Double crochet or single crochet? Treble or double treble crochet? At first, the world of crochet terminology can not only be very confusing but also daunting for anyone who is new to this craft. Even I - after five years of crocheting - still get mixed up between the British and American stitches sometimes.
I have no idea who decided to have two sets of crochet terms for the same stitches. But, once you get the hang of it, spotting the difference between the two is relatively straight forward. In this post, I am going to quickly explain to you how these two sets of terms differ and I will also include a handy little chart which you can save on Pinterest or come back here to refer to!
The main difference between the two stitches is the starting point: the single crochet (US) and the double crochet (UK). These two terms refer to exactly the same stitch. Similarly, the half double crochet (US) and the half treble crochet (UK) are also the same.
Both US and UK use the same names for stitches, they just mean different things. In a nutshell, US terms begin at the single crochet and move up, whereas UK terms start at double crochet.
How to spot the difference:
You may have noticed, but I use UK terms and abbreviations in all of my patterns. I do this because I learnt in UK terms. Most patterns will tell you what terms they are using, however, if it does not, you can quickly tell by looking for a 'single crochet' or 'sc'. This will instantly tell you that the pattern is written in US terms.
If push comes to shove and you can not see a 'single crochet' or 'sc' anywhere in the pattern, then it is likely that it is in UK terms.
UK Terms | US Terms |
Chain (ch) | Chain (ch) |
Slip Stitch (sl st/ss) | Slip Stitch (sl st/ss) |
Double Crochet (dc) | Single Crochet (sc) |
Half Treble Crochet (htr) | Half Double Crochet (hdc) |
Treble Crochet (tr) | Double Crochet (dc) |
Double Treble Crochet (dtr) | Treble Crochet (tr) |
Triple Treble Crochet (trtr) | Double Treble Crochet (dtr) |
As you can see, there is only a small difference between the two sets of terms. These are only the basic stitches and once you have the hang of it, you will be able to spot the difference easily.
Another handy chart to have is about the difference between UK and US hook sizes (because having different stitch terms obviously wasn't enough!). I have only recently started to pay attention to US hook sizes - oops! - and whilst most patterns will state both types of hooks, I thought having a chart for this as well might be handy.
UK Sizes | US Sizes |
|---|---|
3.00mm | -- |
3.50mm | E-4 |
4.00mm | G-6 |
4.50mm | G-7 |
5.00mm | H-8 |
5.50mm | I-9 |
6.00mm | J-10 |
6.50mm | K-10.5 |
7.00mm | -- |
8.00mm | L-11 |
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