Stitch Swatch Sampler Swatch 6: Double Crochet

SWATCH 6:  DOUBLE CROCHET

Double Crochet Swatch

(Note:  I had to use a size H hook to get the correct gauge on this square.)

Ch 15 (Multiple of 1 + 2 turning chains)

Row 1:  Dc in 4^th ch from hook (counts as a st) and in each ch across.  Turn.  13 sts. 

Row 2:  Ch 3 (see Double Crochet Pro Tips), dc in next st and in each st across.  Turn.

Rep Row 2 until you have a total of 7 rows, or until swatch measures 4 inches high.

Abbreviations:           Ch  chain       dc   double crochet        st    stitch      Rep   repeat

Double Crochet Pro Tips:

• ·         I find that two turning chains work better for me at the beginning of a dc row than 3.  It makes a straighter, smoother edge for me.  Try it and see if it works better for you!
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•       As for single crochet, I prefer the look of the edge if I turn the work so the right edge goes to the back, rather than turning the work like the page of a book.  Again, see which you like best.

• ·         If you want each double crochet to be perfectly aligned with the dc below it, try this.  Insert your hook under 3 strands at the top of the dc, not just under the top 2.  Look at the dc you are working into.  Below the top two strands, there is a more or less horizontal strand at the front of the work.  It forms a sort of sideways “V” (opening to the left) with the front strand at the top of the stitch.  

Insert hook under top 2 strands and strand marked with red dot

      

Completed dc 

Dc stitches lined up neatly

       If you insert your hook under all 3 of these strands, when you draw the loop through the stitch, your stitch will rise up out of the center of the stitch below it, not slightly to the side of it.  This works well for techniques like Filet Crochet, where you want the stitches to line up accurately.  Note that if you are working in the round, the opposite side of the stitch will be facing you, so that horizontal strand will lie at the back.  If you are working into the back loop of a round of dc, you can insert your hook into the back 2 loops only and create a more solid join at the base of your stitch.

Can you see a difference between my original swatch (left) and the one made using my Double Crochet Pro Tips?

Excerpted from Crochet Basics by Rebecca Harmon

Double Crochet

Make a chain.  Rotate the hook counter-clockwise so that the yarn wraps around the shaft once.  Insert the hook into the fourth chain from the hook (see Fig. DC-1), catch the yarn on the hook and pull through the chain stitch.  There are now 3 loops on the hook.  Wind the yarn over the hook again (this is called yarn over and is abbreviated yo), and pull through 2 loops.  Yo hook again, and pull through the last 2 loops on the hook.  You have just completed one double crochet stitch.

Fig. DC-1

For the next double crochet stitch (dc), yo hook, insert the hook in the next chain to the left, yo and pull through the chain, yo, pull through 2 loops, yo, pull through 2 loops.  Continue in this manner across the row, working one dc into each chain stitch. 

Row 2:  At end of row 1, chain 3; turn work as you would the page of a book.  Yo hook, insert hook under top 2 strands of next stitch, yo hook, pull through stitch, yo hook, pull through 2 loops, yo hook, pull through 2 loops.  Work a dc in each stitch cross row.

Note:  Unless directed otherwise in a specific pattern, insert the hook under both loops of each stitch.