Chain 3 Picot Tutorial – Single Crochet VS. Slip Stitch Demo plus Charts plus Free Pattern

Chain 3 picots are usually not my favorite crochet technique. I’ll add them here or there but I wouldn’t add a bunch as part of a focal design element in a crochet pattern because I find they slow me down. I love the look of them, but sometimes avoid them. I was experimenting with picots a while back and wanted to replace a larger chain space in a round motif that would eventually become a freelance project I designed for a magazine. I noticed that replacing the slip stitch (slst) with a single crochet (sc) I was able to continue on in a linear fashion to create texture around my motif.

Single Crochet VS. Slip Stitch Picots – What is the Difference?

When I began designing the projects for my newest book, “52 Crochet Gifts”, I thought a lot about keeping the projects quick and easy, but still keeping them interesting, too. Picots add a lot of texture, but making them quicker allowed me to use them more liberally in some of the projects. The action of slip stitch to join the 3 chains into a picot involves a secondary “backward” motion that slows down the process. The action of single crochet to join the 3 chains into a picot is more of a continuous movement. This allows you to crochet quicker, and even feels more zen-like to me as well. The good news is there is no wrong way to picot! If you prefer slip stitch or single crochet, both are great! There is a minor size variation, but it is almost indistinguishable in a finished project or garment.

Here is an example of a tiny, 1-round crochet crochet motif that alternates double crochet with chain 3 (ch3) picots. In the video below, I show you two examples of this motif: one with slip stitch (and the other with single crochet) chain 3 (ch3) picots. I demonstrate how to make each one, how to read each one in a chart, then show them side by side for comparison, and draw the chart for this exact crochet motif!

Free Crochet Motif Pattern

Materials:

Any yarn and appropriate hook size will work for making tis project. I used #4 worsted weight yarn and G/7 (4.5mm) crochet hook for these samples. Sample shown in Be So Bold Yarn color Enchanted Jasmine

Crochet Stitch Guide:
Chain (ch), double crochet (dc), and slip stitch (slst).

Chain 3 Picot (ch3 picot): Ch3, slst or sc in 3rd ch from hook.

Instructions:

Ch5, slst to 5th ch from hook to form ring.

Round 1: Ch6 (counts as dc, ch3), slst or sc in 3rd ch from hook (ch3 picot made), dc in ring, ch3 picot. Rep from 6 more times, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch6 at beg of round to join. — 8 dcs, 8 ch3 picots

Single Crochet VS. Slip Stitch Demo plus Charts VIDEO can be Watched Here:

This mini crochet motif is excerpted from my new book, “52 Crochet Gifts” It is now available as a pre-order ebook and the new patterns are released weekly. Picots are just one of many stitches I have covered in my How to Crochet Page here on my website and my Crochet Stitch Library of Videos Playlist on my YouTube Channel. You can learn more about all of those stitches here:

Shop Kristin Omdahl Yarns HERE

Shop Kristin Omdahl Crochet Patterns HERE

Shop Kristin Omdahl Knitting Patterns HERE

I would love to see your creations. Just as much fun as making these myself is the satisfaction I get from seeing my designs come to life and other crochet fans wearing them too. There are now 2 ways you can share what you have done!

• Share yours by joining  Create. Share. Inspire on Facebook where you can interact with me as well as many other members who have a love of knitting and crochet just like you! It is a wonderful and safe place to share your photos of finished projects in my knitting or crochet patterns or yarns, and to see what others are making, too.
• I have recently added a wonderful new interactive section to the website which I invite you to take part in, it has been a smashing success and such fun so far. It is the new “Share Your Project” section. You, my creators, can upload images and descriptions of your creations to share with the ever growing community! To upload simply click here. 

Additionally, I host a livestreaming podcast weekday on my YouTube Channel called Create Share Inspire Podcast. You can join the audience and even ask me questions LIVE! I often do a show and tell, or quick demo and I always interact with the live audience. It is a lot of fun!

You can browse through over 800 previously recorded episodes HERE: Create Share Inspire Podcast Playlist . Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel to get reminders when the next episode airs LIVE.

I look forward to seeing what you create!

Kristin donates a portion of every sale to her charity Project Kristin Cares, which supports survivors of domestic violence. Learn more at KristinOmdahl.com/PKC 

xoxo,
Kristin