. In the first st make a sc. Make a sc in each st across.

Repeat row 2 until you have as many stitches as you need.

Counting Your Single Crochet Rows

The single crochet stitch can be awkward to count the rows. The stitches lie so close on top of each other that it feels like the rows just merge together.

So how do you count how many single crochet rows you have?

In the photo below I have marked out each row with an arrow. You have rows that have a V shape (the 1st, 3rd and 5th rows) – this is the front of the single crochet stitch. You then have rows that look like upside down Vs (rows 2 and 4) – this is the back of the single crochet stitch.

I find it easier to count them in pairs by focusing on the V’s and counting those rows and multiply by 2 since there will always be a row of upside down V’s between each row.

You can find more about learning to crochet here. Come on over to our Facebook group – Froggity Frog’s Ribbit And Stitch and show us what you made with the Single Crochet stitch. I’d love to see what you created with this lovely, regular looking crochet stitch. 

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