Who loves Moss Stitch? We ALL love Moss Stitch! It’s one of the most beautiful crochet stitches and, best of all, it’s super-easy to work up and gives a gorgeous knitted look to your project. The other day I was making my umpteenth Moss Stitch blanket and decided to experiment a little using Half Double Crochet (US terms) to see if it was any good. Boy oh boy, was it! I wasn’t sure if I’d seen it around before so I gave it a quick Google around and couldn’t find it anywhere. I looked on Pinterest – natch – and still nothing. I asked my knowledgable friends on Instagram and, well, nothing. “OH EM GEE!” I thought, “have I discovered a new stitch?”.
Sadly not, friends. What I have done however is named a stitch that before was languishing in obscurity. There are a couple of patterns over on Ravelry that use this stitch but nobody had thought of giving her a name, the poor babe, so I thought I would. Tempting as it was to give it some sort of funky name (or annoyingly egotistical one like ‘The Knitty Stitch’) I’ve simply called it ‘Half Double Moss Stitch’ to keep things simple and practical.
One of the most beautiful things about this stitch is the latticed effect it gives which lends itself well to cowls, scarves, statement blankets and rugs. It look particularly lush used with chunky or super chunky yarn or worked up teeny using cotton yarn. I can just see some dishcloths looking the bizznizz in this stitch!
Keep your eyes peeled for a wonderful project using the Half Double Moss Stitch very soon, but for now, here’s how to work it up.
The Half Double Moss Stitch
(Instructions using US/American terminology and working flat)
NOTE: This stitch is a hdc stitch separated by a chain stitch, so it’s identical to the regular moss stitch but using hdc instead of single crochet.
1. Chain an even number of stitches.
2. Work a hdc into the fourth chain from your hook.
3. Chain one, skip one chain, work a hdc stitch into the next chain.
4. Chain one, skip one chain, work a half double crochet into the next chain. End with a hdc into the last stitch.
5. Turn your work, chain two and work a hdc into the first chain one space. Chain one, skip the next hdc and work a hdc into the following chain one space. Continute like this (chain 1, skip 1 stitch, hdc in the next chain 1 space) until the end.
Repeat step five for the pattern, making hdc stitches into the chain spaces.
That’s it! I would love to see your makes using this stitch, so tag your creations with #halfdoublemosstitch and I’ll take a look!
The Violeta Scarf · Free Crochet Tutorial – Emmaknitty
January 15, 2020 at 9:52 am[…] the perfect combination between a modern statement scarf and delicate prettiness! Crocheted using Half Double Moss Stitch on a 25mm hook, you can work up this quick and beautiful project in a few hours. You can leave the […]
Jill
July 11, 2021 at 3:33 amLove using this stitch. Your tutorial is fantastic. Thank you!!
Emmaknitty
July 11, 2021 at 7:44 amThanks Jill! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Christine
September 12, 2022 at 10:27 amI am currently making a throw with alternate groupings of sc moss stitch and HDC moss stitch. For some reason I have ridges that form every two rows of the HDC. But, I decided to create a wide border. The HDC in the border does not have the ridges. I’m guessing it is due to the fact I am not turning. Have you discovered this?
Kelly L.
July 26, 2023 at 8:00 amGreat minds think alike! I literally found this post because I did the same thing (except by accident) and was wondering if it had a name, because I knew it was highly unlikely that I of all people had discovered a new stitch, lol. I really love the way it looks so now I’m going to make something with it on purpose!
Emmaknitty
September 21, 2023 at 1:22 pmWow! Amazing! Have fun 😘
Carrie
January 5, 2025 at 3:53 pmI started a scarf for my husband months (years?) ago and I put it down and forgot about it. I went to pick it back up and could not remember what stitch I used! I searched and searched for the pattern or a similar stitch but could not find anything even remotely similar even when I did a google image search. After lots of frogging and trial and error it turns out it was similar to this half double moss stitch but 2 hdc skip one. It works up beautifully! Are you familiar with this?
Emmaknitty
January 6, 2025 at 5:11 pmHello! That sounds like a cluster-y version of this stitch and it must look lovely!
Jonah Perry
August 22, 2025 at 4:09 pmI am excited to try out Half Double Moss Stitch.
Emmaknitty
October 9, 2025 at 7:09 amI hope you had fun!
– Emma