This foundation single crochet tutorial is broken down by each teeny-tiny step and includes a quick video demonstration at the end.  When I first attempted to learn this technique from a magazine, I had pretty good illustrations to go by, but I was still totally confused by the whole thing.  It took me 3 or 4 tries over a couple of months to even feel confident that I was doing this correctly.

Hopefully with photos of each step, you'll be able to learn this a little easier than I did.  Foundation single crochet is a wonderful technique.  Any time you start with a chain and a row of single crochet on top of the chain, you can use this technique, and that's the bulk of the crochet patterns out there!

For using a foundation single crochet row in the middle of your crochet piece, like the handles of my handbag or the armholes in a sweater, check out my foundation single crochet supplement.

Foundation crochet stitches were developed by (or popularized by - I haven't actually seen his book, so I don't know if he came up with this himself or if he discovered the technique from another source) Bill Elmore.  There is foundation single crochet, foundation double crochet, foundation triple crochet, etc ... and the idea is that you're making the initial chain row and the single (or double or triple) crochet row at the same time.

The reasons foundation stitches awesome are:

• You won't have to rip everything out and start again if you miscounted your initial chain row.


• You won't have a loose, floppy chain row dangling off your first row of single crochet.


• You won't have a tight, constricting chain row buckling your first row of single crochet.


• You can use foundation crochet to determine the size of a row when it's not set because the stitches are true-to-size unlike a chain, which is impossible to use as a row-length gauge.


• You can easily attach crochet stitches to the top and bottom of the foundation row because the top and bottom look identical.

Basic Instructions

First Stitch

• Chain two
• Insert hook under top two strands of first chain
• Yarn over, pull through the two strands of the first chain (link)
• Yarn over, pull through one loop (chain part)
• Yarn over, pull through two loops (single crochet part)

Second (And All Other) Stitch(es)

• Insert hook in chain part of previous stitch under left and back strands of chain part
• Yarn over, pull through the two strands of the previous chain (link)
• Yarn over, pull through one loop (chain part)
• Yarn over, pull through two loops (single crochet part)
• repeat to end

Detailed instructions (text is above its corresponding photo)

FIRST STITCH

1.  Chain two.  The chain is an upside down teardrop shape.  I will refer to the sides of the upside down teardrop as the right and left strand of the chain and collectively as the top strands of the chain.


2. This is the back of the chain.  I will refer to the vertical piece of yarn behind the upside down teardrop as the back strand of the chain.


3. This is showing you where you will insert your hook from the right to the left between the top strands of the chain and the bottom strand of the chain.


4. Here the hook has been inserted from right to left between the top strands of the chain and the bottom strand of the chain.


5. The same as photo 4 except that I'm holding the piece.


6. Yarn over.


7. Pull yarn through the first chain strands.  You will now have two loops on your hook.  This links this stitch to the initial chain.


8. Same as photo 7, but a different angle.


9. Yarn over.


10. Pull through one loop.  This is the chain part of the foundation single crochet.  I've marked the left, right, and back strand of the chain.  Be sure to make the chain part of your fsc stitches loosely.  If it's too tight, your row will start to curve in on itself.  See evidence here.


11. Insert a stitch marker in the chain part so you separate the left and back strand from the right strand.  When you start the next foundation single crochet stitch, this is where you will insert your hook to link the stitches.  This marker will also be helpful if you are going to connect your foundation single crochet row into a loop.


12. Same as photo 11 except turned a little so you can see the back strand of the chain part of this foundation single crochet.


13. Yarn over.


14. Pull through two loops.  This is the single crochet part of the foundation single crochet.  The first foundation single crochet stitch is now complete.


15. Insert a stitch marker under the top two strands of the single crochet part of the foundation single crochet to mark the first stitch.  This marker is helpful because you can easily find the first stitch when counting the stitches in your row.  This marker will also be helpful if you are going to connect your foundation single crochet row into a loop.


SECOND STITCH

16. Insert hook into the chain part of the previous foundation single crochet so the left strand and back strand are on the left and the right strand is on the right.  This is the place where we put the stitch marker in photo 11.


