Turning Chain - Double crochet

[hmahany]

Currently making a basic sweater with double crochets making up most of the pattern. I have read so many contradicting articles that say the turning chain for a DC row should either be 2 or 3 chains. I do not know which number of chains is best for my crocheting. Any tips? Thanks!

Edited August 22, 2020 by hmahany

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville!

"It depends".  We all have different stitch gauges, I tend to make short squatty stitches, some make very lofty stitches--Designer Doris Chan's exposition on this subject.

For me, 2 chains usually works, loftier stitchers may need 3.  

My tip would be to swatch it both ways and see what looks best to YOU. 

Just to complicate things even more, there are also a number of DC turning chain 'hacks' that eliminates the need for skipping the first stitch after chaining 2 or 3:

Go to youtube and look for 'no turning chain DC' or 'chainless DC', it's a method of pulling up a loop and spinning your hook around to make a fake DC into the first stitch of a  row- it's a bit fiddly, but looks nice.

An easy method to remember is turn, chain 1, make a SC in the first stitch, chain 1 or 2 (again, depending on the height of your other DCs), and then on the return be sure to use the top chain of that fake DC to put your last stitch into.