What does sl st mean in crochet?

How to work it

A slip stitch, written “sl st” in most American patterns, is the shortest stitch there is: it adds no height at all. It is used to join, to move across the fabric without adding a row, and to finish an edge.

Insert the hook into the stitch the pattern points to. Take the yarn over the hook, from back to front.

Pull the yarn through the stitch and through the loop already on the hook, in a single movement. One loop remains on the hook, and the slip stitch is complete.

The stitch has no yarn over before entering and no second pull-through. Because it does not add height, it must not be worked tightly: keep the loop as loose as the neighbouring stitches, or the seam will pull the edge in.

In a pattern

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring, sl st to first sc to join (6)

Take the row “Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring, sl st to first sc to join (6)”. “Rnd 1” is the first round. “6 sc in magic ring” means six single crochets worked into the adjustable loop you started with. “sl st to first sc to join” means you insert the hook into the first single crochet of this round and make a slip stitch, which closes the round into a ring. The join is not counted as a stitch. The bracket therefore says 6: the six single crochets, and nothing else.

US or UK?

The same stitch, with a different label. American patterns write “sl st”; many British patterns write “ss”, for slip stitch. Both mean exactly this. It is not one of the stitches that shift height between conventions, so you do not need to convert it.

Common mistakes

• Working the join too tightly. A tight slip stitch closes the round like a drawstring, and the next round becomes hard to work into. Pull the loop up to the size of the other stitches.
• Counting the slip stitch as a stitch of the round. The count in brackets does not include it, unless the pattern says so. If you count it, you will think you are one stitch over.
• Joining in the wrong place. The pattern names the stitch, most often the first stitch of the round. If you join into the next one, the seam moves round the piece a little more at every round.

A tip

The join is hard to see, because the slip stitch is flat. Right after you make it, place a marker in the first stitch of the next round, and move it up at each round. You will always know where the round begins, even when the piece is at arm’s length.

Other ways to write it

• slst — English abbreviation
• mc — French abbreviation
• ss — English abbreviation

See also

• ml — chain stitch
• trtr — triple treble crochet
• magic ring — magic ring
• tr — treble crochet

Go further

• Guide: how to read a crochet or knitting pattern