Free crochet calculator
US and UK crochet terms
Paste a line from a pattern and choose the direction. Each stitch name is changed once, so nothing is turned twice, and the counts stay as they are.
Turn a line from a pattern
Looks like US terms
Row 4: ch 2, htr in first st, *tr 3, dc2tog* 5 times, dc 2, turn.
- dc → tr
- hdc → htr
- sc → dc
The stitches
USch · chain
UKch · chain
USsl st · slip stitch
UKss · slip stitch
USsc · single crochet
UKdc · double crochet
Turning chains: 1
UShdc · half double crochet
UKhtr · half treble crochet
Turning chains: 2
USdc · double crochet
UKtr · treble crochet
Turning chains: 3
UStr · treble crochet
UKdtr · double treble crochet
Turning chains: 4
USdtr · double treble crochet
UKtrtr · triple treble crochet
Turning chains: 5
USinc · increase
UKinc · increase
USdec · decrease
UKdec · decrease
USsc2tog
UKdc2tog
USgauge
UKtension
USyo · yarn over
UKyoh · yarn over hook
Only words confirmed in our sources are shown.
CrochetBuddy has the table and the converter on your phone, and writes every answer in the terms you choose. It is with App Review now.
CrochetBuddy →Coming soon to the App Store
How to work it out yourself
Example: a line from an American pattern, to be crocheted from a British one.
- Decide which way you are going. A line cannot tell you whether it is US or UK, because
dcis a stitch in both systems, just not the same one. - Every UK stitch name is one step taller than the US name for the same stitch: US single crochet is UK double crochet, US double crochet is UK treble.
- Read the line once, from left to right, and change each word as you meet it:
hdc→htr,dc→tr,sc→dc. Never go back over what you have already changed, or USsc, dcturns intotr, tr. - Leave everything else alone: numbers,
ch,st,stsand the punctuation are the same in both. The stitch counts do not change.
US: Row 4: ch 2, hdc in first st, *dc 3, sc2tog* 5 times, sc 2, turn. UK: Row 4: ch 2, htr in first st, *tr 3, dc2tog* 5 times, dc 2, turn.
The table beside the calculator lists every stitch with its turning chain, so you can check a word you are unsure of.
Questions
- What is the difference between US and UK crochet terms?
- The stitches are the same, but the UK names are one step taller: US single crochet (sc) is UK double crochet (dc), US double crochet (dc) is UK treble (tr), US half double (hdc) is UK half treble (htr).
- How can I tell whether a pattern is US or UK?
- Look for words only one system has: sc and hdc are US, htr, trtr, 'miss' and 'tension' are UK. A line with only dc and tr cannot tell, so the calculator asks you to choose the direction.
- Why not just use find and replace?
- Because it changes words twice: US 'sc, dc' becomes 'dc, tr' in the first step and 'tr, tr' in the next. The calculator reads the line once and looks each word up in the original.
- Does it change sc2tog, FPdc and plurals?
- Yes. Only the stitch part is turned and the rest is kept: sc2tog becomes dc2tog, FPdc becomes FPtr and 'dcs' becomes 'trs'. Numbers, ch, sl st and st are left alone.