This lovely textured stitch is so easy to crochet! Try the pretty pebbles stitch pattern by following my free crochet tutorial and free pattern below. This is the perfect stitch pattern for baby blankets and washcloths. A 4 inch square washcloth pattern has been added to the end of the post.
Pretty Pebbles Stitch Pattern and Tutorial
Free Crochet Pattern & Photo Tutorial
Yarn: Red Heart with Love. Medium Weight Yarn [4].
Hook: 5.50 mm (I)
Final Measurements: 8 x 8 inches after blocking
Gauge: (1 sc, CL) x 3 = 2 inches
Chain multiple: 4 + 2 sts
Stitch name: Pebbles from The Big Book of Crochet Stitches, Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss
Abbreviations: R – row, sc, single crochet, ch – chain, chs – chains, YO – yarn over the hook, CL – cluster (see special stitches below), RS – right side, * to * – repeat instructions between the stars the number of times indicated
Special Stitches: Cluster (CL): (YO, insert hook into the stitch indicated and draw up 1 loop) 3 times. YO and draw through all 7 loops on the hook.
R1 (RS): Chain 22 sts. Beginning in the 2nd ch from the hook, 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn. [21]
R2: 1 sc in the 1 st st. *CL in the next st, 1 sc in the next st*, repeat from * to * across, ch 1, turn [10 CL, 11 sc]
R3: 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn [21]
R4: 1 sc in each of the 1st 2 sts, CL in the next st. *1 sc in the next st, CL in the next st*, repeat from * to * across, 1 sc in each of the last 2 sts, ch 1, turn. [9 CL, 12 sc]
R5: 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn [21]
Repeat Rows 2-5, 4 times
Repeat Rows 2 & 3 once. Proceed to edging.
This should bring you to approximately 7.5 inches (stretched slightly). This square requires some blocking to reach the correct shape.
Edging
Begin working along the row ends (RS facing you – the bumpy side). 2 sc in the corner stitch, 1 sc in each row end to the corner.
Turn to work along the starting chain row, 2 sc in the first corner stitch, 1 sc in each st across to the corner.
Turn to work along the row ends, 2 sc in the first corner stitch, 1 sc in each row end to the corner.
Turn to work along the final row, 2 sc in the 1st st, 1 sc in each st across, finish off using the invisible join technique. Need help?
Check out this tutorial: Invisible Join Technique
Now you need to block this square to get it to the correct shape.
For a 4 Inch Square or 4 Inch Dishcloth
SIZE: 4 INCHES BY 4 INCHES
This size only uses: 5 mm (H) Orange Osage Hook and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Medium Weight Yarn [4] was used for the 4 inch by 4 inch square.
R1 (RS): Chain 14 sts. Beg in the 2nd ch from the hook, 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn. [13]
R2: 1 sc in the 1 st st. *CL in the next st, 1 sc in the next st*, repeat from * to * across, ch 1, turn [6 CL, 7 sc]
R3: 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn [13]
R4: 1 sc in each of the 1st 2 sts, CL in the next st. *1 sc in the next st, CL in the next st*, repeat from * to * across, 1 sc in each of the last 2 sts, ch 1, turn. [5 CL, 8 sc]
R5: 1 sc in each st across, ch 1, turn [13]
R6: Rep R2
R7: Rep R3
R8: Rep R4
R9: Rep R3
R10: Rep R2
Proceed to optional edging below.
Edging
Work 1 sc in each st and each row end and in each corner work: 1 sc, ch 1, 1 sc. Finish off with an invisible join and weave in ends.
Rhondda says
Hi Blake, Yes my project did require a little blocking to be an exact square. The stitch does slant slightly so I suspect if you are making a larger project it may become more noticeable.
Blake says
Hi I am making a blanket using this stitch and am loving it but just want to make sure if the stitch is expected to slant to the left as it grows? I feel like I haven’t made any mistakes and have the same number of rows but it’s looking more like a parallelogram than a rectangle so far, is this expected?
Rhondda says
Hi Sharanda, You would repeat R2-5 until you reach your size. I did the last 2-3 because I wanted mine a specific length which was half way through the repeat – we were trying to make a square 8 inches for this project and if I’d repeated until 5 it would have been too big. Hope this helps! Rhondda
Sharanda says
Hello, If I wanted to make a blanket with this stitch do I keep repeating 2 – 5 until I get the size I want and then finish off with rows 2 -3? Thanks so much!
Rhondda says
Hi Carol 🙂 Thank you – I do love this stitch too! You are welcome for the photos – I always find a visual helpful – although I struggle with watching video tutorials. Yes make it the width you want and make your chains be divisible by 4. So if it is 84 stitches wide (just as an example) it would be ok as 84/4 evenly (21 times). Then you need to add 2 more stitches to make the pattern work. So you would start with 86 stitches. Let me know if this doesn’t help 🙂 All the best, Rhondda
Carol says
Beautiful stitch. I’m always looking for something new and different but not too hard. If I wanted to use this to make an afghan, how many chains do I need to start with? You say in your instructions, it’s 4 + 2. Would it be multiples of 4 stitches however wide I want to make it. I’m not very good at figuring this out. Thanks for your pictures too.
Gabrielle Poirier says
What is this stitch called? 1sc in First stitch, 1dc in same stitch, then it is either skip 1st., or not….then repeat across row, 1sc,1dc,in same stich. That is all I can remember.
I can’t remember where I saw it and don’t know the name of the stitch pattern.
Perhaps you can shed some light on my problem. Thanks!
GP
Rhondda says
Thank you Casey!
Casey Russell says
Love this block. I’ve never heard of the pebble stitch before but I want to try this out!
Rhondda says
Hi Mashcelle, the cluster is made like this: Special Stitches: Cluster (CL): (YO, insert hook into the stitch indicated and draw up 1 loop) 3 times. YO and draw through all 7 loops on the hook. The other stitches are sc within the square. The full pattern is included above if you wanted to give it a try 🙂 Have a lovely day, Rhondda
Maschelle Mashburn says
This is a really neat stitch! Is this a sc, hdc, dc, cluster? I notice you kept the hook close to the work. Some clusters I see are pulled up higher than this with each yo, pull up a stitch in the cluster. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s a particular type of cluster? I love all the fun things you offer on your blog! TY for your hard work!