BLOG: Crochet

Why would you need to learn how to crochet an oval?

Well, I love making softies with oval bases. They require shaping that’s a little different than your usual amigurumi rounds – but they’re not hard to do.

There are two basic techniques for creating an oval. Each one gives you a slightly different look, so I’ll show you both.

Start with a Chain

Chain until the piece is as long as you want. You’re creating the center of the oval, so keep in mind that this piece will grow in all directions!

Crochet around the Chain to Grow Your Oval

Turn and sc in 2^nd stitch and each remaining stitch.

You will end up with one stitch fewer than the number of chains you started with. (That’s because one of those chain stitches became a turning chain.)

That grew one side of your oval. To grow the other side you’ll need to work the bottom side of the foundation chain

If you aren’t sure how to do that, hop on over to this blog post – How to Work the Bottom Side of a Foundation Chain.

Now we’re going to start looking at the two different ways to crochet an oval. Each results in a slightly different shape.

Technique 1: Increase at ends

One way to achieve an oval is to sc 3 times in each of the end stitches. You want to use stitches *directly* on the ends to get an even oval.

To do this, single crochet into the turning chain and the starting knot (unusual, I know!)

Put a locking stitch marker in the center of the 3 single crochet stitches, and increase (3 stitches in 1) on each side every round.

You increase 4 stitches each round. The result is a flatter oval with more pointy-looking ends.

Technique 2: Increase at ‘corners’

To begin this technique, sc twice in each of the 4 ‘corners’ of your piece, that is the first and last stitch of each side.

Do not work the turning chain or knot.

Place a locking stitch marker in the increase stitch furthest away from the end points.

The result is a nicely rounded oval. Just like technique 1, you are increasing by 4 sts/round.

Continue increasing (sc twice in 1 stitch) at the stitches with the stitch marker. The stitch markers will move apart by 2 stitches each round (put differently, the ‘increased stitch’ goes towards the short side of the rectangle).

Crocheted Ovals in Use

I used this method to create an oval base for this cute crocheted cat pattern.

See? You can see the crocheted oval at his base.

I also used it to give Duke the Dog here his oval feet.

See?

Once you learn how to crochet an oval you can stitch up all kinds of cute critters!

Here are handy links to all the posts about crocheting more advanced shapes. . .

• How to Work the Bottom Side of a Foundation Chain
• How to Crochet an Oval
• How to Stitch One Row Below
• How to Crochet an Underbite
• How to Crochet Scallops
• How to Crochet a Pocket Mouth
• How to Crochet Two Rounds Together that Are Separated by a Foundation Chain
• How to Add a Ruffle to Amigurumi
• How to Crochet a Donut Shape
• How to Crochet the Mane on a Lion

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the posts about troubleshooting common problems.

Happy stitching!

Those last couple of rounds of closing up an amigurumi can feel kind of awkward and tricky. Here Stacey shows you exactly how to do it.

See?

It’s really not hard to do – just kind of awkward to hold. 🙂

For some extra tips on keeping the stuffing out of your last stitches, take a look at this post – and be sure to read the comments for additional great ideas!

Here are handy links to all the posts about closing up the stuffing opening and fastening off in amigurumi. . .

• How to Close Up Your Stuffing Opening – Drawstring Method (Wendi’s favorite)
• How to Stitch Up Those Last Few Rounds (Stacey’s favorite)
• How to Fasten Off Amigurumi
• How to Tie a Knot in Amigurumi

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for attaching parts.

Happy stitching!

When you need to make a shape smaller, you’ll use single crochet decrease.

You’ll see this abbreviated in patterns as dec, or sc2tog – which stands for single crochet two stitches together.

And that’s exactly what it is! You’re going from two stitches down to one.

Here’s how.

See how easy that is?

If your decrease stitch looks a little loose, hop on over to this tutorial for some extra help.

This post has a bit more info about a technique called invisible decrease.

Here are handy links to all the posts about crocheting round two of your pattern and beyond. . .

• How to Crochet the Second Round
• How to Increase in Single Crochet
• How to Decrease in Single Crochet
• How to Single Crochet 3 Together

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for how to stuff your amigurumi.

Happy stitching!

Any time you need to make your amigurumi bigger, you’ll use single crochet increase. It’s super easy! You just stitch twice in one stitch.

Here’s how.

Sometimes you’ll see this written in instructions as “inc” and you decide where to put the increases, but our patterns usually spell it out. If we want you to crochet increase, we’ll say “sc twice in next st.” We like to make things clear and easy. 🙂

Want to practice how to crochet increase (and decrease)? Pick up a super easy pattern.

Jay the Bird is one of the easiest – great for beginners.

Want something just as simple, but a little smaller? This bird and bunny are adorable!

They’re a lot smaller (so you won’t get in as much practice on those crochet increases) but you’ll finish faster!

These squishy monsters are also really simple – and the pattern is free!

Aren’t they cute?

Here are handy links to all the posts about crocheting round two of your pattern and beyond. . .

