Stacked Single Crochet (for gapless Double Crochet Row ends)

Looking for ways to make your double crochet row ends more tidy? Or are you hoping to fine-tune your crochet so that the border is easier to start when you get there? Maybe you don’t like the way a chain that counts as a stitch looks? It’s all in the how you make that very first double crochet of the row. Learn how to substitute with a Stacked Single Crochet using this tutorial!

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How to Make a Stacked Single Crochet

One of my all-time favorite tips for keeping straight edges in crochet? Chaining fewer than “normal” to start a new row. Traditionally, most crocheters are taught to chain 3 to start a new row of double crochet. I don’t chain 3 when I start mine, and you can read all about that here. But after being a long-time user of that tip, I have discovered a different technique entirely that I just know you’re going to love as much as I do… and for multiple reasons!

I’ve been practicing and using the Stacked Single Crochet as a substitute for the first stitch in a row double crochet stitches while I’ve been working on some new designs that are coming out this summer – including the new Lacy Leaf Swimsuit Coverup!

There are multiple things about this method that I like. Of course I like the clean, chain-less edge it creates but ALSO because of how easy it is to evenly place your border stitches while using this method. It is also more stable than a simple chain that counts as a stitch.

Substituting the Stacked Single Crochet for the first stitch in a Double Crochet row takes the anxiety out of starting that first row of edging. See what I mean in the video below.

What about the border? The stitch placement for the first row of a border is something that just takes practice. Too many stitches and the blanket will ripple, too few stitches and it will pull or pucker. It’s mostly about the stitch placement of that first row of border – the one that is worked into the row ends instead of the top/bottom of the stitch. With this method we get a clean edge into which we crochet the edging. Beautiful!

When to use this technique:

I use this technique when working double crochet stitches worked in flat rows back and forth.

I also use this technique when working double crochet stitches worked in rounds joined and turned. (Like in this fun Flower Hexagon pattern)

If, for example, there is a cain-5 that counts as a (dc + ch-2) in a pattern, I may start with a Stacked Single Crochet and a chain-2 and see how that looks instead. If you do a few stitches and you don’t like the way it looks, it’s only a few stitches to rip out. Worth a shot!

When to NOT use this technique:

I will not use this method when the new row starts with a decrease, such as a dc2tog. I still do my chain-2 and turn and then do the double crochet decrease using those first two stitches.

To make the Stacked Single Crochet (Double Crochet substitute):

Finish your current row of stitches.

Do NOT chain, but turn your work so that the yarn is coming out of the back of the fabric. (See what I mean in the video below).

Single crochet in the very first stitch.

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Single crochet into the left leg of the single crochet you just made.

Stacked Single Crochet made!

When you get back to that stitch in subsequent rows, you’ll crochet into the top of the stitch as normal.

Helpful tips:

I have noticed that it can be easy for that top single crochet on the stacked single crochet stitch to be a bit small. Nothing wrong with that, but you might place a stitch marker in it so that you know it is the top of that stitch – at least until you get familiar with the look of it.

If you’re not sure if this technique will work as a substitute for Double Crochet in your next project… try it! It’s just a couple of stitches and if you don’t like the way it looks in a particular pattern or using a certain yarn, you can easily rip it out.