Crochet guide

How to read a crochet pattern: repeats, brackets and stitch counts

Updated October 5, 2026 by Khokhar Sab

To read a crochet pattern, check the materials, gauge and notes first, then look up each abbreviation in the key. Work one row or round at a time. An asterisk marks the start of a repeat, brackets group steps you work a set number of times, and parentheses show stitches worked into one stitch. The number in parentheses at the end of a line is your stitch count.

The parts of a crochet pattern

Sarah Maker and the Craft Yarn Council describe much the same layout. The instructions come last, after the information you need before you pick up a hook.

• Skill level. The Craft Yarn Council uses four levels. Basic projects use basic stitches with simple increases and decreases. Easy, Intermediate and Complex add stitch patterns, color work and shaping in growing amounts.
• Materials. The yarn, with its weight and how many skeins, plus the hook size and notions such as stitch markers and a tapestry needle. The crochet hook size chart converts US letters to millimeters.
• Finished size. The measurements of the finished piece. Patterns with several sizes list the smallest first and the others in parentheses, and every number after that follows the same order.
• Gauge. How many stitches and rows fit in 4 inches, such as 12 dc and 7 rounds. If yours differs, the piece comes out a different size. The guide to measuring gauge shows how to check.
• Abbreviations key. The short forms the pattern uses. Designers sometimes invent their own for special stitches, so read this list even if you know the basics.
• Notes. Rules that apply to the whole pattern: US or UK terms, whether the turning chain counts as a stitch, how rounds are joined. Heart Hook Home tells readers to read the notes fully before starting.
• Instructions. Numbered rows for flat pieces or rounds for pieces worked in a circle or tube, such as hats.

The abbreviations you need for this guide

The examples below use only these. The crochet abbreviations guide has the full list.

How to read a crochet pattern line by line

Each row or round is one sentence in shorthand. Commas separate steps, and semicolons often split a line into larger chunks. Read the whole line before you start it, as Crochet 365 Knit Too suggests, so you know where the repeat begins and ends.

Asterisks: repeat from *

An asterisk marks where a repeat starts. The Craft Yarn Council explains that the steps after the asterisk are repeated, in order, to the end of the row. "Rep from * across" means keep going to the end of a row. "Rep from * around" means the same thing in a round. Some lines give a number instead, such as "rep from * 4 more times". Sarah Maker notes that some patterns use double asterisks (**) to mark a second repeat section.

Brackets: work this group a set number of times

Square brackets hold a sequence of steps, and the number right after the closing bracket says how many times to work it. In "[sc in next st, ch 1] 5 times", you work the single crochet and the chain, then do the pair four more times. Heart Hook Home points out that the steps in brackets move along the row. They don't all go into the same stitch.

Parentheses: stitches in one place, or a count

Parentheses do three jobs, according to Heart Hook Home. In the middle of a line, they group stitches worked into one stitch or space: "(sc, ch 1, sc) in next st" puts all three into a single stitch. At the start of a pattern, they hold the larger sizes. At the end of a line, they give the stitch count.

The stitch count at the end of a line

A number in parentheses at the end, such as "(24 dc)", is how many stitches you should have when the row or round is done. It tells you nothing new to do. It is a check. Count your stitches and compare before moving on.

A real hat crown pattern, decoded

Here is a crown written out from the crochet hat size calculator. It fits an adult medium head of 22 inches, with the standard fit's negative ease, at a gauge of 12 dc and 7 rounds to 4 inches. The calculator says to start with 12 dc and increase to 60 stitches over 5 rounds. In pattern form:

Notes: Worked in joined rounds with the right side facing. The ch 2 at the start of each round does not count as a stitch. Join each round with a sl st to the first dc.

Fasten off after round 16, when the hat is about 9 inches from crown to edge.

Decoding each line

Round 1 puts 12 double crochets into a magic ring. The guide to crocheting in the round shows how to make the ring. The count (12 dc) is simply the number you worked.

Round 2 says "2 dc in each st around". Every one of the 12 stitches gets two, so you end with 24.

Round 3 onward uses an asterisk repeat. In round 3, the part after the * is "dc in next st, 2 dc in next st". That repeat uses 2 stitches of the round below and makes 3 new ones. The previous round had 24 stitches, so the repeat fits 12 times, and 12 × 3 = 36. Each later round adds one plain dc to the repeat, so the increases spread out and the circle stays flat.

