How to Single Crochet (sc): The Stitch Everything Is Built On

Single crochet (abbreviated sc) is a short, compact stitch, roughly as tall as it is wide. Rows of it make a solid, slightly stiff fabric with very little stretch, which is exactly what you want for things that need to hold their shape: amigurumi, baskets, bags, potholders and borders.

Each stitch has a sideways V on top, made of two loops: the front loop (nearer to you) and the back loop. Unless a pattern says otherwise, you always work into both loops at once.

1. 1.Insert the hook into the stitch (or chain), from front to back.
2. 2.Yarn over: wrap the working yarn over the hook from back to front.
3. 3.Pull up a loop: draw the yarn back through the stitch. You now have 2 loops on the hook.
4. 4.Yarn over again.
5. 5.Pull through both loops on the hook. One loop remains, and one single crochet is done.

Say it out loud for the first few dozen: "in, over, pull up; over, through two." The rhythm settles in faster than you'd think.

Your first row goes into the foundation chain.

1. 1.Make the number of chains your pattern asks for. For practice, chain 16.
2. 2.Skip the first chain next to the hook and insert the hook into the 2nd chain from the hook.
3. 3.Complete a single crochet.
4. 4.Work one single crochet into each remaining chain to the end.

With 16 chains you'll have 15 single crochets, because the skipped chain becomes the turning space. Count them.

Chains have a front side, with neat Vs, and a back with a ridge of bumps. Working into the back bump gives a tidy bottom edge that matches the top, but it's fiddly at first. For your first projects, work under one or two loops of the V, whichever you find easier, and do it the same way all along the row.

At the end of the row:

1. 1.Chain 1. This is the turning chain. It brings the yarn up to the height of the next row.
2. 2.Turn the work over so the last stitch you made is now the first one in front of you.
3. 3.Work your first single crochet into the very first stitch of the row, the one right at the base of the turning chain.
4. 4.Single crochet into each stitch across, including the last one.

In most patterns the ch-1 turning chain does not count as a stitch, which is why your first stitch goes right next to it. Always check your pattern's notes, but this is the standard way to work it.

Wavy, shrinking or growing edges are the most common single crochet complaint, and they almost always come from the first or last stitch of the row.

• Losing stitches: the last stitch of a row is small and tucked under, so it's easy to skip. Look for it carefully.
• Gaining stitches: working into the turning chain as well as the first stitch adds an extra stitch per row.
• Fix: put a stitch marker in the first and last stitch of each row until you can spot them easily. Count your stitches at the end of every row for the first few projects.

If your fabric has already started growing or shrinking, our guide to fixing uneven crochet edges walks through it row by row.

Once basic single crochet feels easy, these small changes create very different fabrics:

Single crochet is also how most decreases begin. The sc2tog decrease, single crochet two together, is covered in our invisible decrease lesson.

Single crochet is dense, so it uses more yarn for a given area than taller stitches like double crochet. It's also slower to cover ground, because each row is short. That's worth knowing before you plan a big blanket in solid single crochet: it will be warm and sturdy, and it will take a lot of yarn and time.

Our yarn calculator adjusts its estimate for the stitch you choose, so you can compare single crochet with taller stitches before buying yarn.