Increases and decreases for amigurumi

The increase

An increase (inc) is two single crochet worked into the same stitch. It adds one stitch to the round. A flat circle in single crochet grows by six stitches every round: start with 6 in the magic ring, then 12, 18, 24, 30 and so on. The pattern spreads the six increases evenly, which is where the familiar lines come from.

Each round adds one more plain stitch between increases. If the circle cups upward, you are short of increases (or working very tightly); if it ruffles, there are too many. A circle that lies flat is the reference for everything else.

Staggering the increases

Placing the increase at the same point every round makes a visible hexagon with straight lines running out from the center. That is fine for a flat base but it shows on a head. Patterns avoid it by shifting where the increase falls: round 4 might read (sc, inc, sc) x 6 instead of (2 sc, inc) x 6, so the increase sits in the middle of the plain stitches rather than at the end. The stitch count is identical; only the placement changes. When a pattern seems to write the same round two different ways, this is why.

The decrease

A decrease (dec or sc2tog) joins two stitches into one. The standard version: insert the hook into the next stitch, pull up a loop, insert into the following stitch, pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through all three. It removes one stitch from the round. To close a ball you reverse the increase table: 36, 30, 24, 18, 12, 6, then draw the last six together.

Straight rounds

Between the increases and the decreases most pieces have rounds with no shaping at all: sc in each st around. These give the piece its length. A head is roughly increase to the widest point, work straight for as many rounds as the increase took, then decrease. A body is increase, work straight for longer, decrease a little at the top. A limb is a small circle, then straight rounds for as long as the limb.

Reading the shapes

• Flat circle: +6 every round, no straight rounds.
• Ball: increase to the widest round, straight rounds roughly equal to the increase rounds, decrease at the same rate.
• Egg: increase quickly, straight rounds, decrease slowly, or the reverse.
• Cone: increase by fewer than six per round, or increase every other round.
• Cylinder: a flat circle, then straight rounds with no shaping.
• Ear or petal: worked flat in rows with a decrease at each end, or in the round with a decrease on one side only.

Stuffing as you shape

Stuff before the opening gets too small. For a head that means stuffing firmly when there are still about 18 stitches left in the round, then adding more as you decrease to 12. The fabric should feel firm but not stretched; if you can see stuffing between stitches, either the stuffing is too much or the hook was too large. Firm stuffing is what makes decreases look smooth, because the fabric is held taut against them.

Checking your work

With this arithmetic in mind, the shaping sections of Pip the Pocket Bunny or any other toy pattern read like a map rather than a list of numbers. And when a pattern offers a customization, a longer body, wider ears, you will know exactly which rounds to add.