Even Moss Stitch

Working in Flat Turned Rows

When you work the even moss stitch flat, you’ll need to begin with a multiple of 2+1 stitches (+1 for foundation chain). You’ll start each row with a slip stitch and alternate that with a half double crochet across the row, then end the row with a slip stitch in the last stitch.

Rules of Thumb
1. You’ll always begin and end each row with a sl st.
2. You’ll always work a sl st into a sl st and a hdc into a hdc.
3. You’ll always work into the top V of the stitches.

For the swatch below, I’ve worked up 12 chains and we’ll begin working in the second chain from the hook.

Working in the Round

When you work the even moss stitch in the round, there are two key things to note. First, you’ll need to begin with a multiple of 2 stitches. Second, you’ll need to work in turned rounds. If you work your rounds traditionally without turning, the bumpy texture will all be on the inside and because of the nature of joined rounds, your stitches will be offset from one another, as opposed to being aligned in neat columns as you saw when working this stitch flat. So the way we solve those two issues is by turning our work after we join and chain 1, just like if we were working rows.

You will still work a slip stitch into a slip stitch and a half double crochet into a half double crochet, but because you’re working turned rounds, the first stitch of each round will alternate based on on what stitch the previous round ended with. Pay close attention to the beginning and end of a round because finding and working into those slip stitches can be tricky. They’re hard to see and easily missed, throwing off your aligned columns or causing your work to decrease and close in on itself.

Rules of Thumb
1. You’ll always work a sl st into a sl st and a hdc into a hdc but will alternate which stitch you begin the rounds with.
2. You’ll still always work into the top V of the stitches.
3. Pay close attention to the sl st at the beginning and end of a round so they aren’t missed.

For the swatch below, I’ve worked up 20 foundation single crochets and joined them into the round. I chained one and can now begin the first round.

Video Tutorial