UK and US crochet terms

If you crochet and have followed English patterns before, you will probably have noticed there’s a difference between the terminology used in US patterns and UK patterns. Perhaps – like me – you have made the mistake once or twice by following a UK pattern but interpreting it with US terminology! Sometimes, it can get very confusing, so I have created this chart for you to compare the terminology for both languages.

How to notice if a pattern has UK or US crochet terms?

When following a crochet pattern written in English, it should always mention whether it uses US or UK terminology. If you don’t see this being mentioned in the abbreviations section or in the pattern notes, it is always a good idea to check the website of the designer to see if it’s mentioned there.

If you can’t see any mentions of UK or US terms, look through the pattern and try to find ‘sc – single crochet’. This is a term that ONLY occurs in US terms, so when you find it you will know for sure that the pattern uses US terms. If you don’t find it, try to compare the written pattern with the pictures and see if you can figure out that way.

Comparison chart for US and UK abbreviations

Below, you will find a chart for US and UK abbreviations and the stitch name. To make things extra clear, I’ve added another column at the righthandside mentioning the number of times the yarn goes round the hook. Sometimes I get so confused about which is which, and this always helps a lot.

Also note that the slip stitch is mostly abbreviated to ‘sl st’ for US patterns and ‘ss’ for UK patterns. This is not always the case though, they are sometimes used interchangeably.

I hope this helps! Happy crocheting 🙂