Now that we’re on Day 24 of the Newbie Series, it’s time to learn how to crochet some other shapes! Until now, all of our patterns have been rectangular. Sure, we crocheted a coffee sleeve and a hair scrunchie in the round, but those were essentially tubular rectangles. Today, we’re going to learn how to increase in crochet and make a triangle! And if you’re thinking, “um… nobody cares about triangles.” Think again! Triangular scarves and shawls, shaping on garment patterns, part of a crocheted ripple… these are all brought to you by the humble increase.
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What is an increase, you ask? Great question! After today’s lesson, you’ll be able to:
- Describe and crochet an increase
- Identify the increase abbreviation in patterns
- Crochet a basic triangle
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Identifying Increases in Patterns
An increase is just two stitches crocheted into one. Pretty easy, right?!
If you’re looking at a chart, you’ll see two stitches on top of another one. If you’re reading a written pattern, you might see it written one of the following ways:
- abbreviated as “inc”
- written as “2 sc,” “2 dc,” or whatever the stitch is
- something more descriptive like, “work 2 sc into the next st”
Supplies / Materials
You can practice with any hook and yarn!
For the tutorials, I used:
- Brava worsted in Lady Slipper (for the video)
- Dishie cotton in Kenai (for the pictures)
- J 6.0 mm hook from the WeCrochet Bright set
NOTE: My friends at WeCrochet provided the materials for the Newbie Series.
How to Increase in Crochet – Video Tutorial
How to Increase in Crochet – Photo Tutorial
To practice, let’s work up a small swatch. I used single crochets in the video tutorial, but the photo below features half-double crochets (from tomorrow’s free pattern).
ch 2
ROW 1: 2 hdc in second ch from hook (2)
ROW 2: ch 1 and turn, 2 hdc in each of the next 2 st (4)
ROW 3: ch 1 and turn, 2 hdc, hdc in next 2 st, 2 hdc (6)
ROW 4: ch 1 and turn, 2 hdc, hdc in next 4 st, 2 hdc (8)
ROW 5: ch 1 and turn, 2 hdc, hdc in next 6 st, 2 hdc (10)
If you want to keep going, continue to crochet 2 hdc in the first and last stitch of each row.
