Hello everyone! Tara here—

There’s a word we throw around a lot when we talk about crochet: texture.

Sometimes we’re just talking about the texture of the yarn. Maybe it has tweed spun into it or the yarn has curls or spots that are thicker than others, like the artistic handspun yarn tends to. Or the fiber itself could just have a really interesting texture to it.

But, when we’re talking about texture, we’re talking about the stitches themselves more often than not.

These stitches and stitch patterns create raised and indented components that give the fabric you’re creating a really beautiful texture. They aren’t flat and smooth like a simple single crochet would be.

For example, working the back loop of your stitches creates a really beautiful raised rib texture, which you can see in the below photo.

This is most often used in the brims of hats and on the cuffs of sleeves, but, working it all over your project makes your project much more interesting.

Front post stitches and back post stitches are some of the easiest ways to add texture to a piece. Like the pattern below, you can use the stitches to create shapes in your work, and this one looks just as stunning with the right side of the project facing you as it does with the wrong side facing you because of the raised/indented texture the stitches create.

The alpine and ripple stitches are similar, and use front post stitches (one with front post double crochet and the other with front post treble crochet) to create a cascading effect with your stitches.

Bobbles and popcorns are some of my all-time favorite stitches to add texture. They create little bubbles in your work and you can use them to create images or just little bursts of interest.

Like bobbles and popcorn stitches, puff stitches create these beautiful raised textures that are so much softer than the front post stitches. They remind me of braids and can look like little hearts!

Cluster stitches and shell stitches are also incredible stitches to use to add texture to your projects. You can really see these highlighted in the top below.

And there are so many other stitches and stitch combinations that create gorgeous textures in your projects!

Let us know how what stitches you love to use to create texture in the comment section!

– Tara Orchard, Editor of Crochet! Magazine