hdc — Half double crochet (Abbreviation)
hdc stands for "half double crochet" — a stitch height sitting between sc and dc. It starts the same way dc does, with a yarn-over before the hook ever goes into the stitch, which is what sc skips entirely. Where hdc actually diverges from dc is the finish: everything closes in one motion, all three loops coming off the hook together, rather than dc's two separate pull-throughs.
Why the three-loop pull-through matters
Because hdc closes with a single pull through three loops rather than two separate pull-throughs, it produces a distinctly ridged, slightly thicker-looking texture along the top of each stitch compared to dc's smoother finish at the same height range — a visible, tactile difference some patterns choose deliberately for texture, independent of the height difference alone.
Its yarn-use figure carries real uncertainty
Unlike sc and dc, whose yarn-consumption constants on this site are solved directly from real published projects, hdc's constant is an interpolation — the midpoint between sc's and dc's directly-calibrated values, used because no trustworthy direct source for hdc alone was found. Treat any hdc yarn estimate as somewhat less certain than sc or dc's — for a project where the hdc figure genuinely has to be right, weigh an actual swatch in the Yarn Quantity Estimator instead of leaning on the gauge model alone.
Where it shows up
A common middle-ground choice between sc's dense firmness and dc's taller openness — blankets, garments, and amigurumi accents wanting more drape than sc without dc's more open, airier structure.
Related abbreviations
- sc — single crochet, one full step shorter
- dc — double crochet, one full step taller, closed in two separate pull-throughs instead of one
FAQ
Does hdc use more yarn than sc for the same area? Generally yes, since it's a taller stitch with more wrapped yarn per stitch — though because hdc's own constant is an interpolation rather than a direct measurement, treat a specific hdc estimate as a reasonable planning number rather than a precisely verified one.
Is hdc's abbreviation ever confused with a different stitch in UK terminology? Yes — following crochet's US/UK offset (see sc), UK "half treble" corresponds to US half double crochet, so a pattern using UK terms won't say "hdc" at all, even though the stitch itself exists under a different name.