Single Crochet Stitch (sc): How to Do It, Count It, and Fix It

Single crochet is the stitch everything else is built on. It is the shortest of the basic stitches, it makes a firm, tight fabric, and once your hands know it the taller stitches feel like small variations rather than new skills. This tutorial covers the stitch itself, the two moments where beginners lose stitches, and the fixes for the most common problems.

One note before you start: this guide uses US terms. In UK patterns the same stitch is called double crochet. If a pattern says "dc" and the result looks far too short, that is why.

What You Need

• A ball of worsted weight (#4) yarn in a light color. Dark yarn hides your stitches and makes learning much harder.
• A 5.0 mm (H-8) hook. Slightly larger than the yarn label suggests is fine for practicing.
• A stitch marker, or a safety pin, or a scrap of yarn in a different color.

Step 1: The Foundation Chain

Make a slip knot and place it on your hook. Yarn over (wrap the yarn over the hook from back to front) and pull it through the loop. That is one chain. Make 11 chains for a practice swatch. Keep them loose; a tight foundation chain is the number one reason first rows are painful to work into.

Step 2: Your First Row of Single Crochet

Look at your chain. Skip the chain closest to the hook (that one becomes your turning chain). Insert the hook into the second chain from the hook, going under the top loop and the back bump if you can, or just the top loop if that is easier at first.

Now the stitch itself, in two movements:

1. Yarn over and pull through the chain. You now have two loops on the hook.
2. Yarn over again and pull through both loops. One loop remains on the hook.

That is a single crochet. Repeat it in every remaining chain. You should finish the row with 10 stitches. Count them now. Each stitch has a small "V" on top, and you count the Vs.

Step 3: Turning and Working the Next Row

This is where stitches vanish. Do it slowly the first few times.

1. Chain 1. This turning chain does not count as a stitch in single crochet.
2. Turn your work so the row you just made is on the left (for right-handed crocheters).
3. Work your first single crochet into the very first stitch of the row, the one directly below your hook. Beginners often skip it because it sits so close to the turning chain.
4. Work a single crochet into every stitch across, inserting the hook under both loops of each V.
5. When you get to the end, make sure you have worked into the last stitch, not into the turning chain from the row below. That turning chain is easy to mistake for a stitch, and working into it adds a stitch every row.

Count again: 10 stitches. If you have 9 or 11, undo the row and find where it happened. This is not wasted time; the hunt for the missing stitch teaches you to read your fabric.

Where to Insert the Hook

Under both loops of the V is the default and what patterns mean unless they say otherwise. Two variations are worth knowing:

• Under both loops — Written as: sc; What you get: Standard, balanced fabric
• Back loop only — Written as: BLO or sc tbl; What you get: Ridged rows, stretchy, used for ribbing and amigurumi edges
• Front loop only — Written as: FLO or sc tfl; What you get: A softer drape and a horizontal line on the surface

Common Problems and What Causes Them

The swatch gets narrower. You are skipping the first stitch after turning or missing the last stitch. Mark the first stitch of every row until it becomes automatic.

The swatch gets wider. You are working into the turning chain at the end of the row, or splitting a stitch and working into it twice.

The fabric curls. Single crochet naturally curls a little, especially in the first rows. Blocking fixes it for flat pieces. If it curls badly, your tension is too tight: go up a hook size.

The stitches look uneven. Normal for the first week. Tension evens out on its own; forcing it by pulling every stitch tight makes it worse.

It hurts your hand. Loosen your grip. Nobody crochets well with a clenched fist. Take a break every 20 minutes for the first few sessions.

Counting Rows

Rows of single crochet are hard to count from the front because the stitches are short. Turn the swatch to the side and look at the edge: each little bump is one row. Or lay the swatch flat, count the horizontal lines of Vs, and remember that each line is one row.

A Practice Project That Is Actually Useful

Once your 10-stitch swatch stays 10 stitches wide for 10 rows, make a cotton dishcloth: chain 31, work 30 rows of single crochet, fasten off, weave in ends. It takes an evening, it uses the stitch a few hundred times, and it is the fastest way to lock the movement into your hands.

What to Learn Next

Half double crochet is one extra yarn over and makes a taller, softer fabric. Double crochet after that. Every one of them uses the same insert-yarn-over-pull-through logic you just learned; you are only changing how many loops you pull through at a time.