Fun with Single Crochet – Texture

Single crochet is one of the first stitches we learn. For those of you in the U.K. this is a double crochet stitch. The stitch is great for making small projects and blankets, but when used on a garment, like a sweater, you can end up with something that looks and feels like body armor. Pieces made of 100% single crochet stitches are somewhat boring unless you use color or texture to break up the monotony.

To demonstrate how easy it is to change up a single crochet stitch; I stitched up a scarf using a cotton/acrylic blend yarn. This pattern uses chain stitches and single crochet. The woven look comes from making the single crochet stitch longer than usual. It is called an elongated single crochet. To prevent your work from rolling up as you go; make sure that you bring your hook up to the top of the piece when making the elongated stitch. If you leave your hook below the top of the work, the elongated stitches will be too tight and they will make the piece start to curl.

The pattern is very simple. It is a series of 3 stitches. The first stitch is a single crochet, the next stitch is an elongated single crochet. To make this stitch, insert your hook into the stitch 3 rows below the stitch you are working in, draw up a loop, and pull through all loops on the hook. Follow this with a single crochet in the next stitch to lock down the elongated single crochet. The trick to getting a woven look is to alternate where you make the elongated stitch. You want the stitches to alternate; they should not be directly on top of one another. When crocheting in the elongated stitch rows, be sure to begin and end each row with a single crochet.

To make the pattern as it appears in the scarf, you start with a beginning chain in multiples of 3, then single crochet for the next 3 rows. Starting with the fourth row, begin an elongated single crochet row (single crochet followed by an elongated single crochet, repeat), followed by a row of single crochet stitches. End your work with a row of single crochet stitches.

Once you get the hang of elongated stitches, you can play around with them to create a variety of textured looks. If you love this stitch, here is a link to my scarf pattern on Craftsy.