I guess you probably know this, there’s a difference between US vs UK crochet terms and abbreviations. Since it’s easy to get confused I’m going to teach you the difference now. First of all I’m focusing on the basic crochet stitches and a few basic terms, since it those you most likely will come across often.
If you have purchased any pattern from the Joy of Motion shop, it’s important to know that the crochet patterns are written in US crochet terms. While you might be familiar with US crochet terms, I’d suggest you learn the UK terms as well. Hey! There’s a lot of amazing UK crochet patterns out there. Learn to read them, rather than looking at it as a problem.
Furthermore for any UK pattern readers, please read further to be able to understand my crochet patterns. In addition you are opening the door to even more amazing crochet patterns, simply by learning this.
Most noteworthy: Some of the basic stitches are named the same while some are not! Makes it a little confusing right? Let’s get started rather than being confused!
Related: US vs Metric hook sizes.
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US vs UK CROCHET TERMS – THE TERMS THAT ARE THE SAME
First of all I’m teaching you the ones that are named the same:
1. Chain (you can learn the chain here)
2. Slip stitch (you can learn the slip stitch here)
Hence: This is the easiest part – no confusion yet! Just remember that those two stitches are the same!
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US vs UK CROCHET TERMS – THE TERMS THAT ARE DIFFERENT
Then you have the stitches that are different – with US terms to the left – UK to the right:
1. Single Crochet(sc) is called Double Crochet (dc) (you can learn the Single Crochet here).
2. Double Crochet(dc) is called Treble Crochet(tr) (you can learn the Double Crochet here).
3. Treble Crochet (tr) is called Double Treble Crochet (dtr) (you can learn the Treble Crochet here).
4. Half Double Crochet (hdc) is called Half Treble Crochet (htr) (you can learn the Half Double Crochet here).
As you can see the stitches have different names and some have the same name but are different stitches.
Seems like it makes sense to me if I think about it as a counting problem, rather than getting confused. When I’m reading British crochet patterns I’m always reducing by 1. When it says “double crochet” – I reduce double by 1 and read “single crochet”.
Consequently: If you are used to read UK crochet terms and get a US crochet pattern you will have to think “add 1”. When it says “single crochet” – you add by 1 and read “double crochet”.
US vs UK CROCHET TERMS – OTHER TERMS THAT YOU’LL NEED TO KNOW
US terms to the left – UK to the right:
1. “Skip” is called “miss”.
2. “Yarn over” (yo) is called “yarn over hook” (yoh).
3. “Gauge” is called “tension”.
US vs UK CROCHET TERMS – THE TAKEAWAY
Changing from US to UK: “think add by 1”.
Changing from UK to US: “think reduce by 1”.
and Slip stitches and Chains are the same!
Finally I have included a cheat sheet below to make it more visual!
Consequently: I hope that you are able to better understand both US and UK crochet terms after reading this and downloading the cheat sheet. If you have further questions about US vs UK crochet terms please comment below or email me.
Challenge yourself to follow crochet patterns with other terms than you are used to after reading this. As a result I’m sure you are growing as a crocheter in many ways. Once you’ve got the hang of these crochet terms, you can go on learning more about crochet. In addition you should learn more about how to read crochet patterns, because it’s truly an amazing amount of details to learn:
Related: HOW TO: Read a Crochet Pattern.
Finally an other related read I’d love for you to see is this:
Related: Learn about the different names of Yarn Weights and HOW TO find the right one.
Resource: Find some crochet essentials + crochet resources every crocheter needs.
