Do you love the look of knitting but don’t have the desire to pick up the needles? Tunisian Crochet offers many gorgeous stitches that have a similar look to knitting, but what if you don’t want to dip into the Tunisian waters yet? Here comes the Camel Stitch, a crochet stitch that looks remarkably like knitting.

This stitch is great for hats, cowls, infinity scarves, and especially fabulous with chunky yarn. The only strange thing about this stitch is that it is actually done differently in the round versus in rows. There are several tutorials out there on the Camel Stitch, but most of them only show how to crochet it in the round. In this tutorial, we will learn how to crochet the Camel stitch in the round and in rows.

For this tutorial, we will be crocheting the half double crochet camel stitch. The camel stitch is more of a technique than a stitch. It is simply crocheting into the third loop. It can be done with a single crochet and a double crochet, but the half double crochet stitch is the easiest to see the third loop that we will be crocheting into. If you don’t know how to do a regular half double crochet, go HERE , then come back to try the half double crochet camel stitch.

With most stitches, we crochet into the two loops at the top, which we call the front loop and the back loop. In the camel stitch, we will crochet into the third loop. When we crochet into the third loop, the front and back stitches are bent over, forming a stitch similar to knitting. Before showing you the steps in the camel stitch, let’s learn how to identify the third loop.

Where is the “third loop”?
To find the third loop, first locate the front and back loops that you normally crochet into. Then, tip your crochet towards you so you can peek at the back. The third loop is the loop that is right behind the front and back loops. The third loop is not the back loop; it is behind the back loop.

Now that we know how to find the third loop, let’s begin!

Camel Stitch in the Round
Round 1: Make a chain that is the desired width needed for your project. Without twisting the chain, slip stitch into the first chain, making a circle.

Round 2: Chain 2, then hdc (half double crochet) in the first chain, and in each chain around. Slip stitch into the first hdc.

Round 3: chain 2, then hdc into the third loop (see directions above) of each hdc around.

Repeat Round 3 until the desired length is reached.

Camel Stitch in Rows
Row 1: Make a chain that is the width needed for your project.

Round 2: hdc into second chain from hook and in each chain across.

Row 3: chain 2, turn, hdc in the third loop of each stitch across.

Row 4: chain 2, hdc in the front loop of each stitch across.

Repeat rows 3 – 4 until you reach your desired length.

Tip: To get a cleaner edge on your half-double crochets, see the Initial Half Double Crochet post on how to get a neater edge on your half double crochet.

As you can see, the half double crochet in rows looks a bit different than in the round.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy! Have questions? Leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to answer them.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015 at 12:00 AM by Molly Ferriter 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.