The half double crochet is really my favorite stitch for beginner crochet projects. You may have noticed that it’s kind of my “go-to” beginner stitch and I thought I’d take the time to tell you the reason why I like to use it so much.
The half double crochet has a lot going for it. This crochet stitch sits halfway in complexity between the single crochet and double crochet. It’s the second simplest crochet stich you can make. Which means it’s easy for beginners.
You may wonder why not just use the single crochet for beginner projects, after all it is the simplest stitch. While that’s true, the single crochet stitch doesn’t cover a lot of area quickly and therefor projects take longer when you crochet with it. Since beginners are more likely to keep going if they can see the results of their hard work, and the single crochet stitch can be a little discouraging since it takes much longer to finish a project.
Which brings us to the next simplest but also bigger stitch, the half double crochet. It works up much quicker because of it’s size.
So why not use the double crochet stitch it’s much bigger than either of those two stitches?
While the double crochet is probably (by my estimation) the third simplest stitch and it is much bigger than the single or half double. It contains so many gaps/holes that it just doesn’t produce a solid piece.
And speed isn’t the only thing you want in a beginner crochet project, you also want your piece to be relatively solid which is why I think the half double crochet is a better beginner stitch for a lot of projects than the double crochet.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all crochet stitches equally. But for dish cloths and hats and gloves etc, the half-double is my favorite stitch for beginners. And by beginners I mean people who are very new to the crochet world.
It’s also why a lot of my beginner projects feature the half-double crochet as the stitch of choice.
So there you have it, the half double crochet stitch is simple, it works up faster than the single crochet, and it doesn’t have all the holes/gaps that a double crochet project.
