Life is full of happy accidents, whether it’s in the kitchen (Tarte Tatin! Coca-Cola!), in medicine (Viagra – lol, who knew?), or even in everyday inventions like Velcro. The world of crochet is no different.
The other day, I was working on a palate-cleansing washcloth as a nice “between-patterns” project when I noticed something odd: my trusty HDC stitches were looking different. Strange, because HDC is by far my most-used stitch. How could I possibly mess it up? To figure out what had changed, I took a few steps back and frogged some rows. As I watched how the yarn was moving through my stitches, I realized I had unknowingly pulled the yarn through the first loop on my hook, then yarned over again, and finally pulled through all three loops. Such a subtle mistake, but it sparked a thought: maybe I’d stumbled onto something interesting. Maybe even a new stitch.
Of course, I had to check. I scoured the interwebs for this stitch, resisting the temptation of a quick search. And lo and behold – I had discovered a brand-new variation of our beloved HDC. I don’t make bold claims lightly, but I haven’t found any record online of a stitch that does exactly this. Sure, some are similar, but the combination of yarn overs and hook placement in this stitch is unique. And I am beyond thrilled to share this gorgeous new stitch with you: the Half Double Stacked Stitch (HDSS).
I decided to call it Half Double Stacked Stitch because it looks super stacked and chunky, gives a satisfying, structured, ridged look to your work and, obviously, is a variation of HDC. It would look stunning used on hats and bags, blankets and rugs. I used it as a design element at the bottom of a washcloth design that is coming soon, so it’s a cool go-to stitch for subtle textured sections as well. If you love watching stitch tutorial videos, I’ve made an IG Reel that gives you a detailed tutorial of how to work up this stitch (check out my Insta), but if you scroll down you’ll also find both a photo tutorial and written guide. Let’s learn a new stitchm together!
Half Double Stack Stitch (HDSS)
Abbreviation: HDSS
Worked in: Rows
Gauge: Varies depending on yarn and hook size
Skill level: Intermediate (requires working through back loops and managing partial pull-through)
THIS STITCH WORKS ON ANY NUMBER OF CHAINS.
Tips & Notes
I always work yarn under but this stitch looks great working yarn over too. For ease I have written yarn over, but all my stitches were worked yarn under.
This stitch produces a dense yet stretchy fabric with a visible horizontal ridge on the front.
It’s Ideal for structured garments, bags, beanies, or textured panels.
On the first row of your project, work the stitch into the chain as usual. Then for row two onwards, follow the instructions for working into the back two loops of the stitch below.
Always work into the second chain from your hook at the beginning of each row and chain two for your starting chain.
At the end of each row you can work the final stitch into either the top of your chain two foundation stitch or between the last two stitches of the previous row.
Half Double Stacked Stitch (US Terms)
ROW ONE
Yarn over (YO) and insert your hook into the chain stitch.
Pull up a loop – you now have 3 loops on your hook.
Yarn over and pull through 1 loop on the hook.
Yarn over again and pull through all 3 loops to complete the stitch.
ROW TWO and subsequent rows
Yarn over (YO) and insert your hook into the back two loops of the stitch from the previous row.
Pull up a loop – you now have 3 loops on your hook.
Yarn over and pull through 1 loop on the hook.
Yarn over again and pull through all 3 loops to complete the stitch.
I rrally hope you enjoyed learning this new stitch and enjoy using it for your next projects!
If you loved this tutorial and want to help me carry on offering you even more fantastic free projects, it’s be lovely if you could donate to me onKo-fi! Thank you so much and happy crafting.
emmaknitty.com 
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