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Beside the slip knot and the chain, SC is the most basic stitch in crochet. I believe that most of the crocheters begin their journey in this craft with SC crochet stitch.
What does SC mean in crochet
SC crochet stitch abbreviation means Single Crochet. It’s single crochet because there are no fancy twists and turns to it, no extra loops, just a straight-forward stitch that is just a single loop tall.
What can you make with SC stitch
SC crochet stitch is very basic but oh so versatile! You can use it to make so many different things: potholders, kitchen towels, scarves, hats, and other garments and even blankets!
SC can be used for any regular, linear crochet designs using crocheting back and forth, like scarf or potholder, or you can use single crochet in the round for things like beanies, hats, mittens, coffee cup cozies, and even baskets!
Because of that, once you learn and get a hang of this stitch, you are off to the races. You can now crochet a variety of really cute items. SC is really a perfect crochet stitch for a beginner.
Things to know about Single Crochet
One thing about SC is that because it’s a very basic stitch and is 1 loop tall, it takes longer to create items with it than with other stitches.
SC is a small mighty stitch and it takes a lot of that stitch to create bigger items. So, for example, if you decided to create a blanket using SC, you might consider either make it a baby blanket (they are on the smaller side) or maybe use a bulky yarn with a big hook which will make the size of the stitches themselves bigger.
In the patterns, you will see single crochet referred to as SC. When the pattern calls for one single crochet stitch to be made, it will be shown as 1 sc or 1sc, as in ‘1sc in the next stitch’.
Here is how to crochet SC
Here is how you would crochet SC starting with the chain
After you made a chain, insert your hook (front to back) into the second chain from the hook, yarn over, and pull the loop through. You have 2 loops on the hook.
Next, yarn over and draw through those 2 loops at the same time.
And done, wasn’t that easy?!
Note: since SC is one loop tall, we skipped one loop at the beginning of the chain to act as a first sc in the row, and then we crocheted the SC, which is technically second SC in the row. You will often see it in the pattern as: ‘single crochet second chain from the hook’.
Once you have your first crocheted SC, to continue with the rest of that row do this:
Insert your hook (front to back) into next loop in the chain, yarn over and pull through a loop.
You now have 2 loops on your hook.
Yarn over and pull yarn through both of these loops.
Second stitch done!
Now, just continue till the rest of the row in the same manner.
Here is how to crochet SC stitch starting on the top of another row
Once you are done with your first row and want to start the second row, you need to create a loop to raise you up to the height of the stitch you are using. Since sc is 1 chain tall, you would need just 1 chain.
When you are doing it in the beginning of the row, you would first CH 1 (to create first SC).
Next, you would insert hook into next stitch (front to back), yarn over and pull the loop through. You have 2 loops on the hook.
Yarn over and draw through both loops at the same time.
Then, continue in the same manner for the rest of that row.
If you feel like you need a bit more clarity or a real-time walk-through, here is an excellent video to help:
And like that, you got yourself a single crochet stitch! I don’t know about you, but I was very excited when I got how sc worked. It’s such a building block of crochet, that once I learned it, I knew that can learn other stitches and crochet whatever projects I want.
Here are some examples of projects made with a single crochet SC stitch:
Diamond Reflection Cowl Crochet Pattern from AnotherMumFightsTheDust.com:
Luxe Spa Scrubby Set pattern by ThroughTheLoopYC.com:
Textured Beginner Crochet Earwarmer Pattern by SimplyHookedByJanet.com:
Ear Warmer crochet design by FosbasDesigns.com
If you want to learn how to crochet other basic crochet stitches, you can check out posts on HDC stitch and DC stitch on my blog.
[…] you want to learn about other basic crochet stitches like SC (single crochet) and HDC (half double crochet) you can find helpful posts about these on my […]