# Double Crochet vs. Half Double Crochet



## Ginia1951 (May 17, 2014)

I know this is a picky question but since I have a BUNCH of older written patterns (not ones that are diagrams) I need clarification of terms.

I was taught how to crochet in the mid 1950's and both Grandmothers used the term "half double crochet" for the single wrap , pull up a loop, pull through 2 loops twice resulting in a stitch that was shorter than the 3 loops (single loop, double loop, double loop). Now when I read or go to youtube and watch a demo they call it a double crochet.

I was also taught that that was British or European terminology for the stitch, Just as single crochet is different when you read English directions.

Are USA crocheters now using Britt terms when they write directions? The reason I am asking is to clear up confusion because some patterns on the internet use half double crochet and others use double crochet for the exact same stitch.

Ginia


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## Catarry (Apr 10, 2012)

Some patterns on the Internet orginate from GB, some from the US.


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## alwilda (Apr 14, 2011)

yes, there is a different in instructions that are in the USA and over yonder. A half double crochet here is ;wrap yarn around hook, insert into stitch,grab yarn,pull threw, (have 3 loops on hook) pull threw all 3.


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## McOzzy72 (Jul 24, 2013)

well you do wrap your needle once then insert it into the chain space and draw up a loop, here is the difference, In a HDC you will Yarn over and draw through all 3 loops at once. on a DC you will yarn over and draw through 2 loops, yarn over again and draw through the last 2 loops.

you can look at it this way a HDC is larger than a SC and little smaller than a DC.

I hope this helps

this is a HDC










this is a double crochet


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## mehunt1950 (Jun 14, 2012)

I learned to crochet around 1958-1960. American born with Irish relatives. Was taught by a non-Irish friend. Have a late 1940's Complete Book of Crochet. I learned that a half-double crochet was a "uniquely" American stitch. Yarn over, go into next stitch, draw up loop and pull through stitch, yarn over and draw through ALL 3 loops on hook. Makes a stitch slightly taller than an American single crochet and a definitely thicker stitch. Used to get patterns from relatives "across the pond" and NEVER received a pattern that called for a half double crochet stitch. 

Had some patterns back then for pot holders and hot pads that were almost exclusively half double crochet. Was told that was because of the thicker (and therefore more protective) stitch (and fabric) produced.

As for the difference between UK/British/Commonwealth stitch names, I learned that the UK term was always one SMALLER than the US term. UK sc = American slip stitch; UK dc = American sc; UK tr = American dc; etc. I learned the difference the HARD way when what I was making didn't look like the picture in the UK pattern.

MaryEllen


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## evesch (Apr 3, 2011)

You do have to be aware of where a pattern originates as the terms for the same stitches do mean different things depending on where it comes from. And with the total availability of the Web resources we have now and the mobility of our cultures things are getting quite mixed. I am always checking on the location of people who post on here. Although you can get hints at where they are from by the grammer they use. The stitch you describe to me in the USA is called a double crochet. Half double would be yarn over pull up loop yarn over and pull through all three loops on hook. The USA designations make a bit more sense to me not so much that I was raised with them but that they describe the stitches better. Single crochet is pull through one time, 1/2 double is with a yarn over but only one pull through. Double crochet is with 2 (double) pull throughs. Treble is with three pull through's. 
I always look in a pattern for the stitch directions which give you a good idea. I do have to mentally transpose the pattern if using UK pattern but it is no big deal to do.


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## susanjoy (Aug 13, 2013)

The stitch you call a half double crochet in America, we in UK call a half treble. As you say it is a thicker stitch and makes a firmer fabric.


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## galaxycraft (Feb 15, 2011)

A chart showing UK and US terms.
http://crochet.about.com/od/conversioncharts/a/termtranslate.htm


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## tamarque (Jan 21, 2011)

It can be confusing but Chriso1972 has explained it very well and the graphics are very clear. 

Would like to know the history of how the nomenclature betw UK and USA crochet stitches developed differently or changed.


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## chezalvera (Apr 13, 2011)

Chriso : Great explanation & visuals!


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## Snow Willow (May 10, 2014)

Chriso you did really good explaining& visuals.


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## Patricia Cecilia (Apr 25, 2012)

Ginia1951 said:


> I know this is a picky question but since I have a BUNCH of older written patterns (not ones that are diagrams) I need clarification of terms.
> 
> I was taught how to crochet in the mid 1950's and both Grandmothers used the term "half double crochet" for the single wrap , pull up a loop, pull through 2 loops twice resulting in a stitch that was shorter than the 3 loops (single loop, double loop, double loop). Now when I read or go to youtube and watch a demo they call it a double crochet.
> Ginia


Ginia, my mum taught me to crochet almost 50 years ago using US terminology even though she herself was Anglo-Irish-American. The stitch that you are describing as 'half double crochet' is usually the stitch meant when 'double crochet' appears in an US pattern. The one that you describe as having one yarnover, then pull through 1 loop, then 2 loops, then 2 loops, is now usually called "extended double crochet", and lately several designers have been making a big deal about it. The most recent issue of Interweave Crochet has an article on the extended dc.

So the American versions of stitches, from smallest to largest, would be:

slip st - put the hook in, YO, pull through the fabric and the loop on hook

sc - hook in, pull up 1 loop, YO, pull through 2 loops

extended sc - hook in, pull up 1 loop, YO, pull through 1 loop, YO, pull through 2 loops (this is the one that is used to create a foundation single crochet row to replace a foundation chain)

hdc (half double) - YO, hook in, pull up 1 loop, YO, pull through all 3 loops on hook

dc - YO, hook in, pull up 1 loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops) 2x

extended dc - YO, hook in, pull up 1 loop, YO, pull through 1 loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops)2x

treble crochet - YO 2x, hook in, pull up 1 loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops)3x

double treble - YO 3x, hook in, pull up 1 loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops) 4x

The extended version of a stitch has you YO and pulling through just 1 loop before you finish the stitch by pulling through 2 loops repeatedly.

Hope that helps!


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## sockyarn (Jan 26, 2011)

Fined out the source of the patter and go from there.


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## Irene P (Sep 20, 2013)

You need to know where the people writing the instructions come from. You are correct about the terminology being European vs American. If the written instructions are in a book, check where the book was published. If it is just an internet/web site pattern, you should ask them, if the information is not listed with the instructions. Most pattern books do list the description of stitches for each area. Same with knitting needles and crochet hooks.


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