I know crochet patterns can look a little intimidating to a beginner. Plus, different pattern designers will sometimes have slightly different ways of saying things. So I wanted to put together a little guide to help anyone who might be confused.
Abbreviations
Crochet patterns use abbreviations to help keep them short. Each pattern will have a key to explain what the abbreviations mean. Here is a master list of common abbreviations. Most abbreviations are standard and will be the same in any pattern, but every now and then (probably in more advanced patterns), you might find something unique to that designer’s writing style or specific pattern.
[Repeats]
Some rounds will have sections that are repeated. These repeated sections will be either in parentheses ( ) or brackets [ ]. I use brackets in my patterns. It will say “rep # times” or “rep around” after the brackets to let you know how many times you’ll need to do the section in brackets. “Rep around” means that you do it all the way around until you get to the end of that round.
(Stitch Count)
At the end of each line (round) in a pattern there will be a number in parentheses. That number is the number of stitches you will have made in that round. Sometimes it will be just a number “(30)”, sometimes it might say “(30 st)”. They both mean the same thing; 30 stitches. Sometimes a pattern might say “(30 dc)”. That just means that you were using double crochets in that round and that you should have 30 of them.
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Breaking it down
As an example, I’m going to break down a few lines from my Gumdrop Slouchy Hat pattern into simple, plain english!
rnd 3: ch 3. [1 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (48)
Round 3: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in the next stitch. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 48 stitches in this round.
rnd 4: ch 3. [2 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (64)
Round 4: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in each of the the next two stitches. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 64 stitches in this round.
rnd 5: ch 3. [3 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (80)
Round 5: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in each of the the next three stitches. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 80 stitches in this round.
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I hope this helps if you were having any confusion! If you have any questions or if there’s anything else that you’d like me to explain (any ideas for future crochet help posts?), please let me know in the comments! :)
