Double Crochet Five Together Stitch Tutorial

Hi again!

I’m here with the next stitch tutorial needed for my ~~upcoming~~ (it’s live!) Alpine Dreams Beanie pattern, the Double Crochet Five Together, or dc5tog!

If you saw my previous tutorial for the Half Double Crochet Two Together Decrease, then you are already familiar with the magic of merging stitches to create shape. And if not, don’t worry, because this post will teach you what you need to know!

Decreasing stitches help you create shape in your fabric. Whether you’re making stuffed toys, or a sweater or other top, or anything else you want to have something other than a square or rectangular shape, the decrease technique will combine multiple stitches into one.

Today I’ll be showing you how to go from five stitches to one, using double crochet, or as we call it in pattern terms, dc5tog.

Update May 16, 2020: a video tutorial for this stitch has been added below the photo tutorial and is also available on my YouTube channel. For written instructions, continue reading below.

Double Crochet Five Together Tutorial

Also known as a double crochet decrease or cluster, it is a way of eliminating stitches in your work and to give it shape. The technique is the same whether you’re decreasing over two stitches, or five, as in this tutorial. You will work a series of half-formed double crochets into the indicated number of stitches (in this case 5), then complete the stitch by yarning over and pulling through all remaining loops on your hook.

Step 1
Yarn over (yo), insert your hook into the first indicated stitch, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2 loops. You’ll have 2 loops left on your hook. You will leave this half-formed dc unfinished.

Step 2
Repeat Step 1 for the next 4 indicated stitches. You’ll have 6 loops left on your hook.

Step 3
Yo, pull through all 6 loops on your hook.

Whew! That’s a lot of loops, but there is something just so satisfying about pulling through all of them, isn’t there? Or is that just me? While you’re not likely to need to decrease from 5 stitches to 1 often, the technique is the same if you’re working a decrease over fewer. You just repeat Step 1 for as many stitches as you need to decrease (decreasing over 2 is most common), and carry on with the above steps as written. A good thing to remember is that in Step 3, you will always have one more loop on your hook than the number of stitches you’re decreasing over. So in this case, we had 5+1 = 6 loops to pull through. If you’re decreasing over two stitches, you’d have 2+1 = 3 loops to pull through, so on and so forth.

This was the last tutorial I have before my Alpine Dreams Beanie goes live. In the meantime, practice this stitch and the Front Post Double Crochet, then stay tuned for the pattern!

Until next time,

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