How to Double Crochet: The 5-Step Stitch Walkthrough
Source: Crochet Guru • Full tutorial: www.craftingstepbystep.com/crochet/how-to-double-crochet
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Hands-on time
- About 15 minutes
Tools
- Crochet Hook (size H/5.0mm)
- Tapestry Needle
- Scissors
Materials
- Worsted Weight Yarn (light color for visibility)
Steps
1. Make a slipknot and chain 20
Tie a slipknot, slide it onto your hook, and chain 20. This is your foundation - the row that everything else gets built into.
Tip: Count your chains as you make them. Twenty gives you enough room to practice the rhythm without finishing in three stitches.
2. Find the fourth chain from your hook
Look at your chain and count back from the hook: one, two, three, four. The fourth chain is where your first double crochet goes.
3. Yarn over before inserting the hook
Sweep the yarn from back to front around your hook. This is the move that makes a double crochet a double crochet - you yarn over before the hook goes into the stitch.
Tip: The wrap should sit between the hook tip and the loop already on your hook. If it slides off, hold the working yarn taut with your other hand.
4. Insert hook, yarn over, pull through (3 loops on hook)
Push the hook through the fourth chain. Yarn over again, then pull that wrap back out through the chain only - not through anything else.
5. Yarn over twice more, finish the stitch
Yarn over and pull through the first two loops on your hook. You're left with two loops.
Tip: Whisper the rhythm out loud the first few times: "yarn over, through two, yarn over, through two." It locks in fast.
6. Repeat across the foundation chain
Move to the next chain over and run the full sequence again: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over and pull through (3 loops), yarn over and pull through two (2 loops), yarn over and pull through two (done). Keep going stitch by stitch all the way to the end of the chain.
7. Chain 3, turn, start the next row
At the end of the row, chain 3 and flip your work around so the back side faces you. The chain 3 reaches the height of a double crochet, so it counts as the first stitch of the new row.
Tip: Always chain 3 when starting a new double crochet row. For single crochet you'd chain 1 - the height is what changes.
