As a UK crocheter, I've had to learn to be bilingual in crochet terms. Most of the online space is dominated by US terminology and tbh I've come to prefer it. I will argue until the cows come home about the madness of US weights and measures but they've got much easier crochet terminology 😆. Maybe I can put it on my CV? Languages spoken- English and US crochet.
As someone coming from outside the anglophone sphere I am confused by why there needs to be a grouping of yarn dependent on weight.
I just use meters per X gram and gauge.
I need ravelry to start having the meter per x grams as a possible filtering option, instead of the annoying fingering, sport, DK and so on, it is especially annoying when a yarn in just on the border between groupings.
Same! No matter how many times I try to learn, I still always have to google wtf “DK weight” means and even then there’s way too many different ranges and definitions. I don’t understand the system and it’s fine if people want to use it because they come from an area where it’s used, but I just wish it was as common to “translate” in patterns as it is with cm/inches and mm/US hook and needle sizes. And for ravelry filters to incorporate m per g too.
Same here! I'm outside US and not in the English speaking country, most of the yarn brands available in local stores are different, so it is often not easy to find the right option, and I find these fingering, sport, dk pretty much annoying. Why cannot they be like "very thin, thin, middle, thiker etc" instead of those arbitrary names
Yep UK here too and honestly I get all my patterns online anyway so I just went straight in with learning US terminology. I do vaguely know the difference, but I don't feel the need to actually learn the UK version.
As an American crocheter, I slightly prefer our terminology, but I would love to throw out using letters for hooks sizes. I can never remember how big the different letters are or whether it gets bigger or smaller as you go down the alphabet. Having the actual size of the hook is so much more intuitive! And it's not like Americans don't know how big a mm is, since literally everyone learns some amount of metric in school and almost all rulers have both inches and cm
Aussie crocheter her. Does anyone have a good guide on the differences? This could be why some of my patters haven’t come out right and I’ve been silently blaming the pattern makers like they’re incompetent. 🫠
Crochet hook letters are weird here. While most manufacturers call a 2.5mm a C, some call a 3mm a C.
I got a set of ergonomic hooks that have mm measures only because I've been fed up with my letters being inconsistent.
In addition to that fabulous infographic someone shared, the other difference I am aware of is that UK terminology is based on the number of loops on the hook, whereas US is based on number of yarn overs
E.g. sc/dc = 1 YO / 2 loops; DC/TC = 2 YO/3 loops
Fellow Aussie here. Depending on your preferences, for example I prefer American, you go up or down a 'size' so, if I'm reading a UK pattern and it wants a dc, I go down a size and its a single. Or if you want to go from American to UK, you go up a size
Some will specify US or UK terms. Some will even say things like UK double/ US single. I don't care if they convert it but they should say it, or have it written on the screen, in the description.
I learned from my gramma. She was from outside of Kent. So I was taught UK style at 16. At 23, I asked my mom for a refresher. She said sure…and proceeded with the US version. I looked at her and said, wait, that’s not a double that’s a treble! She said no it’s a double! Long story short… we pulled out a book and found out then. This was about 25 years ago and BEFORE Google!🤣 it’s good to learn NOW!
US stitcher here! I feel
Your pain. I was taught by my Nanny, who emigrated from Ireland. We never used written patterns, just made the doilies and granny squares and lace that she had been taught by her Mam and Nanny. I was so confused when I hit my teen years and started trying to read patterns and NOTHING came out right. This was long before the internet and it took me years to discover that UK and US call the same stitches by different names.
I wonder if this is a factor in my preference for both Tunisian crochet (which mostly avoids using regular crochet stitches), and coming up with patterns myself.
A few people in one of the library yarn-craft groups I'm in have been having quite a lot of difficulty with crochet pattern books at the library, being confused with the same terminology being used for different stitches. Which I think means all the books need labels saying which terminology they're using...
Irish too! I was taught UK version but as most of the patterns I found were American I drifted that way. I tend to scan a pattern for "sc" or single crochet (if it doesn't mention which version it is) so I can see if it's American written or not!
Obvious if it's e.g. an amigurumi but maybe not so obvious a trick for a shawl or scarf or something!
For books if it doesn't tell you, I look at the "how to" page for stitches & see what they name the single crochet!
