For my amigurumi patterns, I have always used an invisible decrease technique. I find it gives a much tidier and cleaner finish, leaving no holes whatsoever!
Amigurumi tend to need to be crocheted fairly tight, so none of the stuffing shows through, however when I've used the conventional way of decreasing my stitches, it always leaves these big gaps, that ruin the look for me!
This is a tutorial which shows in visual, and written format, how to do the invisible decrease.
I hope you find you can use this way of working two stitches together, and produce the nice, clean look that I adore to use in all my crocheted cuddlies!
Enjoy!
Step 1;
Insert your hook into the front loop only of the next single
crochet stitch,
Step 2;
Without yarning over, swing your hook to
the next stitch along, and pick up that front loop.
(You will now have three front loops on your hook, your two front loops, plus your original loop).
Step 3;
Yarn over and draw through
the two front loops on your hook.
Step 4;
You will now have two loops on your hook.
Step 5;
Yarn over, and pull through both the remaining loops.
Step 6;
Woohoo! Invisible decrease complete!
You should now have such a beautiful decrease, that it's pretty difficult to spot!
So a big piece of advice that I've learnt while decreasing continuously in a round? Keep count! Because unless I'm really concentrating, I lose where I've decreased!
Hope you found this tutorial clear and easy to follow, and I hope you enjoy using it for your lovely pieces of crochet work!
