Crocheting the Jasmine Stitch creates a very striking pattern and a finished fabric that is thick, squishy, and stretchable.
Have you ever seen a piece of crochet work that stopped you “in your tracks” and made you really puzzle over how it was done? In this post, I’m delighted to show you how to crochet the Jasmine Stitch through a step-by-step photo and video tutorial, because that is exactly how this technique made me feel the first several times I saw it!
About the Jasmine Stitch
The Jasmine Stitch is really quite unique, not only in how it looks, but also in it’s other qualities. These qualities make it particularly useful or interesting to use in certain ways, as we’ll talk about more below.
Qualities of the Jasmine Stitch
The Jasmine Stitch is made entirely of puffs, which are mostly created by loops of yarn that are pulled out to an even length, and then finished off together. Because of this, each puff is very squishy or “lofty”, which makes everything worked in Jasmine Stitch very squishy as well.
If made with the number of loops that I teach in the instructions below, the puffs make this stitch very thick. Even made with an alternate number of loops to get a slightly different effect, the Jasmine stitch stays soft and squishy.
As far as difficulty goes, the Jasmine Stitch is actually pretty easy. The challenging part of learning this technique is actually just learning to make the puffs themselves.
The puffs may take a few tries to master because there are a few specific steps for closing off each puff, and they need to all be done correctly to get the right “look”. However, once this one part is mastered the rest of the whole Jasmine Stitch Technique is really quite simple!
One possible negative quality of this stitch is that it may be prone to snag more easily. This is due to the longer loops of yarn that are drawn out in the puffs. Using certain yarns, smaller puffs, or even a slightly tighter tension may help with this, but when comparing similar uses of other stitches this just seems to be a weakness of the Jasmine Stitch.
Even despite that drawback, the Jasmine Stitch’s striking appearance and it’s other positive qualities make it a wonderful candidate for many different types of projects.
Uses for Crocheting the Jasmine Stitch
Because of how thick and squishy the Jasmine Stitch works up, I can see it being used in many practical and/or absorbent items like bath mats, potholders, trivets, and coasters. Due to the thickness, the jasmine stitch can also provide structure for bags (like this beautiful backpack design) and baskets.
The stretch and softness in this stitch would also make it a really interesting and comfortable choice for garments. In fact, I’ve created a beautiful new stitch, that I came up with myself, and it was inspired by the Jasmine Stitch. I call it the Jasmine Lace technique!
With all of these great qualities and potential uses of the Jasmine Stitch, I’m sure you don’t need any more convincing for why you should learn to make it. Here are my written directions and video tutorial so you can get to it!
Jasmine Stitch Projects
Below, you’ll find projects that I’ve with with the Jasmine Stitch, and it turned out beautiful!
How to Crochet the Jasmine Stitch Step-by-Step
Materials Used
- Medium weight yarn (any color).
- H Hook size
Starting with Puffs
As I said above, you can find a tutorial and video for just creating these puff stitches in this post, and you’ll also find more ideas there for using them. However, when it comes to using puffs for the Jasmine Stitch, all of the relevant information is here to make it easier.
1. To make a puff stitch, start by chaining two stitches.
2. Now pull the yarn that is on your hook out, so that you have a loop of yarn about 1″ long right after your chains.
3. *Yarn over, and insert your hook in the second chain from your hook (the first chain you made). Pull the yarn through so that all the loops of yarn are the same size (again, about an inch is good).
4. * Repeat all of that 2 more times. You should end up with a total of seven loops on your hook.
This sequence completes the body of the puff. Now it’s time to close the puff off and set yourself up for a smooth transition into the next one.
This is where watching the video tutorial below will be especially helpful, but I will explain here as well.
1. Start by yarning over one more time. Use a finger to keep this yarn over separate from the others by crooking the yarn with the top part of your finger. If right handed, this will most likely be the index finger of your left hand.
2. Keeping that yarn separate, use your hook to draw the rest of that yarn through all of your other loops.
5. Now, insert your hook under the yarn that you are holding with your finger. At this point you can move your finger because the hook should have the yarn by itself securely. This now means you have two loops on your hook-one from going under all those other loops, and the other from where your finger was holding.
6. Yarn over
7. bring a loop/stitch from behind.
