Crochet Abbreviations, Stitches, and Terms

I'm So Confused!

You want to crochet with confidence, right?  When did there become so many confusing abbreviations for crochet?

We at Needlepointers.com know how relaxing and fun crochet can be, but we’ve found that one of the most difficult parts of becoming a master at crochet is learning how to read the confusing crochet patterns that we get so excited to try!

It can be quite intimidating to learn how to read a crochet pattern, with all of the crochet stitches, abbreviations, and crochet terms.

We know from experience that even a veteran to crochet may find a pattern with an unusual symbol or crochet abbreviation for a stitch.

We Have You Covered!

Luckily, we have put together a list of resources you can use to become less frustrated and find your work more enjoyable.

There are many charts available for you to use below.

Here you can find the most popular crochet stitches and their abbreviations, along with those pesky, rarely-used stitches that most people need to reference.

Some charts also include the meanings with actual photos of the stitches, which we found very helpful. We have a crochet stitch guide page that would be helpful as well.

We have linked to various charts that will help you translate crochet patterns written in a foreign language. Examples of languages that the charts have translations for are UK/Australia, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swahili, Finnish, US, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and Dutch.

Check out the Crochet Translation Project. It’s a worldwide initiative where volunteers submit crochet pattern translations. 

The project is ongoing, and maybe you have something to submit to the project!

If you are a beginner to crochet, we have found a wonderful page where the author has gone into fine detail just for you!  This page also has videos, written tutorials, and links to other sites with great directions.

Besides confusing stitch abbreviations, hook sizing can also cause some headaches.  There are sites here that have conversion charts for crochet hooks; printables to keep handy with your crochet supplies. No more wasting time looking up the right hook sizes!

Printables and Cheat Sheets

We also have some great cheat sheets for you.  You can use the charts to determine things like how much yarn is needed for a project, hook sizes to use, decode those symbols on how to care for various types of yarn, and we even found some troubleshooting guides when you run into a problem with a pattern.

Also, be sure to check the “Make It Happen: Resource Pack”.  It is perfect for knitters and crocheters. 

You’ll find it full of printable cheat sheets, sizing guides, resource pages, checklists, to do lists and more to get you organized.

There are so many helpful links on this page; in the crochet world there are a trillion different terms, slang, and abbreviations.  We have what you need to figure it all out!  If you are interested in some crochet tips we have a special page as another reference for you.

Read on!