What does blo mean in crochet?

How to work it

Back loop only, written “blo”, tells you which part of a stitch to put the hook under. The top of every stitch is a small “V” made of two strands, called loops. In “blo”, you use only one of the two, the back loop.

The back loop is the strand farthest from you, on the side of the fabric that faces you as you work. Look at the top edge of the row: the front loop is nearer to you, the back loop is behind it.

Insert the hook under the back loop only, then work the stitch the pattern names in the ordinary way. Leave the front loop untouched. It stays on the fabric as a small horizontal ridge, visible from the side you are working on.

This changes the look and the behaviour of the fabric. The ridge makes a texture, the fabric folds more easily along that line, and it stretches more. That is why blo is used for the brim of a hat, a cuff, or to make a piece bend at a sharp angle.

In a pattern

Rnd 7: sc in blo of each st around (24)

Take the row “Rnd 7: sc in blo of each st around (24)”. “Rnd 7” is the seventh round. “sc in blo of each st around” means one single crochet in every stitch of the previous round, with the hook going under the back loop only. “Blo” refers to the stitch you work into, the one in the round below. The bracket says 24: the previous round had 24 stitches and you make one new stitch in each, so you end with 24. The front loops of the round below are left behind, and they make a ridge.

US or UK?

Identical. “Blo” means back loop only in American and British patterns alike, and it works on the same loop in both. The stitch names change between conventions, so a US “sc in blo” is a “dc in blo” in a British pattern, but the loop you choose stays the same.

Common mistakes

• Taking the front loop by mistake. The ridge then appears on the side you do not want, and the piece does not fold where planned. The back loop is the farther one; if you have to tilt the work to see it, you are still in the right place.
• Forgetting that the back loop changes sides when you turn the work. In flat rows, the back loop is the one farthest from you at each row, so it is not always on the same side of the fabric. In rounds, it stays the same.
• Splitting the strand instead of taking the whole loop. If the yarn is cut in half by the hook, the stitch will look frayed. Look at the loop before you insert the hook, and take it whole.

A tip

On a long round in blo it is easy to slip back to both loops without noticing. Look at the ridge from time to time: it should form an unbroken line. When the line has a gap, a stitch went under both loops, and it is quicker to fix a few stitches now than a whole round later.

See also

• flo — front loop only
• bphdc — back post half double crochet
• rsc — reverse single crochet
• fphdc — front post half double crochet

Go further

• Guide: how to read a crochet or knitting pattern