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Crochet,  Crochet 101,  Crochet Tutorials

Crochet 101: Half Double Crochet

December 22, 2020 / No Comments

Hi friends!

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

**April 2021 Update: I will be adding three additional tutorials to this series, so stay tuned!

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?

Every Tuesday for the last few weeks, I’ve posted a new beginner-friendly video tutorial, because I don’t know about you, but I learn best from videos!

Here’s a list of the tutorials I’ve introduced so far, along with today’s topic!

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.

Half Double Crochet

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

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.
Half Double Crochet (abbreviated as ‘hdc’): 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 all three loops on your hook.

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 half double crochet with a one or a series of 2 chain stitches. This allows for the height of a row of half double crochet because a half double crochet stitch’s height is roughly equivalent to 1 or 2 chain stitches depending on your tension. The ch-1 or ch-2 will not count as a stitch in your pattern.

  • "At the beginning of each new row of half double crochet, you will start with a chain 1 (or chain 2 if you prefer). These chains are not included in your stitch count, they are just to give your row the necessary height. Here, I've used a chain 1." Photo shows a taupe swatch of 3 rows of half double crochet and a crochet hook having just completed one chain stitch at the beginning of the 4th row. A blue arrow points to the chain stitch.
  • "You will be working into the small space at the top of the indicated stitch from your pattern." Photo shows a taupe swatch of 3 rows of half double crochet with 4 stitches in the 4th row worked by a green handled hook. A blue arrow points to the space where the next stitch will be worked.
  • "Step 1: Wrap the yarn over your hook from the back to the front, called a 'yarn over.'" Photo shows a 4th row in progress, with 4 stitches worked and the yarn wrapped over the green handled crochet hook ready to work the next stitch.
  • "Step 2: Insert your hook into the indicated stitch from your pattern, under the top 'V' of the stitch.'" Photo shows a top view of the hook being inserted under the orange-highlighted top 'V' of the stitch where it will work a half double crochet.
  • "Step 3: Yarn over and pull your working yarn through the stitch, back the way you came, called 'pulling up a loop.'" Photo shows a semi-top view of a taupe swatch of half double crochet with a green-handled crochet hook inserted into the stitch where the half double crochet will be worked and the working yarn wrapped over the hook and ready to pull through the stitch in the direction indicated by a blue arrow, which points toward the viewer.
  • "Step 3 Completed: You should have three loops on your hook at this point." Photo shows a semi-formed 5th half double crochet stitch in the 4th row of a taupe swatch of yarn, where a loop was just pulled up through the stitch and counts 3 working loops on the hook.
  • "Step 4: Yarn over again, and pull through all three loops on your hook." Photo shows the three loops indicated numbered in order from left to right on the hook: 1, 2, 3. A green-handled crochet hook has the working yarn wrapped over it and ready to pull through all three loops.
  • "Step 4 Completed" Photo shows the 5th half double crochet stitch of the 4th row in a taupe swatch completed.
  • "Completed Row of Half Double Crochet" Photo shows a taupe colored swatch of four rows of half double crochet on a white background.
  • "Anatomy of a Half Double Crochet" Photo shows a taupe colored swatch of half double crochet tilted towards the viewer slightly to show the tops and bodies of the stitches. Text on the photo labels the "Top 'V' of hdc" in orange with the corresponding anatomical location highlighted in orange on a middle stitch in the top row of the swatch. Similarly, a blue segment of the same stitch is highlighted in blue with text identifying it as the "Post of hdc."
  • "Anatomy of a Half Double Crochet" Photo shows a taupe colored swatch of half double crochet tilted towards the viewer slightly to show the tops and bodies of the stitches. Text on the photo labels "The first loop on your hook in Step 4" in orange with the corresponding anatomical location highlighted in orange on a middle stitch in the top row of the swatch. Similarly, a blue segment of the same stitch is highlighted in blue with text identifying it as 'The second loop on your hook in Step 4" and a segment of the stitch highlighted in green is identified by the green text "The third loop on your hook in Step 4."

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? How about a simple hat? The unique structure of the half double crochet makes for a fun look! 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 half double crochet roughly 8 – 12″ wide (the wider the rectangle, the slouchier your hat will be) x approximately [head circumference – 2″] long. Sew the short sides together and cinch one of the ends together, and voila!

I hope you enjoyed this series, and if there is anything you’d like to see a tutorial on, please let me know! Any questions or requests, please drop them in the comments below!

Until next time!

Pin Image for HDC Photo and Video Tutorial

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