How to Troubleshoot Amigurumi Patterns with Ease
Have you ever been following a pattern and no matter what you do, it’s just not coming out right? We’ve all been there and it’s super frustrating. There are a few reasons that you might have problems with a pattern like differing tension and technique. But how can you fix it? Don’t worry, with a few tips and tricks, I’ll show you how to troubleshoot amigurumi patterns with ease!
How to Troubleshoot Amigurumi Patterns with Ease
Before we go further, I want to add a disclaimer to this article. All of the following tips and tricks will help based on the assumption that the pattern is correct. This means that all the math adds up and the designers instructions make sense. If you find a mistake in a pattern or something is unclear, the first step is always to reach out to the designer. If for some reason you can’t contact them, then I recommend troubleshooting yourself.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of AI scams floating around. In these cases, nothing you do will make the pattern legible short of re-designing it yourself. If you’re not sure if a pattern is made by a real person, it’s always good to check the seller’s social media, website, etc… For more info on spotting AI patterns, check out this excellent article from Hooked by Kati.
3 Common Problems & Why They Happen
When you’re making amigurumi, there are 3 main areas where you’re likely to come across issues:
- Shaping – Maybe your piece isn’t curving/expanding/contracting in the right direction.
- Color work – Your color work is shifting or not lining up.
- Attachments – Perhaps your attachments are not in the right place.
Even if you follow a pattern word-for-word, there are times when things just go wrong and it’s no one’s fault. The trouble is that every person crochets a little differently. Let’s look at some of the reasons you might be having these problems.
- Handedness – The vast majority of patterns are written by right-handed crocheters. If you’re left-handed, this poses a problem because you need to reverse the order of the row instructions. When you factor in shaping, color work or attachments, this becomes even more difficult. For example:
- Right-Handed: Rnd 2: sc, dec 2 times, 3sc. (6)
- Left-Handed: Rnd 2: 3sc, dec 2 times, sc. (6)
- Knife Grip vs Pencil Grip – The way you hold your crochet hook can affect your tension and make some stitches more or less difficult.
- Tension – Tension is super important in crochet and can vastly impact the outcome of your project. Some people have a naturally tighter tension while others are more loose.
- Technique: Yarn Over vs Yarn Under – When you make your stitches, this refers to whether you wrap the yarn ‘over’ or ‘under’ the hook. Check out this article for a more detailed breakdown.
- Stitch Drift – As you crochet in a spiral, your stitches will naturally drift to one side or the other. This is affected by all sorts of things including your handedness, your grip, your tension and your technique.
On the left is my Sammie the Turtle and on the right is Sammie made by one of my testers, Karrie. If you look very closely at the stitches you’ll see that mine don’t fall into straight, stacked lines like Karrie’s do. My stitches tend to drift to the right as I work while hers stay a lot straighter.
Before you Troubleshoot your Amigurumi…
Now that we know a bit about why your project isn’t turning out, let’s talk about how to fix it. The first step is to pause and take a breath. If you’ve reached this point, you’re likely very frustrated or on the verge of chucking your wip in timeout. You might even need to take a step back for a day or two. I know when I’m stuck and annoyed with a project, sometimes I need to do other things for a few days to clear my head.
Once you’re ready to tackle this project again, the next step is to go back and read the entire pattern again. Even if you already did that at the beginning, I want you to read all of the instructions in between rows, look at all the photos and read any additional notes. It’s important to get a better understanding of the big picture and how the amigurumi is constructed.
Is it worked from the bottom up or top down? Does the color work stay on one side of the project? Where is the center line in relation to the other parts of the project?
Ideally, the pattern designer has included notes about the shaping, center line and/or limb placement. However, if the pattern you’re following is sparse on explanations, then examine the photos to see where everything is supposed to be.
For example, in my Nico the Narwhal pattern (update coming very soon *wink, wink*) I provide explanations about how the color work and decreases form a vertical center line. This helps when placing the safety eyes and later, the flippers.
How to Troubleshoot your Amigurumi
The following tips will help you adjust your rows to fix any twisting that might be happening in your project. This applies to all 3 problems: shaping, color work and attachments.
Use Stitch Markers
Stitch markers are super useful beyond just marking the start of a row. You can use them to mark any place where you want to help keep everything in line. In my Sammie the Turtle pattern, I recommend using stitch markers to mark the center of the face. This help when placing safety eyes and keep the shaping of the neck centered.
Placing stitch markers will also help you judge if you need to adjust your rows. As an example, let’s say you mark the front center of the body of a bear. In the next row you’re supposed to attach the arms as you crochet. However, you notice that your starting point is further back than the designer’s which puts the first arm more towards the back than the side.
With your front center marked, you can then adjust the start of the round by crocheting a few more stitches before you begin the row instructions.
Moving the Starting Point vs Adjusting the Row
When it comes to making adjustments to a pattern because elements aren’t lining up, you usually have 2 options: moving the starting point or adjusting the row.
- Moving the Starting Point: This means you either frog a few stitches to move the start of the row back or add a few stitches to move it forward. This is the best option if there are multiple rows of shaping, attachments or color work. Once you start in the correct spot, you’ll be able to follow the pattern instructions without much fuss.
- Adjusting the Row: This option is best if you only have one or two rows of shaping, attachments or color work. (Or if you’re left-handed.) In this situation, you would shift the order in which the stitches of the row are worked to keep key elements in the right place.
- Ex. Rnd 3: 4sc, inc 3 times, 4sc, dec 3 times, sc. (18)
- This rnd has the increases and decreases directly opposite each other, forming the center line of the front and back of a neck.
- Ex. Rnd 3 (adjusted): 5sc, inc 3 times, 4sc, dec 3 times. (18)
- This adjustment is made because the starting point is a little too far back, so one sc is moved to the start to make sure that the increases remain on the front center of the neck.
- Ex. Rnd 3: 4sc, inc 3 times, 4sc, dec 3 times, sc. (18)
Whichever option you choose highly depends on the pattern, but either way it’s very important to check your stitch count whenever you make adjustments.
Color Work
The tips above can definitely help with color work issues as well, but there are other factors that can affect how your colors line up. The method in which you choose to change colors, for example, can cause your color work to shift in one direction or the other because of tension. If you’re interested in deep-diving into color work, here’s some articles you might enjoy:
- Quick Guide to Color Changes in Amigurumi
- 4 Ways to Seamlessly Change Colors for Amigurumi
- How to Use Fair Isle Crochet in Amigurumi
I don’t know if you can tell, but I absolutely love incorporating color work into my amigurumi and I have several more articles about it, if you want to explore!
All of this is to say that adjusting your color work might take a little trial and error with adjusting each row (if there’s extensive color changes). If your colors are drifting too far to one side and not the other, you may even need to add or subtract a color change.
Summary
When things just aren’t ending up right, there’s always a way to figure it out! We all crochet a little differently and that makes each project super unique. So when you run into a snag, remember that with a few tweaks you can adapt any pattern to fit your unique style of crochet. Plus, with each new pattern you make and challenge you tackle, you’re gaining the confidence and skills to handle any task with ease!
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Til next time, have a wonderful day!