After several long weeks of crocheting and sewing, and I finally assembled a beautiful granny square afghan. However, my work wasn’t done. I needed a border, and I wanted to crochet it fast. Yet, I didn’t know whether a single crochet, a double crochet, or a completely different stitch work be the quickest choice. This prompted me to do a little bit of research, and now I know which crochet stitch works up the fastest.
So which stitch will get you through your crochet project the fastest? The general consensus is that the double crochet is the speediest stitch to guarantee you finish your project quickly. This is one of the most basic crochet stitches that can be made.
However, there is a reason that the double crochet will speed you through your project faster than the other stitches.
How a Double Crochet is Faster than Other Stitches
Each of the basic crochet stitches consists of a post that is created when you yarn over your crochet hook, and you pull this new loop through existing loops. Each stitch consists of more yarn overs that you have to do to create the stitch, with every stitch being a little bit taller than the last. A treble crochet will create a significantly taller post than a single crochet will create.
When you’re creating a double crochet, the height of the stitch and the speed at which it can be completed hit a sweet spot. You only need to yarn over once before beginning the stitch, and the height of the completed stitch will build your piece faster than one of the shorter stitches.
Why Isn’t a Single Crochet Faster?
A single crochet seems like it should be the quickest stitch to complete. You aren’t yarning over and pulling through loops nearly as much as you are with a double crochet, so this stitch can be completed fairly quickly by most crocheters.
However, it may take twice as many rows or rounds of single crochets to equal one row or round of double crochets. Creating twice as many stitches that are faster to make could easily take up more time than creating one row of stitches that are just a little bit slower to make. The act of working through an entire row, turning your work, and completing another row of single crochets may not match the time saved by simply creating a row of double crochets that are just as tall to start.
Should a Treble Crochet be Faster to Complete than a Double Crochet?
Likewise, you might wonder why a taller stitch such as the treble crochet would not save more time than creating double crochets. The answer is simple. A treble crochet takes more steps to create than a double crochet, adding time to the completion of a row or round. When you make a treble crochet, you yarn over twice before beginning a stitch. With a double crochet, you are only yarning over once. This extra yarn over is enough to slow down crocheters, even though the post you get with a treble crochet will be a little bit taller.
One of the other issues with the speed of a treble crochet is the frequency at which they are created by the average crocheter. A double crochet is one of the most common stitches that anyone will use, whether they are crocheting an afghan or a sweater.
Crocheters become used to the double crochet, building up muscle memory when they make this stitch. A less commonly used treble crochet can take a little bit more thought for someone to make. The crocheter could take longer to consider if they are making this less common stitch correctly, if the stitch is laying right, and several other factors in making sure that the stitch is right.
Do All Crocheters Create All Stitches at the Same Speed?
While it is common for the double crochet to be the speediest stitch a crocheter can use, this may vary from person to person. For whatever reason, someone may find that they are quicker to create row after row of single crochets, and the double crochet will trip them up. This could slow down their project significantly if they are not as adept in creating the double crochet.
Typically, the half double crochet and double crochets are the fastest basic stitches for most crocheters. But maybe someone is able to zip through a project consisting entirely of treble crochets in no time. For any crocheter, this is something that they may have to test.
If you want to know what stitch you can complete the fastest, it is extremely simple to find out what works for you. All you will need is some yarn, a crochet hook, and a way to track time. Start by creating a square of single crochets and then record the time that this took. Begin another square, being careful to make the square the same size as the last, and use half double crochets. Write down how long it took to create this square as well.
By the time you have created each square using each stitch you want to test, you will have a record of how the amount of time to complete each stitch compares to one another. This will definitively answer which stitch is fastest for you personally.
Is a Double Crochet Right for All Projects?
While a double crochet may be fast, it may not be the best choice for every project. The speed of the double crochet relies on the fact that it is a basic stitch. It will create a solid crocheted fabric. For some projects, you might want to create a fabric with a little more visual appeal than that of the double crochet.
One of the best things about crocheted fabric is the versatility of textures that you can create. In some cases, your project might be best suited to using a beautiful lace stitch. Maybe another project would require you to include some interesting textures, such as bobbles or cables.
In these cases, some stitches might be even speedier than a double crochet. A lace fabric can be quick to create once you have the stitches required figured out because it is quicker to work up than a solid fabric. But a fabric containing features like a bobble will be slower to create.
Every project is different, and every crocheter is different. Even though the double crochet is the quickest stitch on average, the situation or crafter might call for something different.
Related Questions
Does Yarn Weight Affect Speed? The factors that determine how quickly a project can be completed are not limited to the stitch that a crocheter chooses to use. Yarn weight plays a big role in the speed of the project.
Yarn weights are numbered from zero to six. The thinnest weight is lace weight, and these increase in size as the numbers increase. The other weights are super fine, fine, light, medium, bulky, and super bulky.
When you’re creating a crocheted piece, one that is made out of lace weight yarn will move a lot slower than one crocheted out of super bulky yarn. For example, you could create five rows of double crochets out of the lace weight yarn and five rows of single crochets out of the super bulky yarn. In this situation, the double crochets will not only be slower to make out of the thin yarn, but they will also create a much smaller fabric than that of the super bulky single crochets.
Different types of yarn are great for creating a variety of crochet projects, but they will affect the overall speed of your project, potentially even more than the stitch choice may affect it.
What Crochet Projects are the Fastest to Make? If you want to complete a few projects for yourself or for someone else quickly, there are different types of items that can be crocheted quickly. If your main interest is speeding through a quick project, maybe a large afghan is not the place to start. You should start small.
A hat can be a great crochet project if you want to finish something fast. These small projects can be completed in just a few hours, and are extremely useful. Who doesn’t need a warm, handmade hat to wear during the winter? Find a pattern using a bulkier yarn to speed up this project even more.
A scarf or cowl can also be completed in a matter of hours if you are using a simple enough pattern that uses a bulky yarn. These stylish items are also as useful or stylish as a hat.
Researching quick patterns also brings up several other ideas that you can use when you want to whip up a quick crochet project. Boot cuffs, slippers, fingerless gloves, and many small decor items can be created by a crocheter in no time. The ideas that exist for quick crochet projects are endless.