How to crochet moss stitch: single crochet and spaces

Make the first row

1. Chain 12 for this practice strip. Single crochet in the fourth chain from the hook. The skipped chains form the starting edge and its first space.
2. Repeat [chain 1, skip the next chain, single crochet in the next chain] to the end. You finish in the last chain.
3. Check for 5 single crochets and 5 spaces, including the starting-chain space. Keep that starting space open enough to find again.

Repeat the space row

1. Chain 2 and turn. These chains form the new edge and first space; do not count them as a single crochet.
2. Single crochet into the next chain space. Chain 1, skip the next single crochet, and single crochet into the following chain space.
3. Continue across. Place the final single crochet in the space beneath the previous row’s starting chains. Each row still has 5 single crochets and 5 spaces when the starting space is included.

Check the woven-looking grid

The single crochets sit above spaces and the spaces sit above single crochets. If vertical columns of single crochet stack directly, you are entering stitch tops instead of spaces.

If one edge narrows, find the starting-chain space before turning. For a wider strip, add pairs of foundation chains. Each added pair gives one more single crochet and one more chain space. Use a moss-stitch swatch for sizing and yarn estimates.

Other names for it

Patterns also call this stitch linen stitch, granite stitch or woven stitch, and many sand stitch tutorials teach the same single crochet and chain-1 rows, often changing color every row. Other patterns use the name sand stitch for a different combination of stitches, so when a pattern’s instructions differ from these rows, follow its own stitch key.