Crochet reference
Crochet symbols chart.
Twelve common crochet chart symbols, each with its US and UK name and the detail that tells it apart from its neighbours. The drawings are the same ones the StitchPico editor places on your chart.
The symbol chart
Each row shows one symbol as it appears on the right side of the work. The US and UK columns name the same stitch; only the words change, never the drawing. If you are unsure which naming a pattern uses, the US vs UK crochet terms table covers every pair.
| Symbol | US name | UK name | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain (ch) | Chain (ch) | A small oval. Count one oval for each chain. | |
| Slip stitch (sl st) | Slip stitch (ss) | A small filled dot, often where a round is joined. | |
| Single crochet (sc) | Double crochet (dc) | An X. Some charts draw a plus sign instead. | |
| Half double crochet (hdc) | Half treble crochet (htr) | A plain T: a post with a top bar and no cross-bar. | |
| Double crochet (dc) | Treble crochet (tr) | A T with one short cross-bar on the post. | |
| Treble crochet (tr) | Double treble crochet (dtr) | A T with two cross-bars. | |
| Double treble crochet (dtr) | Triple treble crochet (trtr) | A taller T with three cross-bars. | |
| 2 double crochet together (dc2tog) | 2 treble together (tr2tog) | Two one-bar posts, apart at the bottom and joined under one top. | |
| 3 double crochet together (dc3tog) | 3 treble together (tr3tog) | Three one-bar posts gathered into one top. | |
| Shell (5 dc) | Shell (5 tr) | Five posts fanning out of one base point. | |
| Picot | Picot | A small closed loop standing on a peak. | |
| Magic ring (MR) | Magic ring (MR) | A circle with a cross at the centre of a round chart. |
Reading stitch height from a symbol
The tall stitches share one shape: a vertical post with a short bar across the top. What changes is the number of small diagonal cross-bars on the post. Each cross-bar stands for one yarn over made before the hook goes into the stitch, which is exactly what makes the stitch taller. A half double crochet has no cross-bar, a double crochet has one, a treble has two and a double treble has three.
That rule also helps when you meet a symbol that is not in this table. A post with four cross-bars is one step taller again, and the same bars appear on post stitches, clusters and puffs built from those heights. Short stitches look different on purpose: the single crochet is a compact X or plus sign, the slip stitch is a dot, and the chain is an oval drawn along the direction you are working.
Symbol length roughly follows stitch height on a well-drawn chart, so rows of trebles look taller than rows of single crochet. Do not measure with a ruler, though. Designers stretch and tilt symbols so that each one points to the stitch or space it is worked into, which matters far more than the exact length.
Decreases and shells: where the posts meet
Decreases and shells both combine several posts, and they are easy to confuse at a glance. Look at where the posts meet. In a decrease such as dc2tog, the posts start apart at the bottom, in separate stitches, and are joined under a single top, because the loops are worked off the hook together. In a shell, the posts start from one base point, in the same stitch or space, and fan out at the top.
Clusters follow the decrease pattern but are worked into one stitch, so their posts start close together. Whenever a chart groups several posts, count the posts and the cross-bars on each one, then check the key for the exact instruction.
Symbols that vary between charts
The Craft Yarn Council publishes a recommended symbol set, and most modern charts follow it closely, but not every symbol is fixed. Single crochet is commonly drawn as either an X or a plus sign. A ch-3 picot is often drawn as three small chain ovals closed by a slip stitch dot; StitchPico uses a compact loop-on-a-peak mark so it stays readable at small sizes. The magic ring has no single standard symbol, and StitchPico's shell shows five plain posts instead of five barred ones.
That is why every chart should carry a stitch key, and why you should read the key before the first stitch. The StitchPico editor can export a key listing only the symbols you used, in US or UK terms, with a quantity for each kind of symbol. Those quantities count drawn objects: one shell symbol counts once, not as five separate double crochet symbols. Row and round number labels are excluded. The symbol-count guide explains the limits; the crochet abbreviations list covers written shorthand.
Print this chart
Use your browser's print command (Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac). The page prints without the site navigation and keeps each table row together, so the symbols chart fits on a single sheet next to your project. Choosing Save as PDF in the print dialog keeps a copy on your device.
Sources
- Craft Yarn Council, Crochet Chart Symbols: the recommended symbol set, the note that symbols show stitches as they look on the right side, and that both an X and a plus sign are used for single crochet.
- Craft Yarn Council, Crochet Abbreviations Master List: stitch abbreviations and the US/UK stitch name differences.