US vs UK crochet terms: the conversion chart and how to tell them apart

Updated 13 November 2026 · 5 min read · by FamCraftsShop

Why a UK double crochet is a US single crochet, a full conversion table, and five quick ways to work out which terms a pattern uses.

Crochet has two sets of names for the same stitches. They developed separately in Britain and North America, and the trouble is that they reuse the same words for different stitches. A "double crochet" in a British pattern is a shorter stitch than a "double crochet" in an American one. Work a UK pattern in US stitches and your toy will come out taller, looser and the wrong shape — with every stitch count still technically right.

The conversion chart

The pattern is easy to remember: UK names count the loops you pull through at the start of the stitch, so everything is one step "taller" in name than the US equivalent. Chains, slip stitches, increases and decreases mean the same thing in both.

Why it matters so much for amigurumi

Almost all amigurumi are worked in US single crochet (UK double crochet), because it is the shortest, densest stitch and keeps the stuffing from showing through. If you read a UK pattern's "dc" as a US double crochet, each stitch is roughly twice as tall. A ball becomes an egg, a head becomes a tube, and the fabric is full of holes.

The counts don't warn you about this. A round of 24 UK dc and a round of 24 US dc both have 24 stitches. So it is worth deciding which system a pattern uses before you start.

Five ways to tell which terms a pattern uses

1. Look for "sc". There is no single crochet in UK terms. If the abbreviation list or any round uses "sc", the pattern is in US terms.
2. Look for "htr" or "tr" in a small toy. Half treble only exists in UK terms. And a plain amigurumi body worked entirely in "dc" is almost always UK — US double crochet is too open for stuffed toys.
3. Check the spelling. "Colour", "grey" and "tension" suggest a British, Australian or New Zealand designer, who will usually use UK terms. "Color" and "gauge" suggest US terms. This is a hint, not proof — many designers outside the US write in US terms to reach a bigger audience.
4. Read the notes at the top. Most designers say "this pattern is written in US terms". Look for it before the materials list.
5. Check the hook and yarn. UK patterns often give hook sizes in millimetres only and call yarn "DK" or "aran"; US patterns may use letter sizes (E, F, G) and "worsted". Again, a hint rather than proof.

Converting a whole pattern

You don't have to rewrite anything. The usual approach is to keep the pattern as it is and mentally swap one name: in a UK amigurumi pattern, every "dc" means the stitch you know as "sc". If the pattern uses taller stitches for details — a htr for a cheek, a tr for a petal — use the table above for those few lines.

StitchCheck can do the swap for you. Choose UK under the pattern language settings and it reads "dc" as single crochet, "htr" as half double and so on, then checks the counts and builds the shape. Here is a short UK-terms head you can open to see this:

R1: 6 dc in MR (6)
R2: 2 dc in each st around (12)
R3: (1 dc, 2 dc in next st) x6 (18)
R4: (2 dc, 2 dc in next st) x6 (24)
R5-8: dc around (24)
R9: (2 dc, dc2tog) x6 (18)
R10: (1 dc, dc2tog) x6 (12)

Other terms that differ

A few non-stitch words also change across the Atlantic. "Tension" and "gauge" both mean how many stitches and rows fit in a set width. "Miss" and "skip" both mean leave a stitch unworked. "Fasten off" and "finish off" are the same. "Polyester toy filling", "fibrefill" and "stuffing" are the same material.

If the pattern is in a language other than English, the stitch names are different again — see crochet abbreviations in other languages.