French abbreviation · Crochet
What does db mean in crochet?
db means half double crochet.
In French: demi-bride
How to work it
The “db” of a French pattern, short for demi-bride, is the half double crochet. It sits between single crochet and double crochet in height. Its trick is that it uses a single pull-through at the end, where the double crochet uses two.
Start with a yarn over, before entering the fabric. Insert the hook into the stitch the pattern points to.
Yarn over again and pull the yarn back through the stitch. You now have three loops on the hook: the first yarn over, the loop you just pulled up, and the one that was already there.
Yarn over one last time and pull through all three loops at once. One loop is left, and the stitch is complete. Do not stop after two loops: that would be a different stitch. French patterns usually ask for two chains to turn.
In a pattern
Rang 3 : 2 ml, 1 db dans chaque maille, tourner (20)
Take the French row “Rang 3 : 2 ml, 1 db dans chaque maille, tourner (20)”. “Rang 3” means the third row, worked back and forth. “2 ml” are the two turning chains, which lift the hook to the height of the new row; since the pattern does not say they count as a stitch, they do not. “1 db dans chaque maille” means one half double crochet in every stitch of the previous row. “tourner” means flip the work. The number in brackets says 20 half double crochets.
US or UK?
Demi-bride is the French name. American patterns write the same stitch “hdc”, for half double crochet, and British patterns write “htr”, for half treble. So db (French) equals hdc (US) and htr (UK). A word of caution: some French patterns write “DB” for the double bride, which is the treble. The capital letters and the pattern’s own list of abbreviations tell the two apart.
Common mistakes
- Pulling through only two loops instead of all three. The stitch then comes out shorter and looser, and the count on the hook is wrong. Check that you have exactly three loops before the last pull.
- Counting the turning chain as a stitch when the pattern says nothing. If the count in brackets is off by one at the end of the row, this is almost always the cause.
- Confusing “db” and “DB”. A double bride is much taller than a half double crochet, and the piece distorts at once. Read the list of abbreviations at the top of the pattern.
A tip
Half double crochet has a tell-tale horizontal bar just under the top “V”. You can count those bars from a distance, and you can find the stitch you are working into without touching the fabric. Move a marker every ten stitches.
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.
Rang 3 : 2 ml, 1 db dans chaque maille, tourner (20)