My favourite crochet Stitches and what I use them for

Do you have favourite stitches, ones you love to make and love the look they create? In this blog I'm talking about my favourite crochet stitches and what I use them for. When I first started to crochet I dreaded finding patterns I liked that included picot stitches, made by creating a small ring in chains worked usually in the middle of your work! I struggled to make them look good; they were either too slack or too tight. Now I love them. Take a simple net pattern and add a few picots and you create something much finer than plain crochet net. Picots are easier to make if you make your stitches not too tight. I also love picots added to edgings. If your edging has a rise and fall add the picot to the rise.

Child's crochet jacket

Chio
 Another stitch I was not keen on when I first started to crochet was popcorn stitch, made by joining the first stitch to the last stitch of q group of trebles (double crochets) shells.  I think the problem I had was my tension was too slack producing a large loop at the top of the popcorn that did not look good! With practice popcorn stitches are now another favourite of mine. They look lovely used in baby blankets and add a warm texture to women’s crochet scarves.

Front row posts made usually with trebles (double crochets) produce crochet that looks like knitted ribbing and create a very pretty reversible fabric, thicker and more rigid than usual crochet. Front row posts are worked around the stem of the stitch on the row below the one you are working on. This creates the perfect stitch for bags and crochet cushions.

Slip stitch is almost the forgotten crochet stitch used often to join rows together, particularly in older crochet patterns. Used on its own slip stitch can create lovely effects and are very simple to stitch. I use slip stitches to join motifs together and to create edgings for table runners and throws. Add a chain between your slip stitches on an edging to make a very pretty frilly edging.

My all time favourite stitch is the half treble (half double crochet) in a similar way to slip stitches the half treble was (in early patterns) used as a transitional stitch. On large shells half trebles (half double crochets) were used to move the work along from a dc (single crochet) to a treble (double crochet) without too large a leap. Now they have come into their own and they appear in many modern patterns. This stitch has the benefit that it grows quickly and creates a lovely top ridged effect. It’s the perfect stitch to use in plain patterns to produce something that looks classy. I use the half treble in my cluster scarf, basket and rug.

Working in back loops is not really a stitch it’s more of a technique, but is something I use a lot. It creates a gorgeous ridge which makes the base of crochet baskets look amazing.