Answer
How to Count Crochet Stitches in the Round
Count the V shapes along the top edge of the round, starting from the stitch with your marker in it; each V is one stitch, and the loop on your hook is never counted. Compare your total with the number in brackets at the end of the round before you start the next one.
At a glance
| Where | What's there | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Craftuary Academy: rounds and the stitch markerours | Lesson 7 of Crochet 101: how a marker keeps your place in a spiral of continuous rounds, in free 3D. | Knowing where a round starts |
| Craftuary Academy: reading a roundours | Lesson 8: what (sc, inc) x6 (18) means and where the 18 comes from. | Knowing what the count should be |
| Craftuary pattern checkerours | Checks the pattern's own arithmetic: whether each printed count matches what the instructions make. One free check a day. | Ruling out a mistake in the pattern itself |
| Craftuary: how to read a crochet patternours | Five rules for reading any pattern, including counting at the end of every line. | Beginners |
| Craft Yarn Council: crochet abbreviations | The standard list of abbreviations such as st(s), rnd and sc that the counts in a pattern refer to. | Checking what a pattern's terms mean |
How to start
- Put a marker in the first stitch. Move it up into the first stitch of every new round.
- Count the Vs on top. Each stitch shows a V of two loops along the top edge. An increase shows as two Vs in one stitch below.
- Leave the hook's loop out. The loop on your hook is not a stitch, and neither is the slip knot when you count a chain.
- Check against the pattern. If the number differs, count again before you crochet on; one stitch is easy to fix now.
Questions
How do I count chain stitches?
Count the Vs on the front of the chain. Don't count the loop on your hook or the slip knot at the start.
How do I count stitches in fuzzy or dark yarn?
Count by feel from the back of the work, hold it up to a light, or put a second marker every 10 stitches.
My count is off by one every round. Why?
Usually the first or last stitch of the round: a stitch worked into the marked stitch twice, or the last stitch skipped. Move the marker every round and count again.
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