English abbreviation · Crochet
What does dc mean in crochet?
dc means double crochet.
In French: bride
How to work it
Double crochet, written “dc” in an American pattern, is about twice as tall as a single crochet. Start with a yarn over, before you touch the fabric. Then insert the hook into the stitch the pattern points to.
Yarn over again and pull that loop back through the stitch. You now have three loops on the hook: the first yarn over, the loop you just pulled up, and the loop that was already there.
Yarn over and pull through the first two loops on the hook. Two loops remain. Yarn over one more time and pull through these last two. One loop is left, and the stitch is done.
At the start of a row, a double crochet is too tall to begin without help, so the pattern asks for a turning chain. It usually reads “ch 3 (counts as dc)”. The three chains stand in for the first stitch, and you then skip the stitch at the base and work your first real dc into the next one.
In a pattern
Row 2: ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in each st across, turn (20)
Read the row “Row 2: ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in each st across, turn (20)”. “Row 2” is the second row, worked back and forth. “ch 3 (counts as dc)” is the turning chain: three chains that take the place of the first double crochet. “dc in each st across” means one double crochet in every stitch until the end of the row; the last one usually goes into the top of the previous row’s turning chain, which is easy to miss. “turn” means flip the work before the next row. The bracket is your check: the chain is stitch number one, the nineteen dc are the rest, and you finish with 20.
US or UK?
This is the abbreviation where American and British patterns disagree the most. In a US pattern, dc is the double crochet described here. In a British pattern, “dc” is the shorter stitch that Americans call single crochet, and the stitch on this page is written “tr”. So dc (US) equals tr (UK). Before you start, find out which convention your pattern uses. The stitch counts and the height of the fabric depend on it.
Common mistakes
- Reading a British pattern as an American one. If your work is half as tall as the picture, or comes out much too small, check for “htr” or “trtr” in the pattern. Those two only exist in British notation.
- Forgetting that the turning chain counts as a stitch. Then the row gains one stitch each time you turn. Count the stitches against the bracket at the end of every row.
- Skipping the yarn over before the hook enters the stitch. Without it the steps that follow make a single crochet, which sits lower than its neighbours. A double crochet always begins with a yarn over.
A tip
A double crochet row is quick to work and slow to count, because the posts hide the tops. Count the “V” shapes along the top edge of the row instead, and put a stitch marker in the turning chain at each row start so you always know where the row begins.
British notation
In a British pattern, “dc” means single crochet.
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.
Row 2: ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in each st across, turn (20)