• How to Crochet the Second Round
• How to Increase in Single Crochet
• How to Decrease in Single Crochet
• How to Single Crochet 3 Together

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for how to stuff your amigurumi.

Happy stitching!

There are a kajillion tutorials out there showing you how to start amigurumi. (My favorite is the sloppy slip knot.)

And there are several showing how to single crochet.

But that’s where many of them seem to stop.

And a lot of people have questions about what comes next.

How do you crochet the second round of amigurumi? The trick for a lot of people is finding the first stitch of the round.

That’s what Stacey shows you here.

See? The trick is in counting your stitches. 🙂 Once you have that down, the rest is easy as pie!

Want to see a photo version of this tutorial? You’ll find it here.

Here are handy links to all the posts about crocheting round two of your pattern and beyond. . .

• How to Crochet the Second Round
• How to Increase in Single Crochet
• How to Decrease in Single Crochet
• How to Single Crochet 3 Together

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for how to stuff your amigurumi.

Happy stitching!

Single crochet is the only stitch you need for almost all amigurumi – and it’s super easy to do!

Here’s how to do it.

See how easy that is? Just wrapping and pulling. 🙂

Now that you know how to single crochet, you can make almost every amigurumi pattern in my shop.

Here are handy links to all the posts teaching the basic crochet stitches. . .

• How to Chain
• How to Single Crochet
• How to Half Double Crochet
• How to Double Crochet
• How to Slip Stitch

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for more advanced crochet stitches.

Happy stitching!

Whew! That’s quite a mouthful! But it’s actually a really easy technique that lets you get two bumps with some space between them, like the awesome googly eyes on this frog.

If you’ve crocheted standing legs in an amigurumi before, this is going to look really familiar to you. 🙂

Here’s the video.

See how easy? This opens up all kinds of fun possibilities for different shapes. 🙂

Here are handy links to all the posts about crocheting more advanced shapes. . .

• How to Work the Bottom Side of a Foundation Chain
• How to Crochet an Oval
• How to Stitch One Row Below
• How to Crochet an Underbite
• How to Crochet Scallops
• How to Crochet a Pocket Mouth
• How to Crochet Two Rounds Together that Are Separated by a Foundation Chain
• How to Add a Ruffle to Amigurumi
• How to Crochet a Donut Shape
• How to Crochet the Mane on a Lion

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the posts about troubleshooting common problems.

Happy stitching!

When you crochet amigurumi, there are a couple of ways to attach arms and legs (and other parts).

Sometimes you attach amigurumi limbs after you’ve made and stuffed all the parts using whipstitch and a tapestry needle. (There’s a tutorial here showing that method.)

This is necessary if the attachment runs across several rows of stitching, but if the attachment is running WITH a row of stitching, you can attach limbs while you crochet the body – all in one nifty step! You’ll see this described in patterns as sc-attach, or single crochet attach.

You can attach arms and legs with crochet if:

• The body is crocheted bottom-up (that is, starting at the bottom and ending at the top)
• The arm or leg will be attached flat

For folks who don’t like sewing, the main advantage to crocheting on the limbs is, well, you’re attaching the piece by crocheting. No need to pull out your tapestry needle!

The attachment is also quite secure, since it’s built into the fabric of the softie. And it looks really nice!

There are disadvantages, though.

The main disadvantage is that it takes a little planning, since any parts need to be finished in order to attach them. Another potential drawback is that if you don’t like your positioning, you’ll have to rip out rows of crochet to fix it.

How to Attach Arms and Legs with Single Crochet

To start, work to where the arm needs to be attached (as indicated by your pattern). Now, flatten the arm, and stick your crochet hook through both layers of the arm.

Notice that you have 3 loops on the hook: the starting loop, then the two from the arm (one from each layer). Now, insert your hook into the next stitch on the body:

I know… it’s a lot of loops!

Now, to do your single crochet, treat the three newest loops as if they’re one. So, wrap your yarn around the hook, and pull through 3 loops. Now, wrap the yarn around the hook again, and pull through the remaining two!

That’s one stitch! Continue (as instructed in the pattern) until the entire arm is attached.

See? Look how neat that looks!

Here’s a video to give you an additional view of the process if you like.

See how easy that is? Go forth and attach all your arms and legs with single crochet!

Here are handy links to all the posts about attaching parts. . .

• How to Attach Limbs to Amigurumi
• How to Attach Amigurumi Arms and Legs with Single Crochet
• Tips for Attaching Amigurumi Features
• Which Loop Do You Use When Attaching Pieces?
• How to Attach Nicely Rounded Amigurumi Pieces
• How to Give Your Amigurumi a Shapely Neck
• How to Attach a Flattened Piece to Amigurumi
• How to Attach a Folded Ear to Amigurumi
• How to Attach a Folded Ear to Two Rounds
• How to Attach Flat Spots Using Running Stitch
• How to Attach with Single Crochet
• Tips for Attaching a Dress to Your Doll

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons about faces and details.

Happy stitching!