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Crochet,  Crochet 101,  Crochet Tutorials

Crochet 101: Double Crochet

December 15, 2020 / No Comments

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Hi friends!

I’m back today with the third installment in my Crochet 101 series.

In light of the coming new year, and the fact that many like to learn new skills as a resolution, I thought, why not do a beginner’s crochet series of tutorials? I mean, who doesn’t love a good how-to, right?

So here’s how things are going to work. Every Tuesday (Tutorial Tuesday, anyone?) for the next few weeks, I’m going to post a new beginner-friendly video tutorial, because I don’t know about you, but I learned best from videos!

Here’s a list of the tutorials I’ll be introducing! And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to come back and update each post with links as soon as those tutorials go live.

In each of these videos, I take a deep dive into common crochet terms, how to work a particular stitch or technique, and the structure, or anatomy as I like to call it, of those stitches.

Double Crochet

Last week, we learned how to single crochet. In this installment, I will show you how to double crochet! In order to be able to double crochet, it is helpful to be familiar with how to single crochet, which was covered in the second installment here.

Crochet Speak

Aside from all the stitch names, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the basic terms associated with crocheting. You will see these terms in the photos that follow as well as defined for you below. They are also covered in the videos. I’ll be adding to this list of terms each week as we cover additional material.

Yarn Tail or Yarn End: the literal end of your yarn
Working Yarn: the part of the yarn that feeds directly from the skein (pronounced skane), ball, or cake
Working Loop(s): generally refers to the single loop on a crochet hook between stitches, but can also mean the loops on your hook as you are in the middle of working a stitch
Yarn Over (abbreviated as ‘yo’): the act of wrapping the working yarn over your hook from the back to the front
Top ‘V’: references the top view of a stitch, which looks like a ‘V’
Back Bump: the bottom loop of yarn in a chain stitch, opposite the Top ‘V’
Tension: how tightly or how loosely you work your stitches.
Chain Stitch (abbreviated as ‘ch’): yarn over, pull through working loop
Pull Up a Loop: the act of pulling a yarn over of working yarn through a stitch and up to add an additional working loop to your hook.
Single Crochet (abbreviated as ‘sc’): insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have two working loops on your hook, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook.
Double Crochet (abbreviated as ‘dc’): yarn over, insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have three working loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through the first two loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through both remaining loops on your hook.
Post: the vertical aspect of a stitch.

Video Tutorial

The full video tutorial can be watched from start to finish here.

Photo Tutorial

While much of what I talk about is really best shown to you in a video, I thought it might be beneficial to supplement the video with some photos as well.

PRO TIP: begin each new row of double crochet with a series of 2 or 3 chain stitches. This allows for the height of a row of double crochet because a double crochet stitch’s height is roughly equivalent to 2 or 3 chain stitches depending on your tension. The ch-2 or ch-3 will not count as a stitch in your pattern.

  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook holding a working loop after making two chain stitches for the beginning of the next row. Text on the photo reads "At the beginning of each new row of double crochet, you will start with a ch 2 (or ch 3 if you prefer). These chains are not included in your stitch count, they are just to give your row the necessary height."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook holding a working loop after making three double crochets in the row. An arrow points to the small space under the top 'v' of the next stitch. Text on the photo reads: "You will be working into the small space at the top of the indicated stitch from your pattern."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows the first three stitches of the row worked a working loop on the hook and the working yarn wrapped over the hook. Text on the photo reads: "Step 1: Wrap the yarn over your hook from the back to the front, called a 'yarn over.'"
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook with a working loop and a yarn over being inserted under the top 'v' of a stitch. Text on the photo reads: "Step 2: Insert your hook into the indicated stitch from your pattern, under the top 'v' of the stitch." The words "top 'v" are in red to coordinated with the corresponding loops making up the top 'v' of the stitch in the picture.
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook with a working loop and a yarn over having been inserted into a stitch and is now making another yarn over the hook. Text on the photo reads: "Step 3: Yarn over and pull your working yarn through the stitch, back the way you came, called 'pulling up a loop.'"
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook with a working loop and a yarn over after having pulled up a loop, for a total of three loops on the hook. Text on the photo reads: "Step 3 Completed. You should have three loops on your hook at this point."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a hook with three working loops on it with the working yarn wrapped over it again and two arrows pointing to the left two loops of the three working loops. Text on the photo reads: "Step 4: Yarn over again, and pull through the first two loops on your hook.
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a half-formed double crochet with two working loops left on the loop. Text on the photo reads: "Step 4 Completed. You should have two loops left on your hook."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows a half-formed double crochet with two working loops left on the loop and the working yarn wrapped over the hook again. Text on the photo reads: "Step 5: Yarn over one last time, then pull through both loops on your hook."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color shows two rows of double crochet completed and four stitches of the third row completed, with one working loop on the hook. Text on the photo reads: "Step 5 Completed."
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color is tilted slightly forward to show the top of the stitches of the last worked row. There are three lines of text on the photo. Line one reads: "Anatomy Of a Double Crochet." Line two in red reads "Top 'V' of dc.'" Line three in blue reads "Post of dc." The corresponding parts are marked in red and blue on a double crochet from the middle of the row.
  • A swatch of double crochet in taupe color is tilted slightly forward to show the top of the stitches of the last worked row. There are four lines of text on the photo. Line one reads: "Anatomy Of a Double Crochet." Line two reads "A Closer Look." Line three in red reads "The first two loops pulled through in Step 4.'" Line four in blue reads "The last two loops pulled through in Step 5." The corresponding parts are marked in red and blue on a double crochet from the middle of the row.

How’d You Do?

You did it! You are crocheting! Woohoo! Keep practicing this stitch and work on that tension, aiming for evenly sized stitches. Want to make a project of your practicing? The drape of double crochet is beautifully suited for a scarf! Grab some soft yarn like this, this, or this (chunkier yarns work up faster and help you to see your stitches better), then work up a rectangle in double crochet roughly 10″ wide x 60″ long.

Next week, I’ll be back with the next video in this series, where I’ll show you the half-double crochet! So practice, practice, and I’ll see you again next week!

Until then, happy hooking!

Pin Image for DC Photo and Video Tutorial

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