The picot stitch is a fun technique that’s often used for the borders of blankets and other projects.
The standard picot stitch (abbreviated p, or sometimes pic) is made with a single crochet, 3 chains, and a slip stitch, but there are plenty of other variations on the stitch. As you look through crochet patterns, you might notice that they call for a different number of chains, end with a single crochet instead of a slip stitch, or tell you to put the slip stitch in a different spot to end the stitch.
In this tutorial, I’ll teach you the most basic picot stitch, and then you’ll be able to use that one or customize it to whatever pattern you’re working on. Let’s dive in!
For the picot stitch, you’ll need to start with a swatch made with any standard crochet stitch. I’m using the half-double crochet (hdc) in this tutorial, because it’s a common stitch used in blankets.
Starting Chain
Step 1: Make a starting chain of any number of stitches equal to a multiple of 3, plus 2 more chains to act as turning chains. I chained 29.
Row 1
Step 2: Starting in the 3rd chain from the hook, half-double crochet across the chain. If you started with 29 chains, you’ll have 27 stitches.
Row 2:
Step 3: Chain 2 and turn your work.
Step 4: HDC across the row.
Rows 3-10:
Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 seven more times, until you have 10 rows.
Row 11 – The Picot Row:
Now that we have a nice swatch of half-double crochet, it’s time to learn the picot stitch! The picots will be worked between single crochets. You can do as many single crochets as you want between each picot; I’m choosing to do two.
Step 6: Chain 1 and turn your work.
Step 7: Single crochet 2 stitches.
Now it’s time for the picot (steps 8 through 10):
Step 8: Single crochet 1 stitch.
Step 9: Chain 3.
Step 10: Do a slip stitch in one of two places: the front loop of the single crochet that acts as the base of the picot, or the back bar of the 3rd chain from your hook. I prefer working into the single crochet, which looks like this:
Work into the front loop of the single crochet (marked with a red arrow).Here’s what your picot will look like.
If you work into the back bar of the 3rd chain, it will look like this:
Work into the back bar of the 3rd chain from the hook (marked with a red arrow).Here’s what your picot will look like.
So to recap, a picot is a single crochet, 3 chains, and a slip stitch. You might find it written in patterns like this: (sc, ch 3, sl st)
Now let’s continue the row, doing 2 single crochets followed by a picot.
Step 11: Repeat this pattern until you reach the end of the row: 2 sc, (sc, ch 3, sl st).
Step 12: Finish off with a slip stitch in the turning chain of the previous row. Or, if you want to do picots around the whole edge of your swatch as practice, you would repeat the pattern in brackets—(2 sc, pic)—all the way around, and slip stitch into the first single crochet of row 11 to finish off.
Picot Stitch Video Tutorial
Amanda Crochets has created a video tutorial that will help you master the picot stitch in no time!
Project Ideas for the Picot Stitch
And now that you know how to crochet the picot stitch, you can dive into some projects! All of these free crochet patterns are fun and easy to follow.
This granny square blanket is super easy to make and looks amazing with a picot border. Just grab some worsted-weight yarn in your three favorite colors, and you’ll have a blanket in no time!
This throw is made with multiple granny squares seamed together, rather than as one big granny square. It also features a gorgeous picot border and is easy to crochet!
The picot stitch can be used for more than just borders, of course! In this beach cover up, it’s combined with other stitches to achieve a beautiful lacey design.
So, what will you crochet now that you’ve learned the picot stitch? Let us know in the comments!
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