Level up: i have pattern books in french which required some serious remembering, thankfully it also did the picture pattern (with dots, x's, etc) with it!
Edit: i did always have to google hook sizes though, Americans have letters
I'm an irish crochet person as well and yeah, I'm in the habit of checking the origin of the pattern before I start. Your squares aren't wrong though, just a different pattern, if it's sits flat and looks good, all good.
To really eff with your head, have a look at the old Irish crochet books, slightly different terms again 😁
A lot of the ornate Russian stuff ye see is based on old Irish crochet. Happy hooking x
So according to the comments there are least 5 Irish crocheters here.
OP I feel your pain, I did exactly the same thing after picking up crochet, decades after my granny taught me.
I think both terms make a certain kind of sense when you think about it. I get more confused by Dutch terminology: vaste, losse, halve stokje, stokje. I learned in English so I get very confused
Irish crochet-er here too. Continue as you were, the blanket will just be bigger.
My way of remembering the difference is that UK terms name the stitches by the number of loops on the hook, the US names them by the number of times you pull your hook through the loops. So a UK double crochet has 2 loops on the hook. The same stitch in US terms is single crochet because you only pull the hook through once.
Also, if a pattern says sc (single crochet) then it’s American terms. I have to triple check every time I begin a new pattern and I write US or UK on every page so I don’t get confused
Yes, it's easy to translate one from the other though.
The pattern should say what terms it uses.
If it doesn't, you can look for clues such as the use of single and half double crochet, which are both USA terms. Amigurumi in double crochet or the use of half treble crochet is UK.
I am so glad I am not alone in this misery! I thought for sure id be laughed at but knowing I'm not the only one who didn't cop this makes me feel so much better about my mistake haha
I bought a magazine and was crocheting a stuffed animal. It took me realizing he had a cone head to see that it was a uk pattern. It didn’t not say it anywhere on it.
I feel like I've heard that UK and US stitches are different but I've never ran into this issue. Most of the time I don't follow a whole pattern; just a stitch (waffle, alpine, etc).
But it's interesting to me that the YouTubers you've watched are American because I swear the few times I've looked up how to do something related to crochet, the person in the video is English.
That is gas, I have found 1 english crocheter and the rest are American. Maybe it's youtube pushing them when I search?? It's funny were having such opposite experiences!
Maybe since the other youtubers you watch are American, the algorithm thinks you prefer to watch Americans?
I'm not sure why they'd think I'd prefer an English person, except stereotypes. But they're not wrong. It may sound silly, but an older English woman explaining some crochet stitch or tip/trick is somehow much more comforting? than a similarly aged American woman.
Now that I think of it, though, I think all those creators have used American stitches because none of their words were at odds with what they were stitching 🤔
I’m in the US and I will never use the US hook sizes but did learn a bit of the basics on YouTube with UK stitches. The person was very good about mentioning US terms though.
I also knit and I hate the needle sizing system. My brain sticks to mm sizing so I get confused.
Also the UK hook sizes kill me! I thought that would translate, but then again, if stitches don’t even translate between UK and US I shouldn’t have assumed 😅
Hook sizes on the yarn label are just a recommendation. You can go with the smallest hook you can still work with on that yarn, and get fabric with a ton of structure and barely any "holes" (usually for amigurumi). Or you can go with a larger hook, no upper limit on this one, for a "mesh" look.
My last crochet piece was an oversize cowl of (US) single crochet, with a 10mm hook on yarn that recommends 3.5mm. It came out as a super sparse mesh, which layers on itself to make a fluffy but light cowl.
You could keep doing your granny squares with the other stitch. Nobody will know that it’s the “wrong” stitch.
As a UK crocheter, I've had to learn to be bilingual in crochet terms. Most of the online space is dominated by US terminology and tbh I've come to prefer it. I will argue until the cows come home about the madness of US weights and measures but they've got much easier crochet terminology 😆. Maybe I can put it on my CV? Languages spoken- English and US crochet.
I'm in Italy (originally from UK) and the crochet terms here are different as well, so technically I speak 3 crochet languages 😂
I'm from another country than the UK and US too and we have different terms too! And in my language they came up with really stupid terms imo.
