Tutorial: Front/Back Post Double Crochet

There's this group in Facebook that hosts a crochet-along event every month, and this month's project is a Twisty Cabled Beanie (original pattern here). A special stitch (front post double crochet or fpdc) is used in this pattern, and I'm going to give you a visual step-by-step guide on how to make it.

Assuming that you already have a working row (not a base row):

Step 1: Loop yarn over hook

Step 2: Insert hook (from front) on the side of the stitch you are currently working on. Move hook around the back of the stitch and out the other side.

Step 3: Yarn over hook and pull loop through.

Step 4: Proceed as how you work on a dc (yarn over, pull two times).

If you wish to make it a front post treble crochet (fptr), instead of working on a dc, just work it as a tr. Same concept applies for back post double crochet (bpdc).

Here's a look of the stitch along side a regular double crochet.

Top: back view of an fpdc. Bottom: front view of an fpdc.

An instruction on how to make an fptr, fpdc, and bpdc are included in the pattern linked at the beginning of this post. When I first read it, I got confused and did it wrong. That is why I want to provide this visual step-by-step guide so you won't get confused like I did.

Tutorial: Modified Fan Stitch

It's been a while since my last post, been busy with work and the family. I also wanted to finish a crochet project first before I make another post.

This is what I've been working on for the past three weeks. It's a cowl. It's a shrug. It's a skirt. In other words, you can wear it anyway you like.

I won't dive into the pattern in this post. This post is a tutorial on the stitch I used for this project - a modified fan stitch.

Modified Fan Stitch (mfs):

Base row (chain stitches) should be in multiples of 7 plus 2.
Important note: This is the count when you're not going to round or connect your base chain. If you intend to make it in a round, you need to make it in multiples of 7 minus 1.

One cluster of this stitch is: dc, skip 2 st, 5 dc, sk 2 st, dc. At the very beginning, the first dc in the cluster is the first 3 chains from the hook. So you actually start at the 6th chain with 5dc.

An up close look on the stitch.

For my multi-purpose cowl/shrug/skirt, I worked on 210 chains in a round (update: make yours in multiples of 7 minus 1, I made a mistake in making my project). I just sc'd through all the chain and used the mfs on the succeeding rows.

Simple, right?

Tutorial - Basic Tunisian Stitch

I've always been curious about the Tunisian crochet. I've seen it in almost all of the crochet books I bought, but never really tried learning it. My brush-off actually paid off, because as it turns out, you need a special hook to work on this stitch. Now that I have the hook needed to work on a Tunisian crochet, I guess I have no more excuse not to learn it.

So what is a Tunisian crochet? Tunisian crochet is a mixture of crochet and knitting, kind of like knitting without the actual knitting.

Basic Tunisian Stitch

Before I show you how to make a basic Tunisian stitch, one important thing you have to remember is: work on the stitches loosely.

Step 1:

Make any length of chain. For my sample, I made 15 chains.

Step 2:

Insert hook on the second chain, yarn over hook and pull through the loop. Keep the loop on the hook. [Insert hook on next chain, yarn over hook and pull through, keep the loop on the hook] *.  Repeat * until the end. You should have the same number of loops on your hook as the length of your chain. Do not turn.

Step 3:

Working from left to right, yarn over hook and pull through first loop on the hook.

[Yarn over hook and pull through 2 loops on hook] *. Repeat * until the end of the row. You'll only have the working loop left on the hook. Do not turn.

Step 4:

Working from right to left, skipping the first vertical loop in front of the fabric, [insert hook (right to left, under) on the next vertical loop, yarn over hook and pull through, keeping loop on hook] *. Repeat * until the end.

You should have the same number of loops on your hook as the length of your chain. Do not turn.

Step 5:

Repeat step 3.

Step 6:

Repeat steps 4 to 5 to work on a row.


To "close" the Tunisian stitch, I slip stitched starting on the second vertical loop until the end.


A handy guide for Tunisian crochet can be found on this link.