Did you know that the USA and UK have exactly the same crochet stitches, but they are given different names?
I think the rest of the World uses either one or the other too. So, it’s useful to know how to convert them.
It can get a little confusing though, especially when downloading crochet patterns from the web as it’s not always obvious which continent they have come from.
So, here is just a little guidance, to help you easily convert between the two.
So, next time you get a crochet pattern and you’re not sure where it has come from, the biggest clue is that if it mentions ‘Single Crochet’ then it’s definitely North American. (There is no Single Crochet in the UK terminology).
Or, if you start to work on something and it really doesn’t look anything like the picture on the pattern, then maybe it is not from the continent you expected.
The easiest way to convert your pattern is to read through it and do a straight replacement. So, for example, if you are converting from USA to US, work through and find all the mentions of ‘dtr’ and replace them with ‘ttr’. Work your way through each of the stitches until you have replaced them all. But, beware, always work from the largest stitch to the smallest, otherwise you could get in a pickle. You could end up replacing all the ‘sc’ with ‘dc’, then accidentally replacing all the replacements you have already done with ‘tr’, which would make the pattern completely wrong.
Just a little warning, that some patterns may use different abbreviations to the ones above. Always check your pattern to see what abbreviations are being used before you start.
That’s all there is to it. The actual working of the stitches is exactly the same. I hope it makes sense to you. If not, get in touch and I will work through it with you.
Happy Crocheting!
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