Double crochet UK vs US: terms chart and 29 patterns

The names shift one step

US patterns start counting from single crochet. UK patterns have no single crochet, so their shortest everyday stitch is the double crochet. From there every name moves up one: the UK half treble is the US half double crochet, the UK treble is the US double, and the UK double treble is the US treble.

The stitches themselves are identical. A UK treble and a US double crochet are worked the same way and stand the same height. Only the label changes, which is why a UK pattern read in US terms still works up, just with taller stitches than the designer intended, and a bigger piece.

A few other words change too. Traditionally, UK patterns say miss where US ones say skip, tension where US ones say gauge, and yarn round hook where US ones say yarn over. Post stitches keep the word post in both systems but take the stitch name from their own, and Dora Does notes they’re called raised stitches in UK terms.

What 29 free patterns actually use

We opened 29 free patterns on 13 websites: designers and yarn companies that sell to UK crocheters, including Attic24, Jera’s Jamboree, Dora Does, Coastal Crochet, King Cole and patterns from Sirdar and Yarnsmiths on the Wool Warehouse blog. For each one we noted which terms it uses, where on the page it says so, and which stitch abbreviations appear. Where a page only links to a free PDF, we opened the PDF. For Attic24 and Catherine Crochets we read Web Archive copies of the pages, saved between January and August 2026. We read the patterns; we didn’t work them.

Fourteen use US terms only, 7 use UK terms only, 7 give both and one mixes them. A UK web address doesn’t tell you much. Dora Does is in Cambridge, and all four of her free patterns we checked are in US terms, with the UK name in brackets in the stitch key. Catherine Crochets is in the south east of the UK, and her free Easy Moss Stitch page is in US terms, with a paid PDF in UK or US terms. Three of Jera’s Jamboree’s four patterns give separate UK and US sections; the fourth, Marlowe, is in US terms with a US-to-UK table for her UK readers.

Twenty-five of the 29 say which terms they use in words on the web page. The other four only say so inside the PDF, and one of those, Sirdar’s Mushroom Pin Cushion, marks its two versions with nothing but a small UK or US flag at the top of each page.

Where the terms are stated

There’s no standard place. Six patterns say it in the introduction or at the top of the post, 11 in the pattern notes and 8 in or just above the stitch key. The four PDF-only ones put it in the abbreviations heading or, in King Cole’s Crochet Pumpkins, a single note after the instructions: “This pattern is written in UK terminology.”

So before you buy yarn, scroll to the pattern notes and the stitch key, not just the top of the page. If the pattern is a download, open it and look for a heading such as Abbreviations (UK) or a flag.

How to tell which terms a pattern uses

Look for single crochet. As Simply Yarn puts it, “UK terms don’t have a single crochet stitch, so if you see that, you know you’re working from a US pattern.” Half double crochet (hdc) is just as reliable a sign. The word skip is a weaker one, as the next section shows.

Double crochet and treble on their own prove nothing, because both names exist in both systems. If a pattern uses only dc and tr, check the stitch key definition. In UK terms, double crochet is worked with no yarn round before you insert the hook; in US terms, double crochet starts with a yarn over. Attic24’s stitch keys define each stitch this way, with the US name noted alongside.

Small signals help when nothing is stated. Measurements in centimetres, hook sizes in millimetres and UK yarn names point towards a UK writer, but they don’t settle the terms: all four Dora Does patterns give measurements in centimetres and are written in US terms.

Traps we found in the patterns

UK patterns don’t always say miss. Attic24’s Granny Stripe Blanket says “Miss two stitches”, but the UK section of Jera’s Jamboree’s Shell Bay blanket says “sk 2 ch” and “skip 2 ch”, the UK page of Sirdar’s Mushroom Pin Cushion says “skip 2 sts”, and the Blushing Daisies Blanket PDF on the Wool Warehouse blog has its abbreviations headed UK and still says skip throughout. Skip alone is not proof of a US pattern.

None of the 29 pages, or the four PDFs we opened, used yrh. Attic24’s stitch keys and the Mix and Match Mushrooms PDF are in UK terms and say yarn over. Simply Yarn’s abbreviations list, on the Simply Crochet magazine website, still includes yrh (yarn round hook), so it hasn’t gone away. Yoh is no clue either: the Craft Yarn Council gives it as the UK form, but Catherine Crochets’ Easy Moss Stitch, in US terms, uses it too.

Labels can be wrong. Cherry Heart’s Weekender hexie is headed UK Terms and its key defines a 2trcl (US 2dccl), but the rounds then work 2dccl and count three chains as a dc, which reads as US terms. If the heading and the stitches disagree, go by the turning chains: a UK double crochet row usually starts with one chain, not three.

Treble is the riskiest word. Handy Little Me’s Diana shawl spells it out in the key: “TR – Treble crochet (US Treble crochet NOT UK)”. A US treble is a UK double treble, a much taller stitch. Abbreviations aren’t fully standard either: Sunflower Cottage Crochet writes TC for treble crochet, and the UK triple treble appears as trtr at Jera’s Jamboree and the Craft Yarn Council and ttr at Simply Yarn. The Craft Yarn Council’s main abbreviation list, which uses US names, also has a trtr, one step above its double treble, so read trtr in the terms of the pattern it’s in.

