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Tuesday 5 August 2014

Beginners learn to crochet: Half-treble crochet



Welcome back to my next installment in my beginners 'Learn to Crochet Series'. If you have not seen my previous posts in this series do check them out (for one they may answer some of the questions you may have). 


The kit- here
The Slip Stitch- here
The Chain Stitch- here
Double Crochet- here

This post is the second installment of a 3-part post into the three most common crochet stitches, the double crochet (US single crochet), the half-treble (US half-double crochet) and the treble (US double crochet). This post is focused on the UK half-treble crochet stitch, abbreviated to 'htr' (which in the US is called a half double crochet, abbreviated to 'hdc'). As you will see in the last picture in this post, rows of double crochet give a looser fabric, with some stretch. Half-treble crochet is suitable for hats (it is the main stitch I use when crocheting hats), or anything where you want a bit of structure but want your work to grow quickly. It is a great stitch for stripey blankets!



To start a row of half-treble crochet you need to crochet a length of chain stitch. If you don't know how to do this, see this post. Here I have crocheted 11 chain stitches. You will then crochet into these chain stitches to form your half-treble crochet stitches. 

Right, let's go!

When working half-treble crochet, you always start by crocheting into the third chain from the hook, as shown by the needle in the image below. 


1. Wrap your yarn over your hook ('yarn over' in crochet speak)


2. Insert your hook into the third chain stitch (either under one or both 'V's of the chain stitch- see the double crochet tutorial for more guidance on this), wrap your yarn over the hook again and pull the loop through. 

3. You will now have 3 loops on your hook. 


4. Yarn over hook again and pull through all 3 loops on your hook.

5. You have made one half-treble stitch!


Repeat steps 1-5 until you get to the end of the chain. You will have made 9 half-treble stitches.


Now all you need to do is crochet a few more rows! First you must remember the turning chain. This ensures your piece of crochet will be straight at the ends. 

For half-treble crochet you need make TWO turning stitches at the beginning or end of each row as shown in the image below:


To crochet the next row flip your work around (either way is fine, as long as you are consistent). The first stitch of the next row is make into the very first stitch as indicated by my needle in the picture below:


Follow steps 1-5, to complete your next row. Crochet, chain, turn, repeat.

This is how your work will look like after 4 rows of half-treble crochet:


Please please please don't worry if your work isn't as neat as you would like when you first start crocheting. These things take practice so keep trying and you will get there! 

As always, please get in touch if you have any questions etc! 

Happy crocheting,

SSxx

2 comments:

  1. What a great post! I love that you show step by step pictures! :)

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    1. Thankyou! These posts take a lot of time to put together, and I also need a willing assistant to take the photos so thanks for your appreciation :-)

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