Quick Shell Stitch Crochet Tutorial

I’ve been working on getting some ideas out of my head and into designs lately. One thing I’ve wanted to create is a shell stitch crochet afghan. I  was testing out some different ideas and shared a photo on Instagram. Some of my followers were interested to know what stitch I was using; but I didn’t have a link or a book I could send people  since I wasn’t following an existing pattern. To please the masses, I thought I would write up the instructions for this shell stitch. 

A lot of the time, stitches aren’t original to one person. While I have never seen this particular stitch variation anywhere else, I can’t say that it definitely doesn’t exist. It’s a modified shell stitch, I guess I’d say. I love that it works up quickly and I think the scallops it has at the top are absolutely adorable. 

If you’d like to see more stitch tutorials, I have one for a honeycomb stitch here and a bobble texture stitch here.

From left to right, I used the following yarn and hooks for these swatches:

• Bernat Homemaker Dec in Cream with a Size M/N Hook  (9.00 mm)
• Vanna’s Choice in Linen with a Size I Hook (5.5 mm)
• Paintbox Simply Cotton Aran with a Size 7 Hook (4.5 mm)

Without further ado, here are the directions for this shell crochet stitch.

If you prefer video tutorials, I’ve posted a tutorial for this stitch on my YouTube channel. 

Chain any multiple of 3 + 2.

For my swatches, I chained 23.

Foundation Row: sc in the second chain and in each chain across. (22 sc)

Row 1: ch 1, sc in the first stitch, *ch 2, skip the next 2 stitches, sc in the next stitch* across. Ch 2, turn.

Row 2: ch 2, dc in the  first sc, *sc OVER the ch 2 space into the second skipped stitch underneath, work 3 dc in the next sc* across. End with a sc OVER the ch 2 space, 2 dc in the last sc.

Row 3: ch 1, turn. sc in the first dc, *ch 3, skip the next 3 stitches, sc in the next stitch (so the middle stitch of the 3 dc from the previous row)* across. Ch 3, skip the next 3 stitches, and end with a sc in the top of the turning chain-2 from the previous round.

Row 4: ch 2, dc in the  first sc, *sc OVER the ch 3 space into the middle skipped stitch underneath, work 3 dc in the next sc* across. End with a sc OVER the ch 3 space, 2 dc in the last sc.

Repeat Rows 3 & 4 for the pattern.

I have some plans for this stitch including plant cozies and an over-sized afghan. I think there are endless possibilities and would love to see it if you use this stitch. Please tag me with the hashtag #daisycottagedesigns if you use this pattern to create something!