Crochet Loop Stitch.

Use smooth yarn in a colour that lets you see its strands, a suitable hook, two removable markers, scissors and a blunt yarn needle. Avoid a very fuzzy yarn for this first exercise: it can hide whether the hook caught one strand or two. No particular finished size is specified.

Chain thirteen. Single crochet into the second chain from the hook and each remaining chain. There are twelve stitches in row one. The skipped chain and the active loop do not add to that total.

Mark the first and last actual stitch tops. Every later row begins with chain one and a turn. That chain gives room to work but does not count as a stitch here. Work the first actual stitch into the first base beneath it.

The textured rows below have one ordinary single crochet at each edge, with ten loop stitches between them. The plain margins make the twelve structural positions easier to find without handling the raised loops as edge stitches.

Turn and chain one for row two. Make an ordinary single crochet in the first stitch. You have used position one; the next base is position two.

Lay the working yarn over the index finger of the hand guiding the yarn so it bends over the finger and has a strand descending on either side. Keep the bend loose enough to remove comfortably. It will become the projecting loop.

The hook starts with one active loop. Insert it from the working face to the back beneath both top loops of the next base. Reach behind the two strands descending from your finger, catch both together and draw them through that same base to the working face. Keep the large bend on the far side of the fabric.

There are now three loops on the hook: the original active loop and the two newly drawn strands. Ease the finger out without collapsing the projecting bend. Yarn over with the working yarn and draw through all three hook loops. One active loop remains.

That completes one loop stitch in one base. Do not close just two of the three hook loops, and do not make an additional single crochet into the same base. The projecting loop is not drawn through the closing movement.

Repeat that movement in each of the next nine bases. Together with the first loop stitch, this fills positions two to eleven with ten loop stitches. Make one ordinary single crochet into the marked final base, position twelve.

You should have twelve stitch tops: an ordinary single crochet at each edge and ten loop stitches between them. The long loops sit on the surface; do not count them as extra stitches.

Keep the finger at a similar distance from the fabric while forming each bend. A fixed finger position is a useful reference, but it does not guarantee identical loops. Let the fabric rest and compare the loop lengths as you work, before adjusting an entire finished row.

If a new loop is much longer, undo that newest stitch and remake it while its path is easy to follow. Pulling an older loop can move yarn from neighbouring stitches and make the problem harder to locate.

While you make a loop stitch in this version, its projecting loop sits on the side away from you. After completing row two, tilt the fabric to inspect the ten loops on the back. Mark that textured face as the display side of this sample. Keep the work in its current position for now; you will turn once at the start of row three.

A project may name its right side differently. The label does not change where the movement places the yarn. Check the pattern's working-face instructions before using loop stitch in a finished item.

The stitch-counting guide can help you find the compact stitch tops above the long loops.

Chain one and turn once to begin row three. The textured face is now towards you. Move the long loops clear of the hook and work one ordinary single crochet under both top loops of each of the twelve compact stitch tops.

The hook does not enter a projecting loop, loop around it or work an extra stitch beneath it. Count twelve actual tops on the finished row. There should still be ten long loops on the chosen display face from row two.

Keep the marked first and last tops distinct from the turning chain. Catching a long decorative strand can trap the texture even when the final count happens to remain twelve. Check placement as well as the total.

Continue with this short sequence:

• Row four: chain one, turn, single crochet in the first stitch, loop stitch in the next ten stitches, single crochet in the last stitch. Twelve tops.
• Row five: chain one, turn, single crochet in each of the twelve stitches.
• Row six: repeat row four, keeping both ordinary edge stitches.
• Row seven: repeat the plain row five.

There are seven structural rows altogether, including the initial single-crochet row. The three textured rows contain ten projecting loops each, giving thirty projecting loops on the same display face. The separating plain rows keep the next textured row facing the same way as the preceding one.

These counts describe this small exercise. They do not establish its dimensions, density or yarn quantity. Keep the loops uncut; changing them into cut pile would require a different assessment of how the yarn is held and how the finished surface will wear.

If only two loops are on the hook after the pickup, check whether just one of the two finger-loop strands was drawn through. That is not the three-loop checkpoint specified here. Undo the incomplete movement and find both strands again.

If four or more loops appear, check for an accidental yarn over before insertion or a doubled strand caught from the fabric. Separate the original hook loop from the two intended pickups before closing.

If the raised loop disappears, look for tension pulled through the long bend while releasing the finger. If it catches on the return row, check whether the hook entered the bend instead of the compact top V.

If the row grows to thirteen, check the two margins, especially the uncounted turning chain. If it shrinks to eleven, check the first and last actual tops before changing the ten interior positions. An unrelated increase at the edge would hide the count error without repairing its placement.

After row seven, fasten off and secure the yarn tails using the finishing lesson. Inspect both faces with the fabric relaxed. The ordinary margins, twelve tops per row and three rows of projecting loops should remain identifiable.

Use the blocking and care guide alongside the yarn's own care instructions. Avoid treating a pulled loop or a missed top as something finishing will automatically correct. Assess how the textured surface behaves in an actual sample before choosing it for a full project.

If you later work without turning in rounds, the working face no longer alternates in the same way. Do not transfer this seven-row schedule unchanged to a circular pattern. Follow its shaping, joining and face instructions, and keep the chosen loop-stitch definition with them.