I am so glad you are back for your fourth crochet lesson at Home of Yarns! Well done. This time, you will learn how to make a half double crochet stitch (a.k.a. half treble in UK crochet terminology).
If you missed a lesson, you can look up all previous free crochet lessons here.
Step 1: Starting this lesson
To start this lesson, make a starting chain (a.k.a. foundation chain) of 12 chain stitches. In crochet language: ch 12.
Step 2: How to make a Half Double Crochet (half treble in UK)
Turn your work if you haven’t already, so that the starting chain is now facing to the left and your crochet hook is all the way on the right.
The first step is to yarn over. Then, skip 2 chain stitches (= turning chains) and insert your needle from front to back in the third chain stitch from the hook. Yarn over and pull up a loop through the stitch. You now have three loops on your hook. Yarn over again and pull through all of those three loops. Now you have a half double crochet (abbreviation: hdc).
Continue making one half double crochet in every stitch until you reach the end of the row. You should have 10 stitches now: 9 half double crochet stitches and the starting chains from the beginning count as the 10th stitch.
Side note: You will find that in some crochet patterns the turning chains count as a stitch, as is the case here, while in others they are not counted at all. Generally, the pattern will instruct you which is the case. If not, you can also find out by counting your stitches.
Step 3: A second row of Half Double Crochet
As you can see, the half double crochet stitch is taller than the single crochet you learned to make in the second lesson. That is why you need 2 turning chains at the start of the row instead of 1.
So, for the next row of half double crochets, ch 2 and turn your work. The starting chains count as your first stitch again. Make another 9 hdc to finish the row. Remember to insert your hook through both loops of the stitches. You should have a total of 10 stitches again (the first one being the starting chains).
Homework
Keep practicing all of your stitches. Try to keep the tension on your yarn even.
I hope to see you for your next lesson, where you will learn how to make another often used stitch, the double crochet!
