Crocheting the reluctant stitch

In a Facebook group, someone was asking how to make the stitch that was in a picture. There was no pattern and a reverse Google image search produced no results. There was nothing on Pinterest either.

Reluctant crochet stitch
A wrist warmer crocheted with the reluctant crochet stitch

So I set about to figure out how to make the stitch work, and this is the result.

As there is no name for it yet, I’m calling it the reluctant stitch because it’s like walking up a sand dune, you take 2 steps forward and slide 1 step back. That’s what you do to crochet the reluctant stitch as well.

If you click on the image you’ll go to a youtube video where I demonstrate the stitch and give the recipe for these easy wrist warmers or fingerless mitts.

To work the reluctant stitch you insert the hook into the back loop of the stitch you have just worked, yarn over in reverse (wrap yarn opposite way to usual), and pull up a loop, then you insert the hook into the next st (under both loops) and yo, pull up a loop (3 loops on hook), yo and pull through all loops on the hook. It’s like working an single crochet decrease in some ways, but as you modify the way the one yarn over is wrapped, you and keep going back into the previous stitch made, it creates this new look.

For a more drapey feel to the fabric, you can work a reverse wrap half-double crochet stitch instead.  I demonstrate this in the video as well.  To work a reverse wrap half-double crochet, you simply yo in reverse, insert hook in next st, yo (normally), pull up loop, yo, pull through all loops. You don’t need to do the one step back move.

One important thing to remember about both of these stitches, is that they really only work by crocheting in-the-round.  Back and forth in rows doesn’t produce the same effect.  It looks nice, but it’s not what’s pictured above.

This is also my first episode  of Swatch-on, Swatch-off, a videocast. At the moment I have no sponsors but myself, so you will find a 10% off discount code to my newest pattern, The Arrival Shawl.  I have made a video tutorial, but I posted it on my Facebook page a while back. You could make the Arrival Shawl strictly from the video, but I actually had the pattern tested by several people and wrote an official pattern for my Ravelry site.

Eventually, I hope to publish frequent episodes of the videocast.