Have you ever wondered what the difference is between single crochet and extended single crochet? When I first started crocheting, I mainly focused on learning the regular stitches (single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet). Then I started seeing variations of stitches in patterns, so I branched out to learn some of the variations. One of them is extended single crochet. Out of curiosity, I made some swatches to see the differences in single crochet and extended single crochet. After seeing the extended single crochet, I wondered how that is different from the half double crochet (scroll down to see pictures).
If you’re a crochet nerd like me, you’ll find all of this very interesting :). I also thought it would help with designing projects to see how each stitch affects the overall look and size of the project. Even though I like how tight single crochet stitches are, it’s a bit challenging to make big projects out of single crochet only. It’s nice to have extended single crochet as an option.
Here is a brief summary of how you make each one of these stitches.
Single Crochet
- Insert your hook
- Pull up a loop
- Yarnover
- Pull thru both loops
Extended Single Crochet
- Insert your hook
- Pull up a loop
- Yarnover
- Pull thru 1 loop
- Yarnover
- Pull thru 2 loops
Half Double Crochet
- Yarnover
- Insert your hook
- Pull up a loop (now you have 3 loops on your hook)
- Yarnover
- Pull through all 3 loops
Here’s what they look like altogether.
And some close ups….
If you need to see how these stitches are made, there are lots of great tutorials on Youtube. Just search the stitch names to find video you’re looking for.
For more articles on crochet stitches, click here.