If you know how to make a foundation double crochet (fdc) row, you may be wondering how to adapt the technique to patterns with decreases. You may just want to create the final number of stitches, but decreases affect shaping, so it is better to make the decreases prescribed by the pattern.

To follow this tutorial, you should be comfortable with making the foundation double crochet.

To see a left-handed view, hover your cursor over the pictures.

Start your foundation row as you normally would. A stitch marker or scrap of contrasting yarn is helpful if you have trouble reading your crochet.

Step 1: Insert your hook into the lower loops (chain) of the previous stitch as you normally would, yarn over (YO), and pull up a loop. This is the chain of your first dc. If you are using a stitch marker, mark this stitch

Step 2: Chain 1.

Step 3: YO, pull through 2 loops.

Step 4 : Insert your hook into the first loop you pulled up (marked stitch), YO, and pull up a loop. This is the chain of your second dc.

Step 5: Chain 1

Step 6: YO, pull through two loops.

Step 7: YO, pull through all loops on hook.

Your decrease is finished. If you have to decrease more stitches, repeat steps 4 -6 until you have the correct number of loops on your hook then do step 7.

If you need further help, feel free to leave a comment for clarification.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 6th, 2013 at 9:17 AM by Candace and is filed under Tutorials and Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.