Hello crochet friends!
I hope you have been well, life here has been a little hectic with never ending restrictions and two boys to entertain, but the show must go on! I was chatting to some of my French crochet friends recently and realised that, even if some of them do not speak English, they can actually read English crochet patterns quite easily. Of course there are so many patterns only written in English, this makes perfect sense. It did get me thinking though, that there are also some very cute patterns written only in other languages, especially a lot of free patterns (remember the French Hook A Duck CAL that I participated in?). I thought I should put together a little guide to translate the most common French crochet terms into English, so that you can try your hand at crocheting cute amigurumi from French patterns. I’ve also included a list of 5 free amigurumi patterns in French, if you fancy testing out your new skill!
| English Term (US) | French Term |
| MR (magic ring) | CM (cercle magique) |
| st (stitch) | m (maille) |
| sl st (slip stitch) | mc (maille coulée) |
| ch (chain) | ml (maille en l’air/chaînette) |
| sc (single crochet) | ms (maille serrée) |
| fp-sc (front post single crochet) | ms-RAv (maille serrée en relief avant) |
| bp-sc (back post single crochet) | ms-RAr (maille serrée en relief arrière) |
| hdc (half double crochet) | db (demi-bride) |
| dc (double crochet) | br/b (bride) |
| tr (treble crochet) | Db/DB (double bride) |
| inc (increase) | aug (augmentation) |
| dec (decrease) | dim (diminution) |
| FLO (front loop only) | BAvS (boucle avant seulement) |
| BLO (back loop only) | BArS (boucle arrière seulement) |
| FO (fasten off) | arrêter le travail |
| Safety eyes | Yeux de sécurité |
| Stuff | Rembourrer |
| Sew | Coudre |
Links to free patterns in French:
- Round cacti trio by l’Emmailleuse
- Phoenix the duck by Bories Creations
- Shrimp nigiri by Ohana Hook
- Stabilo pen by HappyCrochetEtc
- Marcello the fish by Sur_le_fil_de_Stephanie
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, let me know if you found it helpful or if you’d like me to add other terms. I’d also love to know if you think I should try looking up crochet terms in another language (which language would you like? I’m thinking Spanish maybe?).
I have a bunch of french patterns for some awesome barbie clothing. The one problem I’m running into is the term “air”. For the life of me I cannot figure out what they are talking about. Can you help me?
Hi Beverly, would the term be “maille en l’air” by any chance? That’s the term for a chain. Otherwise you could send me a picture/screenshot of the section you’re having trouble with on emmacraftsdesign@gmail.com and I’m happy to have a look at it 🙂
Hi Emma I’ve seen quite a nice pattern however you guessed right 😂 yup it’s in French could you possibly take a look for me please if possible , I can email it to you if that’s ok
Hi, of course, feel free to email me on emmacraftsdesign@gmail.com 😊
This is wonderful information!! I have a small question. My pattern says crochet n 5. I know that’s the hook but I’m not sure which it means
Hi Melissa, crochet n 5 would be a 5 mm hook, which is a size 6 E-U, or a size H. Hope this helps!