8. Yarn over again and bring it through the two loops on your hook.
9. Finally, yarn over one more time
Final outcome of it
10. Then chain 1
Woohoo! Once you get the hang of those steps and are able to successfully close off each puff and transition into your second puff and beyond, the hardest part of this whole technique really is behind you.
From here, working the Jasmine Stitch is just a matter of combining three puffs in a simple combination.
Side Note: As you learn to work the Jasmine Stitch itself, you’ll quickly realize that it is very, very easy to keep your rows of Jasmine Stitch even. Accidentally losing or adding stitches and making your edges uneven would actually be pretty difficult to do with this technique, which is a nice bonus.
Combining Puffs into the Jasmine Stitch pattern (Working Three Puffs at a time)
Now that you know the foundation of the Jasmine Stitch, let’s learn the combination for them that creates that striking flower pattern. All you need is a foundation row of puff stitches, and after that every single row is the same.
Jasmine Stitch Foundation/setup row
Instead of using chains, the Jasmine Stitch requires a line of puff stitches to prepare for the main stitch combination. All you need to do for this is create a row of puff stitches as wide as you want your work to be, and then add one extra (puffs in any number of stitches +1).
For example, in my video I decide that 6 puffs creates a wide enough piece for demonstrating the stitch. I then add one more puff for a total of seven.
Side note: The number of puffs you will need for your project will obviously vary, and your results may vary greatly depending on how long you make your puffs. Longer or shorter puffs may seem better for different applications or look better with different yarns, and these are things to consider based on your own personal preferences.
Working the Jasmine Stitch in Rows
With your foundation of puffs done, every single row of the Jasmine Stitch from here on is exactly the same:
- Every new row of the Jasmine Stitch starts by adding a puff at the end of the last row. This allows you to go up for the next row and acts exactly like a turning chain. For the first row, this is the “extra” puff that you added to your foundation.
In the picture below, the numbers refer to where the loops for three puffs go in your work.
- Now, pull out a loop from your last puff and pull up the rest of your loops as though you are creating another puff. Get all of the loops even and consistent but do not finish off the puff.
- With all of those puffs still on your hook, do the same thing and draw up more loops from the space between the next two puffs closest to your hook. In the first row this is the space between your turning puff(the last puff that you actually closed off) and the one before that. Again, you’re going to keep all these loops on your hook and not finish them off.
- Finally, move to the very next space in-between puffs(the space between your second-to-last and third-to-last closest puffs) and draw through all the yarn loops for a puff there as well. By now you will have a LOT of loops on your hook!
- At this point, you can close off ALL of your loops of yarn (enough for three puffs) at the same time. While there are about 3x the number of loops to close off, the steps for closing off your Jasmine Stitch Combination are the same as closing off a single puff.
Step-by-Step Photo Demonstration
Follow the same process of making the Jasmine Stitch
Yarn over and put it through this whole (where the hook is pointing at).
Follow the same process as above, three times.
Follow the same steps as I showed you above.
Final outcome of the number of puffs I’m creating for my foundation layer of the project.
Important note: when drawing up the loops in the second and third spaces for the Jasmine Stitch, it seems natural to only get six loops of yarn instead of seven. For me at least, moving from an unfinished puff means that I move straight into three sets of “yarn over, insert hook into space, draw up a loop).
These Steps for the Jasmine Stitch Combination get repeated across your entire row, and for every other row of your work as well. You can add your “turning chain” puff for each subsequent row before or after you turn your work.
How to Crochet the Jasmine Stitch Video Tutorial
Even though I hope those directions above are nice and clear to you, watching this video tutorial will most likely make things even easier.
Enjoy!
Final Thoughts
Thanks for hanging out with me today to learn the Jasmine Stitch! I would love to hear about any projects you create with it.
And if you would like to stay in the loop about new projects and tutorials, be sure to get on my email list before you go. As a bonus, I’ll send you my list of 101 crochet ideas right away.As a subscriber, you’ll be the first to hear about new pattern releases, crochet resources, and special offers for yarn lovers. It’s also a great way to connect with me directly and see some occasional behind-the-scenes stories.
Keep the Crochet Delightful!
Amelia
thankyou for this beautifully done explanation, I thought it was way too difficult for me, but you have given me the confidence to give it a go