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Striped polo shirt built from a 6-dc group stitch
Dense Garments

17 rounds · filed under dense · 7 of them

DenseDrapeNo feel

Garments · added 27 Sep 2026

Striped polo shirt built from a 6-dc group stitch

6-dc groups form a ridged, airy fabric with color-block stripes for a fitted, collared crochet polo shirt.

Skill
Intermediate
Time
4-6 hours
Yarn
Worsted
Rounds
12

About this pattern

Under the hand this fabric reads ridged rather than smooth: each 6-dc group sits as a raised block, separated by a chain-1 gap that the next row's hdc pass fills in. That fill-in row is what keeps the surface from feeling holey — it closes the gaps into a firmer, slightly nubby texture with just enough give to move with the body, not the loose drape of plain dc rows.

Three flat panels — one back, two fronts — build the body, joined at the sides up to the armhole marker and at the shoulders. Sleeves pick up at the armhole and turn to working in the round, so the same 6-dc rhythm continues without a seam down the arm. Add the collar and plackets last, then the pocket gets sewn on once the fronts are finished. You can personalize the shirt with different color combinations to suit any season or occasion.

The swatch in numbers

Rounds
12
Parts
4
Level
Intermediate
Time
4-6 hours
Yarn
Worsted

The yarn and the hook

  1. Worsted weight yarn
  2. Crochet hook (size to suit your yarn)

Stitches, spelled out

ch chain; sc single crochetDense; dc double crochetDrape; hdc half double crochetDense; sl st slip stitch.

Tension and hand-feel

After round 1 of a body panel, lay it flat and check that the 6-dc groups sit evenly with their ch-1 gaps closed rather than gaping, and that the piece doesn't cup or ruffle at the edge.

If the fabric buckles or the groups crowd against each other, go up or down a hook size until the row lies flat under a light stretch.

Body Panels (6-DC Group Main Stitch Pattern)

Make 3

The core pattern consists of groups of six double crochet (dc) stitches separated by a chain-one (ch 1) space.

This 6-dc group pattern forms one back panel and two front panels.

This example uses 4 rows of the main color between each color change row.

Round 1Foundation Row Create a foundation chain that measures the total shoulder-to-shoulder width of the shirt; chain 3 more (counts as your first dc); skip the first 3 chains from the hook, and make a dc into the 4th chain; continue making dc stitches until you have a total of 6 stitches (counting the starting ch 3 as the first); ch 1; skip 1 chain in the foundation row; make 6 dc into the next 6 chains; repeat (ch 1, skip 1 chain, 6 dc) across the entire row.
Round 2(Pattern Row – repeat for Rows 2, 3, 4, etc.): Turn your work; chain 3 (counts as first dc) OR make a sc in the same stitch, then another sc into the second loop of the first sc as the first stitch; make dc stitches into the next stitches until you have a total of 6 stitches (including the starting stitch); ch 1; skip the chain-one space from the previous row; make 6 dc into the next 6 stitches; repeat (ch 1, skip ch-1 space, 6 dc) across the row.
Round 3(Color Change Row – Half Double Crochet Row, worked after every 4 rows of the Pattern Row): After the last dc row, ch 1 and fasten off the first color; turn your work; attach new color (e.g., white) and ch 1 to secure it; in that same space, make an hdc; continue making one hdc in every stitch and one hdc into the chain-one spaces from the previous row (this row fills the gaps); once complete, change back to the main color and repeat the 4 rows of the main dc pattern, alternating colors to create stripes.

Sleeves

Make 2
Round 1Attach yarn at the bottom of the armhole opening; work a row of hdc around the armhole opening, placing one hdc in each available space; slip stitch to join the round.
Round 2Chain 3 (counts as first dc) and begin working the 6-DC Group Pattern in the round (6 dc, ch 1, skip 1 stitch, 6 dc, etc.).
Round 3(repeat): Continue this pattern, joining with a slip stitch at the end of each round and turning your work, until the sleeve reaches the desired length.

Button Plackets (Front Opening)

Make 2
Round 1(SC): Work a row of sc up the front opening of the shirt (2 sc per double crochet row space).
Round 2Buttonhole Side – left for a boy Work subsequent rows of sc, creating buttonholes by chaining 2, skipping 2 stitches, and continuing with sc.
Round 3Button Side – right Work a simple three rows of sc.

