The Alpine crochet stitch is a beautifully textured stitch that has an appealing pattern. It is thick and dense making it perfect for winter wear and anything that you need a thick fabric for. In this stitch guide I will show you how to crochet the Alpine stitch with all the pictures that you need along with a video guide that you can follow along with too.

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The Alpine stitch is a single sided stitch, as we keep all the texture on the front by adding a row of single crochet between the front post rows. The fabric it creates is quite thick with no holes, so it makes for beautifully warm winter garments. The Alpine crochet stitch is popular for sweaters, scarves and other items that need a thick fabric like baskets and bags that will see hard use.

You only need to know how to make a single crochet, a double crochet and how to make a stitch around a post to be able to crochet the Alpine stitch. This makes it a good stitch for beginners who are ready to branch out and build their stitch experience.

A tip for this stitch is if you are using it to make something that needs a sturdy, dense fabric like baskets, is to drop a hook size from what the yarn recommends. This will give you a much stiffer fabric than you would have had otherwise.

I first used the Alpine stitch during my 50 Stitches crochet along where I used it for one of the squares of my patchwork blanket. This stitch works up quickly and easily and always looks fabulous with its alternating tear drop like front post stitches. 

I always want to run my hand down the Alpine stitch, it’s one of those stitches that just calls out to be touched to appreciate all those pretty front post stitches. It is an undeniably tactile stitch that makes it good for baby blankets, kids clothing and a good addition for twiddle muffs.

I’ve seen projects using the Alpine stitch made with alternating blocks of different colours which has an interesting transition as the front post stitches gives it the look of one colour dripping into the other. I wouldn’t recommend using multicolour yarn with this stitch though as the texture may get lost in all the colour mixing.

This how to guide is part of Froggity Frog’s Stitch Vault collection. Have you seen all the other stitches in there? You can take a look here all the guides are free to access and maybe you will discover some new stitches to create for yourself.

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.

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.

The Alpine Crochet Stitch

Click here for the left hand video

The stitch guide below is written in US terms

Abbreviations

• Ch = Chain
• St = Stitch
• Sc = Single crochet
• Dc = Double Crochet
• fpdc = Front Post Double Crochet

Start by making a foundation chain in multiples of 2 plus 1 ( plus 2 for your turning chain)

Row 1. In the 4th chain from your hook make a dc (your turning chain counts as your first stitch of the row). Make a dc in each chain across.

Row 2. Turn and chain 1. Make a sc in the first stitch then make a sc in each stitch across. You will have the same number of stitches as in row 1.

Row 3. Turn and chain 1. Make a dc turning chain in the first stitch and then make a front post double crochet (fpdc) in the next stitch (yarn over and insert your hook in the post of the double crochet directly below in row 1 Pull through a loop, pulling it up a little higher than usual, now complete your dc as normal).

*Make a dc in the next stitch and then make a fpdc in the following stitch* repeat  between *and* across the row. Make a dc in each of the last 2 stitches.

A ridge will develop on the back of your work while making the fpdc rows like in the picture below. This will happen in every 2nd row that you make and is just the top loops of the stitches that you made the fpdc around peeping behind.

Row 4. Turn and chain 1. Make a sc in the first st then make a sc in each stitch across.

Row 5. Turn and chain 1. Make a dc turning chain in the first st, then *make a dc in the next stitch and then make a fpdc in the next stitch* repeat between *and* across the row. Make a dc in the last stitch.

All your fpdc rows will always have a row of sc in between. This keeps all of that lovely texture on the front side of your fabric.

Repeat rows 2 – 5 until you have the number of rows that you need for your project. Then you can cut off, weave in your ends and admire your beautiful handy work.

You can find more free crochet stitch guides here in Froggity Frog’s stitch vault. Come on over to our Facebook group – Froggity Frog’s Ribbit And Stitch and show us what you made with the Alpine stitch. I’d love to see what you created. 

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