Double Chain Tutorial

Today I’m featuring a stitch that I first discovered by majorly screwing up the foundation single crochet (fsc) stitch when I was first learning it. I dubbed it the “double chain” and stitched merrily away with it, even though I have never once seen a reference to it in a pattern or even – until a week ago – on the internet.

My curiosity about this stitch finally moved me to search for it via the moniker I had been using, and LO AND BEHOLD – it is actually called the Double Chain. Perhaps this is simply the most logical name for it, or maybe this is evidence of some collective crochet unconscious – we mortals may never know.

Whichever the case, the double chain is hugely useful.

Foundation chains can be difficult to stitch into and often give a stiff, awkward quality to the beginning end of whatever you are making – not to mention looking weird, since the gauge for your chain stitch is rarely the same as for your pattern stitches. The alternative to single chain foundations is often the foundation single crochet. I find fsc to be almost as irritating as single crocheting into the foundation chain (a task that after seventeen years I STILL despise).  In lacy patterns, the foundation single crochet also adds height and bulk where you may not want it.

The double chain, on the other hand, is a snap to stitch up. It adds less height and bulk than the foundation single crochet, long strands of it lay fairly flat (say goodbye to that horrid curling that you blame for your drinking problem), and it has a slightly elastic quality that guarantees your edge will be less stiff and awkward.

So let’s do this thing.

Step 1: Ch 2 in the normal fashion.

Step 2: Insert your hook in the LEFTMOST loop of the second chain from the hook. If you are a sinister lefty, you would insert your hook into the RIGHTMOST loop of the second chain from the hook (and for you leftmost = rightmost from here on out).

Step 3: Yarn over.

Step 4: Pull up a loop through that same LEFTMOST loop, ending with two loops on the hook.

Step 5: Yarn over once again.

Step 6: Pull through both loops on the hook, completing one double chain stitch.

Step 7: Insert your hook under the LEFTMOST loop of your previous stitch.

Step 7 Ct’d: And then yarn over.

Step 8: Draw up a loop, ending with two loops on the hook.

Steps 9 & 10: Yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook.

Repeat steps 7-10, each repeat counts as one double chain stitch completed. You can substitute this bad boy in a lot of different instances where you would use a regular foundation chain – it’s MUCH easier to stitch into.

-MF