Patterns sold worldwide on Ravelry and Etsy

Paid PDFs sold on Ravelry and Etsy reach buyers in both markets, and some designers who sell to UK crocheters write the free web version in one set of terms and put both in the PDF. Two in our sample do this. Coastal Crochet’s Seaside Stash Busting blanket is in UK terms on the blog, and the full pattern in her Ravelry and Etsy stores has UK and US terms. Catherine Crochets’ Easy Moss Stitch page is US on the web, and she says the PDF is available “in either US or UK crochet terms”. Coastal Crochet’s Changing Tides goes further: the free post has both, and the paid PDF “includes both UK and US terms and is 46 pages long”.

That means the version you’re reading may not match the version a friend bought. Check the terms on your copy, not the designer’s usual habit. Hook letters need the same care: Cherry Heart lists “4mm (G USA)”, but a G can also be a 4.25mm hook, which is why our hook size chart treats the millimetre figure as the one to trust.

Converting a pattern

If your pattern is in the terms you don’t usually use, paste it into the US and UK terms converter. It swaps whole stitch names and abbreviations in one pass and highlights every change. Read the highlighted words once before you start, because ordinary words such as skip will be converted too, and look for any stitch names that weren’t highlighted, such as trebles written out in full. Keep the original for stitch counts and charts.

Write the conversion for each stitch the pattern uses in the margin of your printout.

Common questions

Sources and scope

• attic24.co.uk/posts/solid-granny-square/
• attic24.co.uk/posts/granny-stripe-blanket/
• www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/marlowe-crochet-lap-blanket-pattern/
• www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/crochet-baby-blanket-pattern-shell-bay/
• www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/mila-cosy-stripe-crochet-blanket-pattern/
• www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/celtic-weave-crochet-scarf-pattern/
• catherinecrochets.com/easy-moss-stitch-crochet-blanket-a-relaxing-crochet-project-to-snuggle-up-with/
• sandra-cherryheart.blogspot.com/2015/02/weekender-blanket-hexie-pattern.html
• www.anniedesigncrochet.com/scrap-buster-cal-free-granny-crochet-blanket-pattern/
• www.anniedesigncrochet.com/beginner-triangle-crochet-shawl/
• www.anniedesigncrochet.com/crochet-christmas-stocking-pattern-free/
• www.anniedesigncrochet.com/floral-granny-square-blanket-free-crochet-pattern/
• doradoes.co.uk/portfolio/any-time-cardigan-free-crochet-pattern/
• doradoes.co.uk/portfolio/the-building-blocks-cushion/
• doradoes.co.uk/portfolio/a-classic-chunky-crochet-christmas-stocking-in-3-sizes/
• doradoes.co.uk/portfolio/beehive-beanie-free-crochet-hat-pattern/
• www.handylittleme.com/chunky-crochet-blanket-pattern/
• www.handylittleme.com/crochet-granny-triangle-shawl-pattern/
• www.handylittleme.com/diana-triangle-shawl-crochet-pattern/
• blog.bellacococrochet.com/granny-square-blanket-free-crochet-pattern/
• blog.bellacococrochet.com/how-to-crochet-a-beginner-friendly-beanie-in-8-different-sizes/
• simply-yarn.com/crochet-patterns/easy-free-granny-square-baby-blanket-crochet-pattern
• sunflowercottagecrochet.com/relaxing-waves-blanket-easy-and-free-crochet-blanket-pattern/
• coastalcrochet.com/2019/04/12/changing-tides-week-1/
• coastalcrochet.com/2018/01/19/this-is-exciting-im-hosting-a-crochet-along-part-1/
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/2026/08/28/free-pattern-blushing-daisies-blanket%e2%9c%a8/
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/2026/09/25/free-pattern-mix-and-match-mushrooms-%f0%9f%8d%84%e2%9c%a8/
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/2026/09/11/free-pattern-mushroom-pin-cushion-%f0%9f%8d%84%f0%9f%8d%84%f0%9f%9f%ab/
• www.kingcole.com/product/crochet-pumpkins/
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/BLushing-Daisies-7347.pdf
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Yarnsmiths-7275-Mix-and-Match-Mushrooms-and-Acorn-Faerie-House-downloadable-PDF.pdf
• blog.woolwarehouse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Mushroom_pin_cushion.pdf
• www.kingcole.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Varied-Size-Pumpkins-FOC-Pattern-copy.pdf
• www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/crochet-abbreviations
• simply-yarn.com/guides/how-to-crochet/simply-crochet-abbreviations-and-conversions
• doradoes.co.uk/about/
• web.archive.org/web/20250413023653/https://catherinecrochets.com/about-catherine-crochets/
• www.cherryheart.co.uk/2016/03/giant-granny-square.html

Sources checked 2 October 2026. Label facts come from the linked references; worked purchase examples and arithmetic are our own illustrations.