English abbreviation · Crochet
What does ch mean in crochet?
ch means chain.
In French: maille en l'air
How to work it
A chain, written “ch”, is the first movement of almost every crochet project. Begin with a slip knot on the hook. Hold the hook in your right hand and the yarn in your left, so that the yarn runs over the fingers that keep it taut.
Wrap the yarn from back to front over the hook. This is the yarn over. Pull the hook, with the yarn, through the loop that is already on it. One loop remains on the hook, and you have made one chain.
Repeat, always with one loop on the hook, until you have the number of chains you need. The loop on the hook is never counted, and neither is the slip knot. Count each “V” that lies flat against the hook side of the chain instead.
A chain has two uses. As a foundation, it is the base on which the first row is worked. Inside a row, it makes a gap or a turning chain: “ch 1” lifts the hook before a single crochet, and “ch 3” before a double crochet.
In a pattern
Foundation: ch 21, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, turn (20)
Take the row “Foundation: ch 21, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, turn (20)”. “Foundation” names the first row, made from the chain. “ch 21” means twenty-one chains. “sc in 2nd ch from hook” means you skip the chain nearest the hook, which serves only as a hinge, and put your first single crochet into the second one. “and in each ch across” means one single crochet in every remaining chain until the end. “turn” means flip the work. The bracket is your check: twenty-one chains, minus the one you skipped, gives 20 stitches.
US or UK?
Identical. A chain is written “ch” in American and British patterns alike, and it is worked the same way. What differs is what surrounds it: the turning chain in front of a stitch has the same length, but the stitch name that follows may not be the same height. Read the neighbouring abbreviations with the right convention in mind.
Common mistakes
- Counting the loop on the hook as a chain, or counting the slip knot. Your foundation will then be one stitch too long or too short. Count only the complete “V” shapes, and never the loop that is still on the hook.
- Chaining too tightly. A foundation chain that is tighter than the rest of the piece makes the bottom edge pucker and is hard to work into. Use a hook one or two sizes larger for the foundation only.
- Twisting the chain when you turn to work into it. Lay the chain flat and make sure that all the “V” shapes face you before you start the first row.
A tip
A long foundation is easy to miscount. Every ten chains, slip a marker into the chain and note the total on paper, then count again when you reach the end. Recounting a foundation takes a minute, while ripping out a finished blanket takes an evening.
Try it with a row from your pattern
Here is a row that uses it. Replace it with a row from your pattern: every abbreviation the reader knows is underlined, and its meaning shows on hover.
Foundation: ch 21, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, turn (20)