Single crochet
Single crochet (sc) is the shortest standard stitch and produces a dense, firm fabric. It's the go-to stitch for amigurumi, dishcloths, and bags — anything where you want structure and don't want gaps.
Working a single crochet
- Insert hook into the next stitch (through both loops unless the pattern says otherwise).
- Yarn over — wrap working yarn over the hook from back to front.
- Draw through the stitch — you now have 2 loops on the hook.
- Yarn over again.
- Draw through both loops — 1 loop remains. That's one sc.
Written as: sc in next st. Or "sc across" (= sc in every stitch to the end of the row).
What sc fabric looks like
Each stitch forms a small V on the front. The back shows a horizontal bar. The fabric is denser than knitting at the same yarn weight and barely stretches horizontally. Rows are short in height — each sc row is roughly half the height of a dc row.
Counting stitches and rows
Count the V-shapes along the top edge of the current row — each V is one stitch. For rows, count the horizontal ridges on the side of your work. After a turning chain (ch 1), the chain itself usually doesn't count as a stitch in sc patterns — work into the first actual stitch, not the chain.
Decreasing: sc2tog
sc2tog (single crochet 2 together) reduces the stitch count by 1. It's the most common decrease in amigurumi:
- Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, draw up a loop (2 loops on hook).
- Insert hook into the following stitch, yarn over, draw up a loop (3 loops on hook).
- Yarn over and draw through all 3 loops.
The "invisible decrease" variant skips step 2's full insertion — you insert only through the front loop of each stitch. It hides the decrease better in amigurumi work.
Increasing: 2 sc in one stitch
Written as "inc" or "2 sc in next st". Simply work two complete sc stitches into the same stitch. This adds 1 to the stitch count and is the standard increase in amigurumi and circular work.