Crochet stitches

Antique and vintage basic crochet terms The terms for crochet stitches varied from publication to publication, starting in the 1820’s, and didn’t become standardized until well into the 20th century. Sometime in the 1880’s, crochet terms for the basic stitches became more standardized in Britain, and although some American publishers began to use what we now recognize as U.S. crochet terminologies, British terms were still used in many U.S. publications until after World War I. Here is a list of different stitch terms from some of the popular publications of their time.


U.K. modern terms	chain st ch	slip st (sl st)	double crochet (dc)	half treble (htc)	treble crochet (tc)	double treble crochet (dtc)	triple treble crochet (ttc)
U. S. modern terms	chain st (ch)	slip st (sl st)	single crochet (sc)	half double crochet (hdc)	double crochet (dc)	triple crochet (tc)	double triple crochet (dtc)
1844 Miss Lambert, My Crochet Sampler, London	chain	plain single crochet	plain double crochet		treble			See p 14-21 of the book – plain stitch variations
1850 Ladies Guide in Needlework, Philadelphia	chain		double crotchet stitch
c. 1845-1870 Mlle Riego Crochet Books , London	chain	single stitch	plain stitch		treble stitch	long stitch	extra long stitch
1850’s Royal Crochet Worker , London	chain	plain	double		treble
1859 Mrs. Pullan, Lady’s Manual of Fancy-Work, New York	chain (ch)	slip stitch (sl)	single crochet (sc)	short double crochet (sdc)	double crochet (dc)	treble crochet (tc)	long treble (ltc)	also a “short treble”, and a “half long treble”
Godey’s Lady’s Book c. 1850-1870 New York	ch	sc	dc		tc			Not consistent from pattern to pattern.
1870 Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Needlework, London	chain	slip stitch	double stitch	long double	treble	long treble	double long treble	many stitch variations, see p 185-194
1880 New York Tribune Knitting and Crochet	chain	single crochet or sc	double crochet or dc		treble stitch or tc	long stitch or long treble	extra long stitch
1886 Th. de Dillmont, Encyclopedia of Needlework, France	chain stitch	single crochet	double crochet	treble crochet
1891 Home Work, Toronto	chain, ch	slip stitch, sl st	single crochet, sc	half treble or short treble	treble crochet	long treble
c.1900-1917 Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston
c. 1911-1920 Flora Klickmann books	c. 1900-1920 Needlecraft, Augusta, Maine

compiled by Judith Combs, content last updated 03oct2006