Crossed stitches are created when you skip spaces, crochet a stitch and then crochet a stitch into the skipped stitches; you have crossed one stitch over another by working backwards into the skipped area. Crossed stitches are the foundation of creating crochet cables, and they can also be used as decorative textured stitches in their own right. This guide shows you how to crochet some of the most common crossed stitches. How to Crochet Crossed Double Crochet One of the most common crossed stitches uses a basic double crochet stitch worked back across another double crochet stitch. This crochet stitch is abbreviated in different ways including xdc, x-dc, crossed dc and back cross dc. Here is the basic step-by-step tutorial for creating a crossed double crochet stitch: Skip next stitch. The photo below shows rows of double crochet. The green hook is pointing to the stitch that will be skipped as the first step in creating the xdc stitch. Double crochet in following stitch. In the photo below, the green hook is still pointing to the same skipped stitch. We have crocheted the first dc in the following stitch. Double crochet in the skipped stitch. You work “backwards”, crossing over in front of the dc from the previous step to creating a double crochet in the skipped stitch (which would be to the right for a right-handed crocheter). The top photo below shows that you will yarn over and insert the hook into the skipped stitch to begin the double crochet. The photo just below this paragraph shows what the completed stitch looks like. This completes a single xdc stitch. By repeating the steps below, you can create a series of xdc stitches across a row, giving you a beautiful textured pattern. Note that no additional chains or stitches are necessary between each “x”. After completing an x, simply skip the next open stitch (the next one working forward, which would be to the left for a right-handed crocheter), double crochet in the following stitch and cross back over to crochet in the skipped stitch. The two photos below show the second xdc in the row. The photos below show one row and two rows of xdc stitches: Crossed dc stitches can be used alone to create rows of x’s. This works best if you start and end each row with a dc stitch to create an even edging on the left and right of the project. Crossed double crochet stitches can also be used in combination with other stitches to create popular crochet cable designs. How to Crochet Crossed Stitches in Other Heights Double crochet stitches are very common for crossed stitches,but they are not the only stitch that can be crossed. You can also make crossed stitches using single crochet, half double crochet, and treble crochet (or even taller basic stitches). The basic steps are the same: skip a stitch, crochet into the next stitch, cross back over and crochet into the skipped stitch. The photo below shows three rows of different heights of crossed stitches: crossed hdc, crossed dc and crossed treble crochet. The photo below shows crossed single crochet, which is best worked with very loose tension because of the general tightness of the stitch: How to Crochet Crossed Post Stitches So far, we have worked crossed stitches into stitches from the row below. However, you can also work crossed post stitches. Again, the basic steps are the same, except that you are working around the posts from the row below instead of into the stitches. For example, to make a crossed front post double crochet stitch: Skip one stitch and front post double crochet around next post. Working back over your fpdc, crochet another fpdc around the post of the skipped stitch. Variations in Crossed Crochet Stitches The process described below (skip a stitch, crochet a stitch, work backwards to crochet into the skipped stitch) is the most basic, common way of making crossed crochet stitches. However, there are many variations on these instructions, which allows us to create all different types of cables and textured designs. Here are some examples of variations: Skip next stitch, dc in next two stitches, cross back over and dc in the skipped stitch. The I Love Pink Blanket uses a version of xdc that is worked across 4 stitches, in the spaces between stitches. "Skip first 2 dc of next 4-dc group, dc in space between next 2 dc, ch 2, working in front of dc just made, dc in space between 2 skipped dc". The Post Stitch Throw uses a complicated Fptrtr cross (front post treble cross) in which you "Skip next 3 sts, [fptrtr around next st] 2 times, sc, with hook in front of post sts just made, fptrtr around first skipped st, fptrtr around next skipped st". The Diamond Cables Cowl uses treble crochet post stitches that cross across each other in different ways (front, left and right). This detailed tutorial shows the2 over 2 Front Cross (2/2 Front Cross). The Heirloom Stitches Throw uses both a front crossed treble and a back crossed treble, each worked over four stitches -[skip next 2 sc, dc in next sc, ch 1, working backwards, skip second skipped sc and dc in first skipped sc –crossed dc made] 3 times, dc in each of next 5 sc; repeat from * across, turn.
