What’s The Difference Between US and UK Crochet Terms?
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I typically get a very wide range of viewers on my blog, and know that there is a bit of conversion that goes on between the American standard crochet terms and the British crochet terms, so I wanted to define it for my readers. Now, I am definitely NOT an expert on British crochet terms, which is typically why I write my patterns in American (US) terms.
But before I show you those differences, I’d like to show you the similarities.
Similarities in US and UK Crochet Terms
ch = chain
ss = slip stitch
magic circle = the same, all the way around (see what I did there?)
Differences Between US and UK Crochet Terms
Where it starts to get confusing will be with the actual stitches. I’ll admit, I’ve picked up a pattern written in UK terms before and my project has turned out much taller than I expected. This is what led me to researching the conversions to begin with. None of us want to crochet an entire project only to find out that we’ve done it incorrectly, right?
When thinking about the conversion from US to UK, it’s very simple: UK stitches are one step up from US stitches.
US single crochet (sc) = UK double crochet (dc)
US half-double crochet (hdc) = UK half-treble crochet (htr)
US double crochet (dc) = UK treble crochet (tr)
US treble crochet (tc) = UK double-treble crochet (dtr)
I’m sure that you’ve noticed the biggest difference in the conversions–the British (UK) terms do not use single crochet. This is sometimes an easy way to tell what terms the pattern is written in.
Abbreviations For Crochet Stitches in US and UK Terms
US Terms:
- SC – Single Crochet
- HDC – Half Double Crochet
- DC – Double Crochet
- TR – Treble Crochet
UK Terms:
- DC – Double Crochet
- HTR – Half Treble Crochet
- TR – Treble Crochet
- DTR – Double Treble Crochet
Guage vs Tension
What we call stitch gauge in the US, UK patterns call tension, which is another easy way to tell what terms the pattern is written in. While US patterns tend to measure our gauge in inches, I’ve seen many patterns using UK terms measure the tension in centimeters.
What About Other Countries?
Some countries share terms and abbreviations with the US or UK. For example, Canada tends to adopt the US terms (US/CAN), while Australia has adopted the UK terms (UK/AUS). I don’t have as much information about countries aside from these. If you can share any others with me in the comments below, I’ll definitely add them to my post, and thank you in advance!
For information on all crochet terms and abbreviations, visit the Crochet Yarn Council.
