How to Crochet Decrease
Now that you’ve gotten to grips with all the basic stitches, we can tackle the tough problem of decreases. Decreasing in crochet is actually very easy and serves to reduce the width of a garment and to give different shapes.
In this post, we will show you how to make the decreases in basic stitches, that is:
- Single Crochet Decrease
- Half Double Crochet Decrease
- Double Crochet Decrease
Once you understand the concept, making decreases comes almost spontaneous, whatever the stitch you are working on. You can then apply the same technique to the “taller” versions of the basic stitches as well.
Single Crochet Decrease
When you decrease, you work a portion of the first stitch, then work a portion of the second stitch, then finish them together so that the two stitches become one.
Here’s how it’s done:
- Insert hook into the first stitch
- Yarn over and draw through the loop
- Do not complete the stitch as normal, but
- insert the hook into the next stitch.
- Yarn over and draw through this second loop.
- There should now be three loops on your hook.
- Yarn over and draw through all three loops on the hook.
- You should now have two single crochet stitches side-by-side, joined together into one stitch at the top.
Half Double Crochet Decrease
On all basic stitches, decreases are done in the same way, so once you have learned the procedure, it will be very easy to apply it even to the tallest stitches.
To decrease 2 double crochet stitches, work as follows:
- Yarn over hook.
- Insert hook into next stitch.
- Yarn over again and pull the yarn through the stitch. There should be three loops on your hook.
- Yarn over again.
- Insert your hook into the next stitch.
- Yarn over once more time and draw the yarn through the stitch. Now there should be 5 loops on your hook.
- Yarn over for the last time.
- Draw yarn through all five loops on the hook.
Double Crochet stitch is used very often when crocheting, so it will happen many times to do decreases.
The procedure for decreasing 2 stitches while working Double Crochet stitch is the following:
- Yarn over hook.
- Insert hook into next stitch.
- Yarn over again and pull the yarn through the stitch. There should be three loops on your hook.
- Yarn over and draw the yarn through the first 2 stitches.
- There should now be two loops on your hook. This is a normal double crochet stitch up to this point… but don’t complete the stitch!
- With those two loops on the hook, yarn over and insert your hook into the next stitch.
- Yarn over again and pull through the first two stitches. There should be three loops on the hook.
- Yarn over for the last time.
- Draw yarn through all 3 loops on the hook.
Decreasing in crochet is easy!
Once you have learned how to decrease 2 stitches, the same technique can be applied to decrease 3 or more stitches in crochet.
You will begin the stitch and work it as normal until the final step of that stitch. Leaving that final step unfinished, you will then work the next (or the following 2 or 3…) stitch as normal. When it comes time to complete the final step of this second (or third, or fourth…) stitch, you will pull the yarn through all of the loops on the hook, which will be 3 for Single Crochet and Double Crochet, and 5 for Half Double Crochet.
Thus you completed the decrease, obtaining 1 stitch from 2 (or 3 or 4 …) stitches.
In this post, we used our 9 mm Maplewood Crochet Hook, and 1 skein of Fettuccine, in Azure color, our pure cotton tape yarn, a perfect yarn for crochet home decor accessories!
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