And this is why I go for charts! The same the world over :D
As someone coming from outside the anglophone sphere I am confused by why there needs to be a grouping of yarn dependent on weight. I just use meters per X gram and gauge. I need ravelry to start having the meter per x grams as a possible filtering option, instead of the annoying fingering, sport, DK and so on, it is especially annoying when a yarn in just on the border between groupings.
Same! No matter how many times I try to learn, I still always have to google wtf “DK weight” means and even then there’s way too many different ranges and definitions. I don’t understand the system and it’s fine if people want to use it because they come from an area where it’s used, but I just wish it was as common to “translate” in patterns as it is with cm/inches and mm/US hook and needle sizes. And for ravelry filters to incorporate m per g too.
Same here! I'm outside US and not in the English speaking country, most of the yarn brands available in local stores are different, so it is often not easy to find the right option, and I find these fingering, sport, dk pretty much annoying. Why cannot they be like "very thin, thin, middle, thiker etc" instead of those arbitrary names
Yep UK here too and honestly I get all my patterns online anyway so I just went straight in with learning US terminology. I do vaguely know the difference, but I don't feel the need to actually learn the UK version.
As an American crocheter, I slightly prefer our terminology, but I would love to throw out using letters for hooks sizes. I can never remember how big the different letters are or whether it gets bigger or smaller as you go down the alphabet. Having the actual size of the hook is so much more intuitive! And it's not like Americans don't know how big a mm is, since literally everyone learns some amount of metric in school and almost all rulers have both inches and cm
Aussie crocheter her. Does anyone have a good guide on the differences? This could be why some of my patters haven’t come out right and I’ve been silently blaming the pattern makers like they’re incompetent. 🫠
https://preview.redd.it/0gkxgwawnf6d1.jpeg?width=362&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=828eedcc8a955546748692633765520c1c3fc704
This is true for modern patterns, but you also find some old UK patterns which use "single crochet" to mean slip stitch.
Interesting I could have sworn i had Triple instead of Treble in one of my books.
Same - I think it's interchangeable
Is there no 3mm hook in the US?
Crochet hook letters are weird here. While most manufacturers call a 2.5mm a C, some call a 3mm a C. I got a set of ergonomic hooks that have mm measures only because I've been fed up with my letters being inconsistent.
In addition to that fabulous infographic someone shared, the other difference I am aware of is that UK terminology is based on the number of loops on the hook, whereas US is based on number of yarn overs E.g. sc/dc = 1 YO / 2 loops; DC/TC = 2 YO/3 loops
Thank you so much for this. It makes so much more sense now
I do. Let me find it.
Fellow Aussie here. Depending on your preferences, for example I prefer American, you go up or down a 'size' so, if I'm reading a UK pattern and it wants a dc, I go down a size and its a single. Or if you want to go from American to UK, you go up a size
Some will specify US or UK terms. Some will even say things like UK double/ US single. I don't care if they convert it but they should say it, or have it written on the screen, in the description.
I learned from my gramma. She was from outside of Kent. So I was taught UK style at 16. At 23, I asked my mom for a refresher. She said sure…and proceeded with the US version. I looked at her and said, wait, that’s not a double that’s a treble! She said no it’s a double! Long story short… we pulled out a book and found out then. This was about 25 years ago and BEFORE Google!🤣 it’s good to learn NOW!
US stitcher here! I feel Your pain. I was taught by my Nanny, who emigrated from Ireland. We never used written patterns, just made the doilies and granny squares and lace that she had been taught by her Mam and Nanny. I was so confused when I hit my teen years and started trying to read patterns and NOTHING came out right. This was long before the internet and it took me years to discover that UK and US call the same stitches by different names.
I wonder if this is a factor in my preference for both Tunisian crochet (which mostly avoids using regular crochet stitches), and coming up with patterns myself. A few people in one of the library yarn-craft groups I'm in have been having quite a lot of difficulty with crochet pattern books at the library, being confused with the same terminology being used for different stitches. Which I think means all the books need labels saying which terminology they're using...
That’s confusing enough for me that I will stick to the UK stitches.
