Increase and Decrease Crochet Stitches
After you have mastered the beginner crochet stitches, the next step is learning how to crochet increase and decrease stitches. These stitches are used to shape crochet projects. Increases add stitches to each row to make the rows longer. Crochet decreases remove stitches to shorten the rows.
Crochet Increase
Increasing in crochet is used to increase the project’s width by adding more stitches in the current row than in the previous row.
To increase simple crochet two or more stitches into the same stitch. It doesn’t matter what stitch you are using; all beginner stitches increase the same way.
There is no specific abbreviation for crochet increases. I have seen patterns that write (inc), but the more common way of writing an increase is (2sc in the next st).
Crochet Decrease
Crochet decreases make the current row shorter than the previous row.
Abbreviation in a pattern may be written as “dec,” but more often, it is written as “crochet two together.”
sc2tog – Single crochet two together
hdc2tog – Half double crochet two together
dc2tog – Double crochet two together
tr2tog – Treble crochet two together
Decreases are done by crocheting two stitches side by side and joining them at the top to become one stitch.
Next Lesson – Crocheting in the Round