The same sum gives every count in the crown:

Every round adds 12 stitches, one per repeat. If your count comes out different, the repeat was worked the wrong number of times or a stitch was missed.

Round 5 could also be written with brackets: "Ch 2, [dc in next 3 sts, 2 dc in next st] 12 times; join. (60 dc)". It means exactly the same as the asterisk version. Patterns pick whichever style their designer prefers.

Rounds 6 to 16 have no increases. One dc goes in each stitch, so the count stays at 60. The Craft Yarn Council and Crochet 365 Knit Too call this working even.

Turning chains and where a round starts

Whether the starting chain counts as a stitch changes every count in a pattern. In the crown above, the ch 2 doesn't count, so the first dc goes into the same stitch as the join. Other patterns say "ch 3 (counts as dc)", and then you skip that first stitch. The notes should say which rule applies. The turning chains guide covers both and how they change your counts.

US and UK crochet terms

The same names mean different stitches in the two systems. The Craft Yarn Council lists US single crochet as UK double crochet, US half double as UK half treble, and US double crochet as UK treble. Heart Hook Home adds that US "skip" is UK "miss". A pattern that mentions trebles but never single crochet is probably in UK terms. Check the notes before you start. The abbreviations guide has the full conversion.

Reading crochet charts and symbols

A chart, or stitch diagram, draws each stitch as a symbol. Simply Yarn notes that UK and US terms differ but the symbols are the same in both. The Craft Yarn Council publishes the standard set, and it says to check the pattern key for any others.

• Chain: an oval.
• Slip stitch: a small filled dot.
• Single crochet: an X or a plus sign. The Craft Yarn Council says both are common.
• Half double crochet: a T, as the Craft Yarn Council symbol chart shows.
• Double crochet: a T with one diagonal line across the stem, one line for each yarn over, as Sigoni Macaroni explains.
• Treble crochet: a T with two diagonal lines.

The taller the symbol, the taller the stitch. Rows on a chart start at the bottom. Dummies explains that right-side rows have their number on the right and read from right to left, and wrong-side rows read from left to right. Rounds start in the center and read counterclockwise without turning. Simply Yarn and Dummies both say left-handed crocheters work the same chart in the opposite direction.

On a chart of the hat crown above, round 1 would show 12 T symbols with one slash, all standing on the center ring. Each later round would show pairs of symbols sharing a base wherever "2 dc in next st" falls.

How to check your stitch count

1. Mark the first stitch. Crochet 365 Knit Too suggests marking the start of each round with scrap yarn. A stitch marker works too.
2. Count at the end of every row or round. Compare with the number in parentheses. Heart Hook Home recommends counting after every row.
3. Count in repeats. In round 4 of the crown, each repeat makes 4 stitches. Counting 12 groups of 4 is quicker than counting 48 single stitches.
4. Check the shape too. For a flat crown, lay it down. The calculator's crown check says this one should be about 6.4 inches across, which is the 20 inch hat circumference divided by π.
5. Fix it now. If the count is off, pull back to the last round that was right. Crochet 365 Knit Too suggests assuming the mistake is yours before blaming the pattern. Published patterns do have errors, though, so look for corrections from the designer.

A row counter keeps track of which round you are on, so the count you check is the right one. The guide to counting rows helps when you lose your place.

Tips before your first pattern

• Pick a pattern marked Basic or Easy. A hat or a dishcloth uses a short list of stitches.
• Make the gauge swatch. Sarah Maker's example gauge is 12 sts and 7.5 rows per 4 inches, close to the crown above.
• Print the pattern or copy it, and tick off each row as you finish it. Crochet 365 Knit Too suggests writing on your copy.
• Watch the video if the pattern has one. Heart Hook Home suggests using a pattern's video tutorial alongside the written steps.

Sources and further reading

The Craft Yarn Council's How to Read a Crochet Pattern by Jean Leinhauser defines asterisks, brackets and parentheses. Its crochet chart symbols page shows the standard symbols, and its abbreviations list and project levels pages give the US and UK terms and skill levels. Heart Hook Home's how to read a crochet pattern explains the three uses of parentheses. Sarah Maker walks through a full pattern in How to Read Crochet Patterns for Beginners. Dummies covers chart direction in How to Follow a Stitch Diagram in Crochet.

Video tutorial

"How To Read A Basic Crochet Pattern" by Crochet With Tiffany, on YouTube. The video loads only when you press play.