Up till now, we’ve assumed that you’re crocheting into the top two loops of each stitch. And this will be the case for most crochet patterns. Occasionally, however, you’ll need to insert your hook and work into different parts of your stitches. In this lesson, we’ll talk about a few of those situations:
- Front Loops Only (FLO)
- Back Loops Only (BLO)
- Front Post
- Back Post
Front Loops Only (FLO)
Normally you would crochet into both loops that make up the ‘v’ on top of each stitch. With Front Loops Only, you work only into the very front loop, the loop closest to you.
To do this, you insert your hook where you would normally, but instead of going through both loops, you bring your hook up between the front loop and the back loop.
You now have the front loop only on your hook. You can do any kind of stitch into the front loop, as long as you only insert your hook up between the front and back loops.
Back Loops Only (BLO)
Just like FLO, you don’t work through both loops in the ‘v’ that makes up the top of the stitch. For Back Loops Only, you only work into the back loop, the loop farthest from you.
To do this, insert your hook between the front and back loops. Come out behind the back loop. You now have only the back loop on your hook. You can work any kind of stitch into the back loop as long as you make sure you are inserting your hook down between the front and back loops.
Front Post
When doing front or back post crochet, you aren’t working into the tops of the stitch at all. You’re working around the posts. The post is like the body of the stitch, and it will be taller or shorter depending on what kind of stitch it is. Here are the posts on single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet:
You can do basically any stitch in the front post. I’ll walk you through the steps of doing front post single crochet, front post half double crochet, and front post double crochet.
Front Post Single Crochet (FPSC)
- Insert your hook from front to back before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back through on the other side of the post. You now have the post in front of your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from behind the post.
- Yarn over and pull through both loops on the hook to complete the single crochet.
Front Post Half Double Crochet (FPHDC)
- Yarn over so you have two loops on your hook, to begin with.
- Insert your hook from front to back before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back through on the other side of the post. You now have the post in front of your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from behind the post.
- Yarn over and pull through all three loops on the hook to complete the half double crochet.
Front Post Double Crochet (FPDC)
- Yarn over so you have two loops on your hook, to begin with.
- Insert your hook from front to back before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back through on the other side of the post. You now have the post in front of your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from behind the post.
- Yarn over and pull through two of the loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull through the last two loops on your hook to complete the double crochet.
Back Post
Just like front post crochet, in the back post, you are working around the post of the stitch. But instead of having the post in front of your hook, it’ll be behind it. Once again you can do just about any stitch in the back post. I’ll walk you through how to do single, half double, and double crochet around the back post.
Back Post Single Crochet (BPSC)
- Insert your hook from the back to the front of your work before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back out on the other side of the post. The post is now behind your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from in front of the post.
- Yarn over and pull through both loops on the hook to complete the single crochet.
Back Post Half Double Crochet (BPHDC)
- Yarn over so you have two loops on your hook, to begin with.
- Insert your hook from the back to the front of your work before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back out on the other side of the post. The post is now behind your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from in front of the post.
- Yarn over and pull through all three loops on the hook to complete the half double crochet.
Back Post Double Crochet (BPDC)
- Yarn over so you have two loops on your hook, to begin with.
- Insert your hook from the back to the front of your work before the post you want to crochet around. Bring your hook back out on the other side of the post. The post is now behind your hook.
- Yarn over and pull your hook out from in front of the post.
- Yarn over and pull through two of the loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull through the last two loops on your hook to complete the double crochet.
Conclusion
Now you know how to work through the front and back loops of your stitches. You also know where the post is and how to work front post crochet and back post crochet.
While there are even more places that you can work your stitches into, they are pretty uncommon. These are the normal places that you will find called for by a pattern.
By now you should feel pretty comfortable with the basics of crochet! If there’s anything you’re still struggling with, as always, feel free to hit me up! Or you can move on to the next lesson to learn how to read a pattern!
