How to Do a Half Double Crochet: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Are you ready to expand your crochet skills? After mastering the single crochet, the next step is learning the half double crochet. This versatile stitch is great for adding texture and height to your projects. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to do a half double crochet step by step. Let’s get started!
The half double crochet (abbreviated as hdc) is a stitch that falls between the single crochet and double crochet in height. It creates a slightly looser fabric than single crochet, making it ideal for scarves, hats, and blankets. The half double crochet stitch is my personal favorite stitch to use!
The Mosaic Throw Blanket and Celestial Cat Cardigan involve many uses of hdc, and you’ll often see me using it as a border stitch in most projects because I find it to be the perfect height between a single crochet and a double crochet.
To get started with half double crochet, you’ll need the following:
Begin by creating a slip knot and placing it onto your crochet hook. Tighten it just enough so it slides easily along the hook.
Next, make a foundation chain by yarn over (yo) and pulling through the loop on the hook. Repeat this process until you have the desired number of chain stitches. For this demonstration, I have made 12 chain stitches. You will want to add 2 to the number of stitches you’d like your final piece to be across.
Yarn over, then insert your hook into the third chain from the hook.
Yarn over and pull the yarn through the chain stitch. You should now have three loops on your hook.
Yarn over again and pull through all three loops on the hook. Congratulations! You’ve just made your first half double crochet stitch.
Repeat steps 3-5 across the entire row. When you reach the end of the row, you can chain two and turn your work to begin a new row of half double crochet stitches. Alternatively, if you’d like straighter edges and feel ready to learn another technique, you can try the stacked single crochet (stsc) instead of chaining two!
Here is how the half double crochet stitch looks after 5 rows:
Mastering the half double crochet stitch adds variety and texture to your crochet projects. Once you’re comfortable with this stitch, you can move on to more complex techniques like double crochet, treble crochet, and decorative stitch patterns.
Now that you know how to do a half double crochet, you’re ready to enhance your crochet projects with a new stitch! Keep practicing, and soon you’ll be creating beautiful handmade items with ease. Happy crocheting!
Looking for more crochet tips and tutorials? Follow the quick links below for other beginner stitches or head straight to the full techniques page of my website!
Patterns that utilize the half double crochet stitch
Mosaic Throw Blanket Crochet Pattern
Celestial Cat Cardigan Crochet Pattern
Sunshine Curtain Ties Crochet Pattern
Hexagon Curtain Ties Crochet Pattern