17. Yarn over.


18. Pull yarn through the chain strands.  You will now have two loops on your hook.  This links this stitch to the previous stitch.


19. Yarn over.


20. Pull through one loop.  This is the chain part of the foundation single crochet.  I've marked the left, right, and back strand of the chain.


21. Insert a stitch marker in the chain part so you separate the left and back strand from the right strand.  When you start the next foundation single crochet stitch, this is where you will insert your hook to link the stitches.


22. Yarn over.


23. Pull through two loops.  This is the single crochet part of the foundation single crochet.  The second foundation single crochet stitch is now complete.


THIRD STITCH

24. Insert hook into the chain part of the previous foundation single crochet so the left strand and back strand are on the left and the right strand is on the right.  This is the place where we put the stitch marker in photo 21.


25. Yarn over.


26. Pull yarn through the chain strands.  You will now have two loops on your hook.  This links this stitch to the previous stitch.


27. Yarn over.


28. Pull through one loop.  This is the chain part of the foundation single crochet.  If you think it would be helpful, move the stitch marker from the chain part of the second foundation single crochet and insert it here like in photo 21 so you will know where to insert your hook for the next stitch.  I prefer to grab the chain, like I show in the next photo.


29. After I make the chain part of of a foundation single crochet, I like to grab it.  Grabbing the chain part give me leverage for making the single crochet part of the stitch *and* it helps me find the place where I'll be inserting my hook when I start the next foundation single crochet stitch.


30. Yarn over.


31. Pull through two loops.  This is the single crochet part of the foundation single crochet.  The third foundation single crochet stitch is now complete.


32. Here I am inserting my hook into the chain part of the third foundation single crochet stitch.  These are the strands that I grabbed in photo 29.  This is the first step of stitch 4.

Repeat from photo 24 to 31 until the end of your row.

Movie Time!

I've been wanting to make a tutorial video forever.  Months ago I had Andrew write a theme song for me, and I've been dreaming of playing it during a funny, over-the-top opening montage of me being ridiculously crafty.  But I'm going to take this in baby steps, so my first video sorta sucks, but it fulfills it's purpose.  Much like the photos in my first post.

In the video I wanted to show you how you can get in a rhythm while doing foundation single crochet, and how your work will flow down from your hook.  It always helps me to actually see something being done, so I bet many of you would benefit from it, too.



As always, I'd love any feedback (good or bad) you have about this tutorial.

I'm preparing to write a foundation single crochet tutorial for the blog.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with foundation single crochet, it's the act of creating a row of chain and single crochet all at once to use as a foundation for more rows.  It replaces the initial chain that starts most projects.

The question I wanted to answer before I started the tutorial is which strands to go under on the initial foundation single crochet.  You start with two chain stitches, then you put your hook back into the first chain to start the first foundation single crochet.

In my little diagram above, I labeled the three strands of the chain A (right), B (back), and C (left).  I made samples that had me putting my hook behind AB, A, C, and AC*.

After making all the samples of foundation single crochet, I also made samples starting with a chain and single crocheting into the top and another where I single crocheted into the bottom strand of the chain (which is what I normally do) .

I compared my foundation single crochet samples with the traditional chain and single crochet samples.  The blue sample (C) matched the white sample (chain with single crochet in the bottom strand) most closely when viewed from the side and end.

But when I compared the yellow (AC) and blue foundation single crochet samples, I liked the profile of the yellow sample more.  Also, the yellow sample's leading yarn (the starting yarn end) was securely anchored to the piece.  

Many of the samples' leading yarns were loose and would tighten up a lot and pinch the end when you pulled them.  And, if you didn't pinch the end by pulling them, they were awfully loose and looked like they might unravel themselves.  The yellow sample couldn't be squished up by pulling on the leading yarn bit and it wasn't loose, either.  Perfect.

So now I just need to do the tutorial!

* As I was typing that, I realized I didn't do a version where I put my hook behind B, so I tried it real quick and compared it to the rest of the samples.  There was a weird space I didn't like.  I didn't bother trying BC because I'd have to twist the chains and I'm sure it would look weird.

Argh.  OK, so I just tried BC and it's almost identical to C.  So I'm still set on AC.