How to Turn Crochet (Turning Chains Explained)
Turning your work is one of the first things you do in crochet, at the end of every row, yet it causes a surprising amount of confusion for beginners. Turning is simple once you understand the turning chain, which lifts your work up to the right height for the next row. Get it right and your edges stay neat and even. This guide explains how to turn crochet and how tall your turning chain should be for each stitch. It is part of the essential crochet techniques.
What Does Turning Mean?
When you crochet in rows, you work across to the end of a row, then turn your work over so you can crochet back across in the other direction. Turning simply means flipping the whole piece over, usually from right to left like turning a page, so the opposite side now faces you. This lets you keep working back and forth to build flat fabric. Before you turn, or just after, you make a turning chain, which is the part that trips people up, so let us look at that next.
What Is a Turning Chain?
A turning chain is one or more chain stitches worked at the start of a new row to bring your yarn up to the height of the stitches you are about to make. Without it, the first stitch of the row would be pulled down and the edge would be uneven. The taller the stitch, the taller the turning chain needs to be, because taller stitches start from a higher point. The turning chain is what keeps your rows level and your edges tidy, so it is worth understanding well.
How Tall Should the Turning Chain Be?
Each stitch height has its own turning chain. Single crochet usually turns with one chain, half double crochet with two, double crochet with three, and treble crochet with four. A simple way to remember it is that the number of chains roughly matches how many yarn overs and pull throughs the stitch has. Your pattern will always tell you how many chains to use, but knowing the usual numbers helps you understand what is happening and spot a mistake. Using the wrong height makes the edge pull in or gap.
Step by Step: How to Turn
Step one: work across to the end of your row. Step two: make your turning chain, chaining the right number for your stitch, for example three chains for double crochet. Step three: turn the whole piece over from right to left, flipping it like a page, so the other side now faces you and the yarn is at the right edge to start a new row. Step four: begin the next row, working into the stitches across. Whether your first stitch goes into the very first stitch or the second depends on whether the turning chain counts as a stitch, which we cover next.
Does the Turning Chain Count as a Stitch?
This is the part that causes the most trouble. For single crochet, the turning chain usually does not count as a stitch, so you work your first single crochet into the very first stitch. For double crochet and taller stitches, the turning chain often does count as the first stitch, so you skip the first actual stitch and work into the second. Because this varies, always read your pattern's rule, as explained in how to read a crochet pattern, and handle it the same way on every row to keep your stitch count and edges even.
Common Turning Mistakes
The most common mistakes are using a turning chain of the wrong height, and handling it inconsistently, so it counts as a stitch on some rows but not others. Both cause slanting or gapping edges. Working into or skipping the turning chain at the end of the row incorrectly also adds or loses stitches. Count your stitches each row to catch these, and if your edges are drifting, the guide to why are my crochet edges not straight will help you fix them.
Turning With Confidence
Turning is easy once you know the turning chain: work across, chain the right number for your stitch, flip the work over, and start the next row, handling the turning chain the same way every time. With that habit, your rows stay level and your edges stay neat. To keep your work oriented correctly, learn how to tell the right side of crochet, and explore more foundational skills in the crochet basics.