Back Post Treble Crochet (bptc)- Made Easy

Back post treble crochet creates a raised texture in your crochet fabric and is often used in combination with other basic crochet stitches to produce interesting patterns and designs. If you have mastered treble crochet, it will not be difficult to learn back post treble crochet.

Back Post Treble Crochet Tutorial

Before you begin, I believe you should be familiar with doing the front post treble crochet before the back post treble crochet. It's simply a little less difficult. Go over this lesson if you don't know how to do the fptc yet.

Supplies for Back Post Treble Crochet Stitch

You can use any yarn and a crochet hook size suitable for that yarn. You may want to have scissors and a yarn needle for cutting the yarn and threading in the ends. 

Abbreviations for Back Post Treble Crochet

All instructions are written in American terms. Read more crochet terms and glossary.

The UK and US use the same names for stitches, like double crochets, trebles, and double trebles, but they mean different things in each country. A US single crochet is the same as a UK double crochet, and a US treble is the same as a UK double treble. So working a treble crochet in this tutorial would be working a double treble in UK terminology.

• bptc = back post treble crochet. (Some patterns may abbreviate it as bptr)
• ch = chain stitch crochet
• tr = treble crochet or triple crochet stitch
• dc = double crochet
• YO = yarn over
• st(s) = stitch(es)

What is Back Post Treble Crochet?

Back post treble crochet (bptc) pulls stitches back, creating an attractive ridge line that shows the tops of stitches from the row below. Some patterns use the back post stitches ridge to create crochet ribbing, but others show a horizontal ridge throughout the fabric.

Treble Crochet Refresher

Here is a refresher for doing the treble crochet:

Back Post Treble Crochet Stitch (Bptc) Step by Step Tutrorial

Doing back post treble crochet means crocheting around a post of the stitch in the preceding row, rather than into the top of the stitch as with conventional treble crochet. The following are the steps for working back post treble crochet:

• Work a foundation chain and a row of ordinary treble crochet.

• Turn and chain 4 (turning chain).
• YO twice
• Insert your hook from back to front around the post of the previous row's stitch, working from right to left if right-handed or left to right if left-handed.

• YO and make a loop. (Your hook should now have four loops.)

• YO and draw your hook through the first two loops. (Your hook should now have three loops.)

• YO and draw your hook through the next two loops. (Your hook should now have two loops.)

• YO and draw your hook through the last two loops. (You will now have one back post treble crochet stitch completed.)

• Repeat for each stitch you want to work back post treble crochet around.

• Work 1 row of regular treble stitch in between each row of bptc.

Back Post Treble Crochet Increase

back-post increases vs. regular increases: Usually, you work two stitches together in the same stitch to make an increase. To make a back post increase, you crochet one stitch into the top of a stitch and one stitch around the post of the same stitch.

• Work like this along your row of treble stitches where you need to create more stitches.
• YO hook twice.
• Insert your hook into the top of the stitch from the previous row, just like you would for a normal treble. Complete the treble stitch.

• YO twice again.
•  Work your bptc by inserting your hook from the back to the front and out the back of the same stitch and working the treble. (You have added one stitch because you worked two stitches into one.)

Back Post Treble Crochet Decrease

To make your row a stitch smaller, you will work two stitches together. Where you need to decrease along your row of treble crochet, you work it like this:

• YO twice, insert hook in front of post.
• YO, bring loop back through. (4 loops)
• YO, pull through the first two loops. (3 loops) Don't complete the stitch.

• Go to the next stitch.
• YO twice,  insert hook around next post.
• YO, bring loop through. (6 loops).

• YO, draw it through the first 2 loops.

• YO, pull it through the 5 remaining loops on the hook. You've just combined two stitches into one.

Bptc in the Round

Foundation:

Make a magic crochet ring or chain 3, and slip stitch to make a circle.

Round 1:

• Chain 4, (counts as first tr).
• Make a ring with 13 trebles, then use a slip stitch to join it to the top of your first chain. (14 stitches)

Round 2:

• Chain 4, (counts as first treble.)
• Make a bptc around the chain that was at the beginning of the last round.
• *Tr into only the top loops of the next tr. Then do bptc around the same st. post.
• Do * in every stitch of the round. (28 stitches, 14 tr, 14 bptc.)

Round 3:

• Chain 4 (counts as the first treble crochet.)
• *Make the next stitch. (This is going into the bptc of the round before.)
• Do a bptc in the same stitch. Then, tr in the next stitch.
• Repeat from * 13 times, leaving out the last tr in the last repeat.
• Use a slip stitch to join to the top of the fourth chain (36 sts, 24 tr, 12 bptc.)

Round 4+:

Keep going around in this way, working the bptc in each previous bptc and adding one more tr in between each bptc.

• So, round 4 will be 2tr, 1 increased bptc all around, round 5 will be 3tr, 1 increased bptc all around, and so on, until your circle is the right size.

What stitches can I make with bptc?

Back post treble crochet is a versatile stitch that can be used with other stitches to make interesting and complex crochet patterns. Here are some stitches that you can make with bptr:

• RIBBING: bptc can be used to make ribbing, which is often used for cuffs, collars, and hems, in crochet fabric. You can make a ribbing pattern by combining bptc and front post double crochet (fptc).
• CROCHET CABLES: In crochet, you can also use bptc to make a cable stitch. You can make a cable stitch pattern by combining bptc with regular treble crochet (tr).
• TEXTURES: bptc can be used to make crochet fabric with raised textures, which can give your projects more depth and interest. You can make different texture patterns by combining bptc with other stitches like single crochet (sc), half double crochet (hdc), and double crochet (dc).
• SHELLS AND FANS: bptc can be used to make shell and fan stitches, which are often used for edges and borders. You can make a shell or fan pattern by combining bptc with other stitches like double crochet (dc) and chain stitches (ch).

These are just some of the stitches you can make with bptc. Try out different ways of putting stitches together to make your own unique crochet patterns.

These are just some of the stitches you can make with bptc. Try out different ways of putting stitches together to make your own unique crochet patterns. A lovely example of a textured stitch using back and front posts is crochet basket weave stitch.

Back Post Treble Crochet FAQs

Is it hard to learn bptc?

Bptc can be a little harder for beginners to learn than regular treble crochets. But almost all crocheters can learn to do this stitch with practice and time.

Can bptc be used together with other crochet stitches?

Yes, you can use bptc with other crochet stitches to make different textures and patterns. For example, they can be used with front post treble crochets to make cables or with regular treble crochets to make ribbing.

Is there anything I should know about working with bptc?

Some tips for working with bptc include using a larger hook than you would for regular treble crochets, working slowly and carefully to make sure you are putting your hook around the right post, and practicing on a small swatch before working with bptc in a larger project.

Back Post Treble Crochet - In Conclusion

Post stitches, often known as raised stitches in the UK, generate fantastic texture by lifting the stitch's post away from the fabric. When these stitches are paired with regular stitches or other post stitches, the possibilities are unlimited.

More Crochet Post Stitch Tutorials

• Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc)
• Front Post Half Double Crochet (fphdc)
• Front Post Double Crochet (fpdc)
• Front Post Treble Crochet (fptc)
• Back Post Single Crochet (bpsc)
• Back Post Half Double Crochet (bphdc)
• Back Post Double Crochet (bpdc)
• Back Post Treble Crochet (bptc)
• Crochet Post Stitches