Left Hand Half Double Crochet Tutorial #18: Vertical Ribbing in HDC Project

Hey everyone, it's Deja from crocheteverafter.com and today I'm going to show you how to create a faux ribbing in your half double crochet project. So when you're working in the row in half double crochet and you want to put either a ribbing near the edge of your project or throughout the entire thing, I'm going to show you how to use front post double crochets to create that effect. So let's grab our yarn and let's get started. Okay I'm going to show you how to create this vertical ribbing with front post double crochet when you are working into half double crochet. So this is a stitch that you will use a lot when you start cabling. So this is a good primer to get into cables just to learn the front post stitch and also how to place your stitches so you know where to insert your hook next. So we're going to start with just the basic vertical ribbing and I'll have cable tutorials after that. So let me start off by, I already have a row of half double crochet begun. Uh, foundation half double crochet to lose my loop. Pull that out a little. I like the foundation half double crochet because it's very stretchy. And I can see my loops, or I'm sorry, my post, um, a little bit better. Half double crochet, the posts are kind of difficult to see because they have so many loops all squished down. So it takes a little bit more patience to do this stitch. Let me grab my, here we go. So I'm going to do the pattern that I showed you. Another swatch I'm going to show you in a bit. I'm going to do two half double crochets, and then the front post double crochet, and then two more half double crochets, and go like that all the way across. So to begin, I'm going to chain two, and I like to count that as my first stitch, so I won't work into that first stitch. I will skip it, which is, this is the first one. Then I'm going to half double crochet into my next stitch. Now, I need to start working around some post. When I choose where I'm going to work, I need to look at my stitches and figure out where my next post is. So I have a post here and a post here, and this is my next post that I need to go around. So to do that, what I'm going to do is kind of pretend that this next stitch is what I'm working into, but just go right below it to fit around my post. So I need to yarn over because this is a front post double crochet, and then I'm going to insert my hook below, so it's kind of, you have your V, and then you have this loop over here that makes it look like a V in front of you, I'm going to go right below that and go around and come out the next spot where that front V is to catch the post. So now I've caught the entire post. Again, I'm going to show you again. I go in through the front. You have your actual stitch that you normally work under. And then on half double crochet, you have this other kind of V from that extra loop that you're working that shows in the front. So you have Vs on top and Vs in the front. I want to go right under that V. So I go into the next one right under the V, and then I come out right under that V to catch the post. Now I have the front post caught, or the post is now in front, which makes it a front post double crochet. So I'm going to yarn over, catch that yarn and pull it through that post, and just finish off my double crochet. Yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the second two. So now I have my first front post double crochet made, and I need to make my next one. So what I need to do is go back into that spot that I just came out of. So there's a little gap where I came out of. I need to go back in there. If I were to skip that and go to the next stitch, I'm going to start decreasing my work. I don't want to do that. I didn't actually do anything except come out of this stitch. I didn't do anything with this stitch. So I'm going to go back into it and then come out right under that V on the next stitch. So I have the next one caught. So I yarn over and I double crochet again. Now I have two made. Now the next part can confuse some people. Where should I put my hook for my next half double crochet? Do I put it here in this stitch? Do I put it in this stitch? An easy way to tell is turn your work and look at your Vs. You have skipped two. So here's your first stitch you worked into, your second stitch you worked into, and then you have two Vs that were not worked into because you worked around those posts. So skip those two. One, two, and find your third one. That is where you're going to half double crochet. So if it's kind of difficult to see, you can see that it is a little bit... It's right where that stitch came out of. So right where you came out to catch that post, it's that stitch you're working into. But it can get a little confusing when you're just looking at it, where to go. So just look for those V's. One, two, and three. Go right in. Half double crochet twice, and then I'm going to start catching loops again, or start catching posts again. So here's my next stitch, here's that front V, go under that front V, and I kind of bend my work so I can catch the post, come out under that next V, post is caught, now I'm going to double crochet. And if you noticed, if you get caught easily when you're working your stitches, So I'm going to go back through that stitch I just came out of. It holds nice and big for me. Come out the next one. Always point your hook down to not get caught on stitches. So this one, usually when you're coming around these post stitches, you can get really caught on these stitches very easily. So kind of point your hook so that you're pointing right in the middle of your loop, and it will help you slide through. So don't point it towards you or up. Try to point it right at where the loop... the bottom of that loop is, and you'll slide through easy. So again, if you're not sure where to go next, just turn it and go 1V, 2V, 3V. So I skipped 