How to Crochet Crunch Stitch (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

In this tutorial for beginners, learn how to crochet crunch stitch – a great technique to get a beautiful texture using the very first basic stitches. It works great for scrubbing items, but you can also use it for blankets, scarves, cardigans, etc, as tight and warm. It is a repetitive stitch, so there is no need to memorize much.

What is a crunch stitch?

The Crunch Stitch combines slip and half-double crochet stitches to form a lovely, raised ridged pattern while being dense. It looks sophisticated but is surprisingly easy to learn, even for beginners. It is great for washcloths and scrubbies.

Why Cruch Stitch Shows Such Texture? The resulting fabric of the crunch stitch shows such texture because of the alternation between tighter slip stitches and the slightly taller half-double crochet stitches in the same row.

Crochet Crunch Stitch Instructions

Are you ready to learn the crunch stitch? This section is all about this with the pictorial and written guide:

Stitch Multiple

2 + 1

Pattern Type:

One-row repeat

Techniques to Know

Pictorial Guide

If you want to quickly understand how to crochet crunch stitch with the below pictorial guide for beginners:

Abbreviations Used:

Ch – Chain Stitch
St(s) – Stitch(es)
Sl st– Slip Stitch
Hdc – Half-double crochet
Rep – Repeat
() – Inside will be a set of stitches to repeat

Written Guide

Foundation row: Chain a multiple of two plus one (2 + 1). Two-stitch multiple is necessary as you will alternate between two stitches for crunch stitch.
Row 1: Insert the crochet hook into the 3rd chain from the hook and do a slip stitch. The skipped stitch will count as one half-double crochet. In the next chain, do a half-double crochet. Alternate between slip stitch and half double crochet to the end of the row (necessarily ending with a sl st).
Row 2: Chain 2 (this will count as an hdc stitch), then turn your work. Do a slip stitch in the top of the half-double crochet of the previous row. Then, make a half-double crochet in the next stitch, which is the top of the last slip stitch from the previous row. Continue alternating hdc into sl st and sl st into hdc for the entire row. End at the last stitch.
Row 3: For the rest of the project, keep repeating Row 2.