Single Crochets and Crocheting in Rows – Right Handed

In this post, we’ll cover the most basic crochet stitch- the single crochet. If you’re left-handed, check that tutorial out here, or if you prefer a video tutorial check that out here.

Alright, now before we get started, make sure you have a chain of about 15 or so, which you can learn how to do here.

Here’s what the single crochet looks like:

Stitch instructions

The shorthand for single crochets in a written pattern is sc.

In order to work your single crochet into a chain, you’re going to want to insert your hook into the second chain from your hook which is indicated in the image below.

There’s a few ways to work into this chain, but we’ll keep it simple and just work into the top loop, so insert your hook under that top loop.

Much like the chain, we’re now going to yarn over, which is just putting the yarn over the hook.

We’re going to grab that yarn and pull it under just that loop we inserted our hook into. In other words, you should have 2 loops on your hook, and we want to pull this yarn through just one of them.

You’ll now have two loops on your hook. Now, yarn over again, and pull that loop through both loops on your hook. Much like with the chains, when you pull this loop through, face the mouth of your hook downward towards the v’s of the loops on your hook.

You’ve now completed a single crochet!

Continue working one single crochet in every chain until you get to the end. If you’re just starting out, it might be a bit difficult to figure out where you’ve worked before and where you still need to work, so the next chain is marked on the image below if you need some help:

Continuing in rows

You’ll notice that the top of the single crochet stitch has these v’s on it, much like how the chain looked. When you’ve worked into every chain and you’re back at your slip knot, you’re going to chain one, then turn your work around. This chain one is also called a turning chain, and it essentially allows us to get back up to stitch height for our next row of stitches.

Now that you’ve turned your work, you can keep doing single crochets in the tops of the single crochets from the previous rows. You’re again going to start in the second stitch from your hook:

But this time you’re going to go under both loops of the top of your single crochet:

You’ll then do your single crochet into this space.

Tips/common issues

Some issues you may come across while trying to make this stitch are:

Inability to work into the chain/previous stitches- This indicates that your tension while working those stitches was too tight. There’s not a lot you can do about that other than rip those stitches out (a.k.a. “frog” them) and redo them with looser tension.

Catching your hook on the loops/yarn- You may be holding your tension too tight as you try to work the stitch, or you could be orienting your hook in such a way that it catches the yarn. This is why I try to emphasize putting the mouth of your hook down towards the v of the loop: I find that it’s harder to catch your hook on something if the mouth faces the v.

Rows of single crochets are narrowing/not straight edges- Beginner crocheters often miss the last stitch in a row. There’s a couple fixes for this. One is to count your stitches and make sure you have the same number every row. The other is to use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch in your row. So when you finish that first single crochet, put a stitch marker in it like this:

When you get back to it, remove the stitch marker, and do a single crochet where that stitch marker was.

Now that you know how to single crochet, get some practice with them and do a few rows. Next up is half double crochet!

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