Learn how to do front post single crochet! Picture this: You have just found the most adorable crochet pattern online, and it is exactly what you want to make for yourself. You have printed it out and bought the yarn and the correct size crochet hook, and then you sit down to get started and find that you need to work “Front Post Single Crochet” to create the rib! Oh no! What to do now? You know how to work all the basic crochet stitches, and increase or decrease, but have never before encountered this stitch! Well, here you go; just so this never happens to you, this is a tutorial on how to do front post single crochet!

Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Tutorial Featured Image

Front Post Single Crochet Tutorial

Supplies for Front Post Single Crochet

Yarn and a crochet hook size suitable for that yarn.
Useful to have scissors and a yarn needle on hand as well.

Stitch Abbreviations

All instructions are written in US crochet terms.

fpsc crochet = front post single crochet
sc = single crochet
ch = chain stitch crochet
dc =double crochet stitch
YO = yarn over
st (s) = stitch (es)
sl st = slip stitch crochet

How to Do Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Tutorial

What are Front Post Single Crochets?

Single crochet stitches are short stitches that work together to form a thick fabric. If you want to add extra texture, it is worth learning to do the front post single crochet.

The difference between any front post stitch in crochet and its normal counterpart lies in where you insert the hook for the stitch.

If you look at the picture below, you will see my needle inserted into the post of the stitch. It is the tall, vertical part of the stitch that gives the stitch its height. Of course, with single crochet there isn’t a very tall post at all, so you need to insert your crochet hook with care!

When working a normal single crochet, you insert your hook through the top loops of the stitch from the previous row. When working fpsc, instead of working into those top loops, you will be working around the (very short) vertical post of that stitch.

The crochet hook is inserted behind the post, so the post is in front of the hook, hence the name “front post”.

Because a single crochet stitch does not have much of a post to work around, insert the hook under the two loops of your usual single crochet stitch. Instead of yarning over and pulling up a loop, put the hook from back to front beneath the next stitch's two loops. That is the 'post'.

More Single Crochet:

How to Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Instructions

Foundation:

Work 14 foundation chains (or your desired length).

Row 1:

In the second chain from the hook, work a single crochet.
Work single crochet stitches across the row.
Turn.

Row 2:

Chain 1.
*work 1 single crochet into the first stitch.
Now insert the hook from back to front beneath the 2 loops of the next single crochet stitch.

Yarn over and draw up a loop.

Yarn over and pull through the 2 stitches to complete the front post single crochet.

Keep going until the last stitch of the row.
Work a regular single crochet into the last stitch.

Row 3:

Turn, and chain 1,
work a row of ordinary single crochet stitches.

Repeat from * until your work is the required length.

You will see that this creates a ridge at the wrong side of your work, which adds a lot of texture to whatever you are making.

How to Increase Front Post Single Crochet

Usually, increases are created by working two stitches into the same existing stitch. In order to create a front post increase, you will need to work one stitch into the top of a stitch as well as one stitch around the post of the same stitch.

So, using your sample created above:

Work fpsc until you need to increase.
Insert the crochet hook through the top loops of the next stitch, as for normal single crochet.

Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Increase

Yarn over, and pull up a loop.
Complete as for a normal single crochet stitch.

Now insert the hook into the post of the same stitch.

Work your front post single crochet as normal.
You have now worked 2 stitches into 1, thus increasing a stitch.
Repeat whenever an increase is required.

How to Decrease Front Post Single Crochet

Decreases are made by crocheting 2 fpsc together. Working along your row of single crochet, where you need to decrease, you work it like this:

Insert hook under the post.
Yarn over, and bring the loop back through (2 loops on hook).

Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Decrease

Do not complete the stitch!
Insert the hook through the next post.

Yarn over, and bring a loop back through (3 loops on hook).

Yarn over, draw through all 3 loops (1 loop on hook).

You have now made 2 stitches into 1, and decreased a stitch.
Repeat whenever decreases are necessary.

Front Post Single Crochet In The Round

If you want to work front post single crochet in the round, you do it just as you would work normal single crochet in the round, but each time inserting your hook into the post instead of into the top loops.

Round 1:

Start with a magic ring or chain 3, and join with a slip stitch.
Chain 1, work 11 sc into your central ring. (Work fairly loosely, to make those posts easier to find!)
Join with a slip stitch.

Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) In the Round

Round 2:

Chain 1 (counts as first sc).
Make a fpsc around the beginning chain of the previous round.

*Single crochet into the top loops only of next fpsc.
Then work fpsc around the post of the same stitch (you are increasing in each stitch).
Repeat from * into every stitch of the round (24 sts, 12 sc, 12 fpsc).
Join with a slip stitch.

Round 3:

Chain 1 (counts as first sc).
*Sc into next stitch (this will be into the fpsc of the previous round).
Make a fpsc into the same stitch.
Sc in the next stitch.

Repeat from * 11 times, leaving out the last sc in the last repeat.
Join to the top of 3 chains with a slip stitch (36 sts, 24 sc, 12 fpsc).
Join with a slip stitch.

Continue in this way in rounds, working the fpsc in each previous fpsc and increasing the number of sc by one in between each fpsc

So round 4 will be 2sc, 1 increased fpsc all around,
Round 5 will be 3 sc, 1 increased fpsc all around. And so on.

Work until your circle is the required size.

What can I Make With Front Post Single Crochet?

This stitch is really useful for making amigurumi with extra texture. Just work your amigurumi pattern as normal, but substitute fpsc for the basic single crochet stitches.

You can then use the ridges on the “wrong” side as the outside of your creature, or you can use the right side with more bumps to give the illusion of a furry creature.

This stitch also works well to create crochet ribbing.

Raised Crochet Rib Pattern Using FPSC

Foundation: Ch 15 for test swatch (must be a multiple of 3).
Row 1: sc into 2^nd ch, sc into each ch along the row.
Row 2: Ch1, turn, sc into each sc from row 1.
Row 3: Ch1, turn. Sc into each of first 2 sts. Insert hook through post 2 rows below, work sc. (ie 1 fpsc) Pull the loops up very loosely! Skip 1 st, (the top of the stitch you worked into), sc into each of next 2 sts. Repeat to the end of the row.
Row 4: (And all even rows) Ch1, turn. Sc across all sts.
Row 5: Ch1, turn. Sc into each of first 2 sts, insert hook into previous post stitch below, fpsc, skip 1 st, sc into each of next 2 sts.
Repeat rows 4 and 5 until your rib is the required length.

Front Post Single Crochet (fpsc) Ribbing

Troubleshooting Front Post Single Crochet

If you find your work is looking too tight, or bunching up too much, try working a fpdc instead of each fpsc suggested. That will give your post stitches extra height to prevent any bunching.

When to Use Front Post Single Crochet

Anything that can be made from a pattern that requires single crochet can be adapted to work with front post single crochet. It will develop more texture and be a thicker fabric, so things like pot holders or dishcloths are perfect for this stitch.

Just keep in mind that you may have to crochet a few more rows of fpsc, as the fabric does get pulled up a little bit by those post stitches!

Front Post Single Crochet - In Conclusion

The seemingly insignificant activity of crocheting one front post single crochet stitch after another may seem to be an irrelevant task, but the ultimate result is one of the things I enjoy most about it. Each step along the way seems small and insignificant, but it is possible to make a cozy, multicolored blanket with thousands of stitches that would be ideal for swaddling a brand-new baby or providing warmth to a relative.