1, 2 stitches, and I'm working into this third stitch. So I have 1, 2, and you can see I have 4 stitches left. I have 1, 2, 3, and then my chain 2, which is my last stitch. So I'm going to go under again, catch it, Yarn over. Catch the next one, so go back into that space you came out of, catch it, then do my two half doubles. So I have my chain and I have my stitch I need to work in right before it. For some reason it wants to be diff- you know, I think I did not come out the right spot on this. If you find that you're not coming out on the right spot, that might be why it's a little It's a little difficult to work into. One and then to do my last one I work into the chain two space. So I like to catch two loops when I work into my chain two. It just makes less of a hole at the end of my work which means if I only caught one loop it pulls on all my other chains and makes that loop really big. So if I just catch one loop you can see this hole is quite big but if I catch two loops It doesn't pull on the chains as much and it makes it more in line with the rest of them. So as you can see, I now have the row of front post double crochet completed. Now when I turn my work, what I'm going to do is simply chain two, as always for half doubles, skip that first stitch, and then half double crochet across the entire row in every single stitch. I'm not doing any post stitching. I'm just single crocheting back across. And what this does is it creates a longer, leaner front post double crochet and a longer, leaner ribbing. If you're familiar with front and back post stitching, then you might wonder, well, when When I'm working back, can I just do back post stitches around these posts? Which you can, and that was my other swatch I was going to show you real quick. This swatch used front and back post stitching. If you're not familiar with it, don't worry about it. This is just more for the people that are and want to know what it looks like. If you want a tutorial on it, you can leave a comment below and I'll make one. Because you'll see that there is a difference in the look of it. The front post stitches, they're all traveling the same way, they all have the same twist. So they're longer, leaner, because you're stretching them out with the half doubles in between. This one, you're working every single row, you're doing post stitching. So you can see that they stick out more, so they are more three-dimensional, try turning it sideways, you can see how much they're popping out, so you can see that they pop pop out more, and that the twists are a lot different. These are all kind of twisting up in a curlicue, and these are going back and forth because you're doing back and front post stitches. So you get a different look, a beefier, thicker ribbing, and it's, you know, either way you're doing post stitching, so it's not easier or harder to do. It's just a different stitch. So, if you want that tutorial, let me know and I'll show you how to do it. Otherwise we'll just stick with what we've got because this is what you're usually going to use when you are using cables. So when I start doing cable tutorials this is kind of the foundation for it. This will help you learn how to skip those stitches that you shouldn't work into and how to place your stitches when you are working. So I've got my last chain two. I like to catch both loops. And now, I'm ready for my next row of front post double crochet. After the very first row, it's a lot easier because you chain 2, your first stitch, work into my next stitch, instead of trying to find that half double post, I am working around the front post double crochet, which is a lot easier to catch, a lot easier to see. You have a big gap behind your post. that you're going to put your hook through. So this whole thing right in the center, there's a big hole to reach right through. Then you're going to yarn over and simply do a double crochet. And you'll see that it's pulling your stitch up. You're going to have a nice even triangle because you skipped a row of post stitching by just doing the half double crochet. And it's a lot easier to Work into then trying to find those half double crochets post. Again, if you're not sure where to put your hook next, just turn and look for those Vs. Here's the first one we skipped, here's the second one we skipped, and this is the one I need to work into. I still do it that way to this day, even though I know which one it is, just to make sure. Because if I'm working fast, it's a lot easier for me to just turn my work and look. than to guess at it and then miss a stitch by the end of the row and have to rip it all back out. So it's a lot easier for me to just go, okay, one, two, and three, than trying to guess at it from the front. You can do this technique in the round. You can certainly do it. It's a little difficult because... Well, technically it's probably going to be really difficult to do it in the round because it's very difficult to get a straight seam in half double crochet. So I don't really recommend it in the round, but if you were to do it in the round, just follow the same rules. If you want, this will give you a diagonal ribbing if you work in the round and you just work in spirals. So you can use this technique still if you want to make a beanie, say, but you're going to have probably slanted instead of vertical ribbing. Just do a round of front post double crochets, whatever pattern you want. Then do another round of half double crochet and then when you come back around, work back into your front post double crochets. So if you're working in a spiral, it'll probably slant a little, but that could be a cool visual interest. But that is how you're going to front post double crochet into your half double crochet. You can use it for beanies, for garments, for scarves, anything that you want to add that ribbing to. And if you have any questions, go ahead and leave them below, and thank you for watching.