The height of the stitches varies from pattern to pattern as well. You can cluster together any of the basic crochet stitches, from single crochet to treble crochet and even taller crochet stitches. You can also cluster together more advanced crochet stitches but this tutorial sticks to an explanation of basic crochet stitch clusters.
The Type of Cluster
The name of the cluster depends on both the number of stitches and the height of those stitches. (Each stitch in the cluster will be the same height as the others.) So, for example, if you make a cluster of 3 double crochet stitches, you would be making three dc stitches adjacent to one another, linked together at the top, and it would be called a three dc cluster. If your pattern asks you to make a five tr crochet cluster, you would be crocheting five adjacent treble crochet stitches, linked together at the top. In this example, we are going to make a 4 dc cluster. There will be four stitches worked adjacent to each other. All of the stitches will be double crochet stitches. They were be joined together at the top of the stitch. This is done by completing all but the final step of the first double crochet, moving on to the next stitch to make the next double crochet (completing all but the final step), moving on to the third stitch to make the third double crochet (completing all but the final step), moving on to the fourth and final stitch to make the fourth double crochet (completing all but the final step) and completing a final “yarn over and pull through all stitches” to link all of the four dc stitches together into a cluster. Note that when you decrease in crochet, you are essentially making a cluster of two. For example, when you decrease in double crochet, you dc2tog or create a cluster of two double crochet. The same process that is used for decreasing is used to create clusters; you are just working on more crochet stitches. Note that so far you have simply been working a traditional classic double crochet stitch. If you were finishing your double crochet stitch then at this point you would yarn over and pull through both loops on hook. However, the way that you make a crochet cluster is that you leave the last step of each stitch incomplete until the very end of the entire cluster. So, this is where you will leave this first double crochet stitch. There are two loops on the hook, and you will leave them there as you begin to make the second double crochet stitch in the adjacent stitch. So you’re going to:
Yarn over.Insert your hook into the next stitch.Yarn over.Pull through.Yarn over.Pull through the first two loops on the hook.
At the end of this step, you all have two adjacent (but unfinished) double crochet stitches and there will be three loops left on your hook. At the end of this step, you will have three adjacent (but unfinished) double crochet stitches and there will be four loops on your crochet hook. At the end of this step, you will have four adjacent (but unfinished) double crochet stitches and there will be five loops on your crochet hook. And since you know how to do that, you know everything that you need to know for making other crochet clusters, from a tiny cluster of two single crochet stitches to a big cluster of eight treble crochet stitches. Simply complete the normal basic crochet stitch steps, leaving off the final step of each stitch in the cluster, then at the end just yarn over and pull through all loops left on the hook to cluster them all together.
