English abbreviation · Crochet
What does tr mean in crochet?
tr means treble crochet.
In French: double bride
How to work it
Treble crochet, written “tr” in an American pattern, is one step taller than a double crochet. The difference is at the start: you wrap the yarn over the hook twice before entering the fabric.
Make two yarn overs, then insert the hook into the stitch the pattern points to. Yarn over again and pull the yarn back through the stitch. You now have four loops on the hook.
Yarn over and pull through the first two loops. Three loops remain. Yarn over and pull through two more. Two loops remain. Yarn over one last time and pull through these final two. One loop is left, and the stitch is done.
In short, after the hook has entered the stitch you always do the same movement three times: yarn over, pull through two loops. At the start of a row, a treble is too tall to begin without help, so the pattern asks for a turning chain, usually “ch 4 (counts as tr)”, which replaces the first stitch.
In a pattern
Row 4: ch 4 (counts as tr), tr in each st across, turn (20)
Read the row “Row 4: ch 4 (counts as tr), tr in each st across, turn (20)”. “Row 4” is the fourth row, worked back and forth. “ch 4 (counts as tr)” is the turning chain: four chains that stand for the first treble. “tr in each st across” means one treble in every stitch of the previous row, skipping the one at the foot of the chain; the last treble usually goes into the top of the previous row’s turning chain. “turn” means flip the work. The bracket is your check: the chain counts as one stitch, nineteen trebles complete the row, and you end with 20.
US or UK?
Here the two conventions shift by one step. In a US pattern, tr is the treble described here, with two yarn overs. In a British pattern, “tr” is the shorter stitch with one yarn over that Americans call double crochet, and the stitch on this page is written “dtr”, for double treble. So tr (US) equals dtr (UK), and dc (US) equals tr (UK). If your pattern mentions “trtr”, it is British.
Common mistakes
- Making one yarn over instead of two. The result is a double crochet, which is shorter, and the fabric puckers. Before you enter the stitch, check that there are two wraps on the hook.
- Letting the wraps get tangled while pulling through. Work the “yarn over, pull through two” movement one loop pair at a time, and count the loops left on the hook after each pull: three, then two, then one.
- Mixing up the two conventions. A British “tr” worked as an American treble makes the piece far too tall and too loose. If the stitch count is right but the height is wrong, look at the convention first.
A tip
A treble is tall enough to check with your eyes from far away: the posts stand up in neat lines. If one post is shorter than the others, you probably made only one wrap. Put a marker in the turning chain of each row, and count the rows by these markers.
Frequently asked questions
Does tr mean treble or triple?
Both names exist for the same American stitch: treble crochet, also called triple crochet, with two yarn overs. The question that matters is the convention: in a British pattern, tr is the stitch with one yarn over, the American double crochet.
How do I know whether my pattern is American or British?
Look for sc or hdc, which only exist in American notation, or htr and trtr, which only exist in British notation. One of them settles the whole pattern.
British notation
In a British pattern, “tr” means double 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 4: ch 4 (counts as tr), tr in each st across, turn (20)