Never again be intimidated by an amigurumi pattern! With these 6 skills, you’ll be unstoppable – ready to conquer the amigurumi patterns of the world, and even design your own. Whether you’re a newbie, or a seasoned designer, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without these 6 secrets.
Well, they helped me and you might find them useful too.
#1 MAGIC RING
Literally the foundation of nearly all amigurumi, it’s well worth learning the correct way to do a magic ring. Planet June’s tutorial is my favourite, and it truly is the neatest method for starting a piece that’s worked in rounds. Speaking of which, I cannot recommend June Gilbanks tutorials highly enough – her website is thee best resource for beginners to learn something new, and for experienced crocheters to take their work to the next level. Take Mars the bunny for example: he has a magic ring smack in the middle of his face, and there are no worries about unsightly knots showing here!
#2 CROCHETING INTO A CHAIN
For flat amigurumi pieces, this is a vital skill. Knowing how to recognize exactly where to insert your hook into a starting chain will give your work a neat finish. This tutorial at Annie’s Craft Store teaches the most common way to work into a chain, with very clear illustrations and a great video. Head over there for the full instructions.
#3 JOG-LESS COLOUR CHANGES
A very valuable skill, not only for amigurumi, but for any crochet project where changing colours makes an untidy jog that sticks out like a pink river dolphin in your sea perfect of stitches. Check out Needle Noodle’s tutorial to learn how.
This technique is great for stripey projects like these CritteRattles.
#4 INVISIBLE DECREASE
Decreases can make big, ugly holes that stand out in your amigurumi. You can see them from a mile away – they make dark spots and sometimes they even let the stuffing show through. There’s nothing worse than when these holes happen to be in the middle of your little cutie-pie’s face. Once again, Planet June’s solution is my favourite and I use it on every single one of my amigurumis. Octobubble here, has a belly full of decreases, and Longing Lion Cub’s face is covered in them – but just try and spot them!
#5 COUNTING STITCHES CORRECTLY
Working in the round, as is traditional with amigurumi, can make it challenging to keep track of your stitches. Knowing how to recognize the specific parts of a stitch to count can really help. Simply Crochet’s short and sweet tutorial (left) shows how to count your stitches, but if you need more explaining, Fresh Stitches (right) really breaks it down into baby steps. Check out the full tutorial here.
#6 RUNNING STITCH MARKERS
Even if you know how to count stitches, there are still cases where you need stitch markers. I use them to mark the beginning of each round so I don’t have to keep count of my stitches. That way, I can drop my crochet when my dog cries for cuddles, knowing that I’ll find my place again easily after she’s had enough chest-rubs and ear-scratches.
I for one, can’t be bothered with something I physically have to clip onto a stitch and keep moving with every new round; that’s why I love running stitch markers – they’re the only method I use. They’re basically free, you can’t really lose them, and they mark the beginning of every round – not just the round you’re on. Check out Little Owls Hut’s tutorial to learn more.
I use them on just about everything, but I found them especially helpful with keeping track of what I was doing on Slinky the giraffe’s neck. Designing the shape of this girl’s body was no joke!
That concludes the list of my personal top tips to demystifying amigurumi. They might seem elementary to some people, but I for one am always looking for ways to improve my skills, and what seems obvious to some is still a mystery to others. I only recently learned how to do a magic ring properly and I’ve been crocheting for about 4 years already! What are your secret tips to making better amigurumi? Share with us in the comments!
~https://www.projectarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/27-1.jpg
PIN IT!
Thank you, I love to crochet Amigurumi.
Sister From the South
I’m happy to hear it! You’re welcome and I hope you enjoy this pattern 🙂
Id really like the pattern for the giraffe
Hey Rebecca, the giraffe pattern isn’t available at the moment but I might release it at a later stage! x
I, too, would love the giraffe pattern; maybe a second request will entice you to release it 🙂
Hey JoAnn, I’m glad you like the giraffe, thank you! I have had plenty requests for it and usually I would release it. The problem is that people were using the pattern to illegally try and copy my Nomadic Galaxy Pony, which is absolutely not available, and is protected by copyright. So until I release the pony pattern one day, this little guy will have to stay on the shelf. The good news is, I DO plan to release the pony, I just can’t give a date yet 😉
Is there anyway to be added to a list so that when the giraffe is released we can all be notified? I’ve been trying to keep your page open in my browser so that when it will be released I will see it, but it’s been a challenge!!
Hi Susan! I’m sure that’s a big challenge! You can subscribe to my mailing list here, to hear about pattern releases. I also publish that type of news in my Facebook group if you’d prefer that platform. You can join here.
Please note however, that I have no idea when I’m going to release this pattern and it might be a long wait, unfortunately.
Thank you for the info, I will be sure to sign up! And it will definitely be worth the wait! 🙂
I thank you for this list and I am sure lots of newbys will learn from it. Could i please suggest a new name (7 skills) and add one more skill. That of the invisible increase. It is great to eliminate more holes.
You’re welcome, Sybil! The invisible decrease is included – it’s number 4 on the list 😉
She said “increase”… yeah, I know, I know, I did this :??? as well, but maybe she’ll think about it really hard and realize the situation does not merit it as it doesn’t do what I think she’s getting in her crochet…maybe the better number 7 would be to work on your tension to keep it even and consistent…
Oops, my mistake! There are many things you can do to improve your amigurumi – this post is a list of things that help me make better products, over and above the basics like uniform tension 🙂
Sorry Sybil, I misread your comment! I personally don’t use the invisible increase as I don’t find a normal increase makes holes in my work, so I actually didn’t even know it existed until recently! Maybe I’ll experiment with it and see if it’s something that needs to be added. Thanks for your suggestion 🙂
What great tips! I love your site!
Thanks Heather! I’m glad you found them useful.
I’m not new to Crochet (somewhere between 30 & 40 years) but I am new to amigurumi! These tips will help sharpen my skills for all projects!
I’m glad they’re helpful! 🙂
What does Danielle Pederson’s artwork have to do with this article? I came here via Pinterest pin.
This post isn’t related to her artwork in any way. I wonder if someone someone pinned an image from my live Pinterest feed in my sidebar (my most recent Pin always shows in my website’s sidebar widget) and maybe it redirects back here instead of to the pin’s original link? I do follow Danielle and re-Pin her ceramics when I come across them.