Turning Chains

The crochet stitches have different height. In order to come up with the height of the stitch you will be working, you need to crochet a chain which is the same height as the stitches in the row you are working. This chain is called the turning chain, it is the first chain in each row.

Here is a simple table showing how many chain stitches you need at the beginning of the row depending on the stitches you are going to crochet afterwards.

Stitch	Chains
Slip Stitch	0
Single Crochet	1
Half Double Crochet	2
Double Crochet	3
Treble/Triple Crochet	4

Below is an example for turning chain stitch for double crochet row. The picture shows a foundation row of 10 double crochet stitches.

In order to continue with the next row, you need to turn your work - simply rotate your crochet piece, clockwise halfway around (the last stitch that you worked now becomes the first stitch in the row below).

As you are going to crochet double crochet stitches, you need to start the row with 3 chain stitches.

You will continue with double crochet stitch in the same base stitch and in each stitch of the next 9 stitches from the previous row. For this case the chain stitch will not be counted in the total number of stitches for this row.

Note: Sometimes the crochet pattern will instruct you to start the row with a chain stitch and continue crocheting from the next stitch on the working row. Than, the chain stitch will be counted in the total number of stitches for the row.