How to read a pattern

Beginners are often confused about patterns when they first get into crochet. That's because patterns often use abbreviations in place of full words. Reading patterns is difficult when you don't know what the acronyms stand for. But once you get used to it, you'll love the simplicity of this pattern expression.

 

 

1. Common Abbreviations for Crochet Terms

  • sc: single crochet
  • dc: double crochet
  • hdc: half double crochet
  • tr: triple crochet
  • ch: chain stitch
  • sl: slip stitch
  • Yo: yarn over
  • MR: magic ring
  • FLO: front loop only
  • BLO: back loop only
  • dec: decrease
  • inc: increase rnd: round

 

2. How to read patterns

①Format

You may have seen different pattern formats in different places. For repeated stitches, there are expressions such as (…), […], *, x, etc.

The pattern for CrochetBox is written in American terms and uses the following format.

 

 

Interpretation: The round 4 uses singlec crochet and increase stitches. 2 sc and 1 inc is a group, and a total of 6 groups in round 4.

It can be written as:[2 sc, inc] [2 sc, inc] [2 sc, inc] [2 sc, inc] [2 sc, inc] [2 sc, inc] 

Or in more detail:[2 single crochet stitches, then 1 incrase stitch] repeat 6 times

 

②Count the number of stitches

1 single crochet=1 stitch

1 incrase stitch=2 single crochet stitches =2 stitches

Thus, [2 sc, inc] have 3 stitches, [3 stitches] X 6=18 stitches