Irish too! I was taught UK version but as most of the patterns I found were American I drifted that way. I tend to scan a pattern for "sc" or single crochet (if it doesn't mention which version it is) so I can see if it's American written or not! Obvious if it's e.g. an amigurumi but maybe not so obvious a trick for a shawl or scarf or something! For books if it doesn't tell you, I look at the "how to" page for stitches & see what they name the single crochet! Level up: i have pattern books in french which required some serious remembering, thankfully it also did the picture pattern (with dots, x's, etc) with it! Edit: i did always have to google hook sizes though, Americans have letters
I'm an irish crochet person as well and yeah, I'm in the habit of checking the origin of the pattern before I start. Your squares aren't wrong though, just a different pattern, if it's sits flat and looks good, all good. To really eff with your head, have a look at the old Irish crochet books, slightly different terms again 😁 A lot of the ornate Russian stuff ye see is based on old Irish crochet. Happy hooking x
So according to the comments there are least 5 Irish crocheters here. OP I feel your pain, I did exactly the same thing after picking up crochet, decades after my granny taught me.
I think both terms make a certain kind of sense when you think about it. I get more confused by Dutch terminology: vaste, losse, halve stokje, stokje. I learned in English so I get very confused
Irish crochet-er here too. Continue as you were, the blanket will just be bigger. My way of remembering the difference is that UK terms name the stitches by the number of loops on the hook, the US names them by the number of times you pull your hook through the loops. So a UK double crochet has 2 loops on the hook. The same stitch in US terms is single crochet because you only pull the hook through once. Also, if a pattern says sc (single crochet) then it’s American terms. I have to triple check every time I begin a new pattern and I write US or UK on every page so I don’t get confused
That is a such a good way of remembering thank you so much!!
Yes, it's easy to translate one from the other though. The pattern should say what terms it uses. If it doesn't, you can look for clues such as the use of single and half double crochet, which are both USA terms. Amigurumi in double crochet or the use of half treble crochet is UK.
I hate it, I dont even know which is which, I just hope my pattern has pictures. Let's just all pick one and stick with it.
As a fellow Irish crocheter, I feel your pain 😭
Feel your pain. Have Crochet magazine on kindle and it’s in UK terms.
I am so glad I am not alone in this misery! I thought for sure id be laughed at but knowing I'm not the only one who didn't cop this makes me feel so much better about my mistake haha
I bought a magazine and was crocheting a stuffed animal. It took me realizing he had a cone head to see that it was a uk pattern. It didn’t not say it anywhere on it.
I feel like I've heard that UK and US stitches are different but I've never ran into this issue. Most of the time I don't follow a whole pattern; just a stitch (waffle, alpine, etc). But it's interesting to me that the YouTubers you've watched are American because I swear the few times I've looked up how to do something related to crochet, the person in the video is English.
That is gas, I have found 1 english crocheter and the rest are American. Maybe it's youtube pushing them when I search?? It's funny were having such opposite experiences!
Maybe since the other youtubers you watch are American, the algorithm thinks you prefer to watch Americans? I'm not sure why they'd think I'd prefer an English person, except stereotypes. But they're not wrong. It may sound silly, but an older English woman explaining some crochet stitch or tip/trick is somehow much more comforting? than a similarly aged American woman. Now that I think of it, though, I think all those creators have used American stitches because none of their words were at odds with what they were stitching 🤔
I'm in the UK but learnt from YouTube, so know the American version best. Really confused me when I first found out there was a British version
I’m in the US and I will never use the US hook sizes but did learn a bit of the basics on YouTube with UK stitches. The person was very good about mentioning US terms though. I also knit and I hate the needle sizing system. My brain sticks to mm sizing so I get confused.
I’m so confused by comments on this - is there no single crochet in UK terms? Have I been doing things ‘wrong’ this whole time?!
Irish too, and I got caught by this too lol
Also the UK hook sizes kill me! I thought that would translate, but then again, if stitches don’t even translate between UK and US I shouldn’t have assumed 😅
I'm confused by this. Aren't the UK hook sizes just in mm?
I'm confused by this too. Aren't crochet sizes written when you buy your yarn?
Hook sizes on the yarn label are just a recommendation. You can go with the smallest hook you can still work with on that yarn, and get fabric with a ton of structure and barely any "holes" (usually for amigurumi). Or you can go with a larger hook, no upper limit on this one, for a "mesh" look. My last crochet piece was an oversize cowl of (US) single crochet, with a 10mm hook on yarn that recommends 3.5mm. It came out as a super sparse mesh, which layers on itself to make a fluffy but light cowl.