How to Make Foundation Single Crochet.

Each completed foundation stitch has a top V, where the following row can be worked, and a base link below it. The next foundation stitch begins in that lower link, not in the top of the previous single crochet.

Use smooth yarn and a suitable hook. Keep a removable marker beside you to identify a new base link while you learn to distinguish it from the top. You should already be comfortable with ordinary single crochet.

Put a slip knot on the hook and chain two. Those two setup chains do not count as two completed foundation stitches.

1. Insert the hook under two strands of the second chain from the hook, the chain nearest the starting knot.
2. Yarn over and draw up a loop. Two working loops are on the hook.
3. Yarn over and draw through one loop only. This creates the new base link beneath the hook, while two working loops remain.
4. Mark or pinch that new lower link so you can find it again.
5. Yarn over and draw through both working loops to complete the single crochet above the link.

You have made one Fsc, not two. One active loop remains on the hook.

Gently tilt the foundation so the marked lower link is visible. Insert the hook beneath its two strands. Do not insert under the top V you just completed.

1. Yarn over and draw up a loop. Two working loops are on the hook.
2. Yarn over and draw through one loop to make the next lower link.
3. Move the marker or your pinching fingers to that new link.
4. Yarn over and draw through both working loops to complete the single crochet above it.

You now have two completed foundation stitches. Repeat until you have seven Fsc for this practice sample.

Check that the marker never gets crocheted into the yarn or trapped on the hook. Its job is to identify a link, not become part of the stitch.

Lay the strip down without stretching it. Trace the seven completed top Vs along one edge and the lower foundation links along the other.

The initial knot and two setup chains are not additional Fsc. Neither is the active loop on the hook. Counting the lower links and top stitches together would double-count the structure.

If the strip has grown in an unexpected direction, check whether you worked into the previous top instead of the newly made base link. Undo to the point you can identify clearly and try again.

After seven Fsc, chain one and turn. That turning chain does not count for this exercise.

Work one ordinary single crochet under both top loops of each of the seven foundation stitches. Do not work into the lower links for this second row. Count seven new single crochets and mark the first and last tops if the edges are unclear.

This second row sits above the foundation row. You have not made seven foundations followed by an extra replacement first row; the Fsc strip was already the first row's fabric.

A foundation-stitch instruction normally gives a number of completed stitches. That number is not automatically the same as the number of starting chains in a chain-based version. For example, seven ordinary single crochets may begin from eight chains, while seven Fsc are counted as seven completed foundations.

Patterns with skipped chains, corners, special placements or work on both sides of a chain need separate consideration. Do not replace their foundation without checking the construction.

Foundation half double and double crochet use related ideas, but they require different stitch-height movements and clearly defined starting conventions. This exercise teaches the single-crochet version only.

Keep the lower links large enough to enter without force. A foundation can still be too tight even when you use this method. Compare its finished width with the fabric above it, and use the gauge guide when a project needs a particular size. The glossary can help you distinguish a chain count from a completed-stitch count.