Polo Collar

Round 1Join yarn at the back neck/collar line.
Round 2Increase Rows Work rows of hdc around the collar line; increase at the front corners (making 2 hdc in the corner stitches) for the first few rows to shape the collar.
Round 3Straight Rows Continue working straight rows of hdc (no more increases) until the collar reaches the desired length to fold over.

How the texture is built

  • The chain-1 gap between each 6-dc group is left open in the pattern rows on purpose — the hdc color-change row is what closes it, so the stripe break also doubles as the row that firms up the fabric.
  • The button plackets are worked directly into the row-ends of the dc panel at two sc per dc row space, which ties the density of the placket to the height of the body rows rather than to a separate stitch count.

Putting the pieces together

Step 1Once all three panels (one back, two front) are the same length, lay them out.
Step 2Use stitch markers to define the armhole opening (13 cm from the edge) and the shoulder seam (9 cm from the collar opening).
Step 3Join the side seams (from the bottom up to the armhole marker) and the shoulder seams using your preferred method (sewing from the wrong side for the body and the right side for the shoulder for a neater look).
Step 4The pocket is constructed separately and then sewn onto the front panel of the shirt.
Step 5Sew the pocket cleanly so that the contrasting yarn color does not show through the front of the work.

If you swap the yarn

Cotton, worsted weightHolds the ridged texture of the 6-dc groups crisply and drapes less, which keeps the placket edges from curling; use the same hook size as called for.
Cotton-acrylic blend, DK weightProduces a lighter, more fluid fabric with softer ridges; size down a hook to keep the chain-1 gaps from opening too wide.
Linen blend, worsted weightAdds structure and a slightly stiffer hand that suits the collar and plackets especially well, though the sleeves will drape less around the arm; keep the hook at the pattern's size or slightly larger to avoid a tight, board-like fabric.

Colorways

  • Classic stripe rhythm Main color for the 4 rows of dc body pattern on all three panels and both sleeves, with a contrast color worked only on the hdc row after every 4th row; collar and plackets stay in the main color.
  • Reversed emphasis Contrast color for the dc body rows throughout, main color reserved for the hdc fill-in rows only, then the collar and plackets worked in the contrast color to frame the neckline against the striped body.

Washing and blocking

Hand wash or use a gentle machine cycle in cool water to keep cotton fibers from felting at the ridged 6-dc rows.

Lay flat to dry rather than hanging, since a wet garment of this weight can stretch out of shape at the shoulder seams.

Reshape the collar and plackets by hand while damp, then fold rather than hang for storage to keep the panels from drooping.

When it does not look right

The panel edges curl or won't lie flat after a few rows
This usually means the hdc fill-in row was skipped or worked too loosely to close the chain-1 gaps; work the hdc row snugly into every stitch and every ch-1 space as instructed.
The buttonholes on the placket gape
The ch-2, skip-2 buttonhole spacing is sensitive to tension; keep the chain-2 loose enough to match the width of two skipped sc stitches so the button sits without strain.
The sleeve pattern doesn't line up
Because the sleeve starts with its own hdc round at the armhole before the 6-dc pattern begins, its stripe rhythm starts a round later than the body; plan the color changes on the sleeve separately rather than matching row-for-row with the panels.

Close-ups

Striped polo shirt built from a 6-dc group stitch — photo 2
Striped polo shirt built from a 6-dc group stitch — photo 3
Striped polo shirt built from a 6-dc group stitch — photo 4

Questions people ask

Why does the pattern call for a chain-1 skip between each 6-dc group instead of working straight across?

That gap is left open so the hdc color-change row has somewhere to land — it fills each ch-1 space with a stitch, which is what closes the fabric up after every color break. Without the gap, the hdc row would have nothing to fill and the stripe transition would sit differently.

Can the sleeves be worked flat instead of in the round?

The pattern joins the sleeve with a slip stitch each round specifically so there's no seam down the arm, which keeps the ridged 6-dc texture continuous. Working it flat would mean adding a seam and matching the ch-1 gaps across it by hand.

How is the fit adjusted since there's no shaping in the panel rounds?

Fit comes from the armhole marker placed 13 cm from the edge and the shoulder seam marked 9 cm from the collar opening, not from increases or decreases in the stitch pattern. Moving those markers in or out changes the fit without altering the 6-dc rows themselves.

Does the pocket need to be worked as part of the front panel?

No — the pocket is built separately in the same stitch pattern and then sewn onto the front panel once both pieces are finished. This keeps the panel's row count clean for seaming before the pocket is added.

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