Crochet Basics: Waistcoat Stitch + Tips

Crochet is an art form, a passion, a therapy, whatever you want to call it, to me it is the most fun you can have with yarn. So, let’s continue to create yarn magic, one stitch at a time! Learning new crochet stitch is like a turning new page of the book of your crochet life. In this chapter, we are going to learn how to crochet Waistcoat stitch. Today’s stitch is the Waistcoat Stitch. This is a great stitch if you like the look of knitted items, but aren’t keen on knitting itself. The waistcoat stitch, or knit stitch, uses a modified single crochet stitch to capture the style of knit stockinette stitches. It’s my go to stitch for crochet colorwork, and I think soon it’ll be one of your favorites too! This knit look stitch great for making baskets, tots bags, gloves, hats and more cozy and sturdy projects.

The best part about this stitch, is that you don’t need to know anything beyond single crochet! That’s right, you only need to know how to do the first stitch you learn after the chain stitch. The waistcoat stitch takes the single crochet stitch, and instead of working through the normal loops, you go through the middle of the post of the stitch. You then do the normal single crochet stitch through the post of the stitch, and this simple modification changes the stitch to look like it’s knit. I’ll show you how to do it all in the tutorial below!

Instructions

1. Chain any number of chains to start.

2. Single crochet in the second chain from the hook and in each chain to end.

3. Chain one, turn your work.

4. Single crochet in the very first stitch. Going through the post of the next single crochet, make a single crochet. Continue making single crochets going through the posts of the single crochets from the previous row.

When you reach the end of the row, do a regular single crochet in the last remaining stitch. (Being careful not to add an extra stitch to your count!) Continue adding rows until you reach desired height.

The knit stitch is such a sturdy stitch. Not only are we using one of the shortest crochet stitches available, the single crochet, but we are also going through the posts to further anchor them! Now that’s a strong stitch!

Tips for the Waistcoat Stitch

• The waistcoat stitch tends to be very tight. If you find that your tension is too tight, go up a hook size, and it will be a lot easier to get your hook through the v of each stitch.
• Remember, the looser the better when doing the waistcoat stitch! Hold your yarn a little looser and don’t pull your stitches closed super tight when working them.
• When working flat, the stitch will look different on both sides (right and wrong). On the right side, you work through the v of the stitch. On the wrong side, the v’s will be upside down, so you work through the upside down v’s of each stitch. You can also check on the right side if you’re going through the right portion of the stitch on the wrong side. You’ll be able to tell if it’s going through the v of the stitch on the front.