Free Crochet Pattern Roundup: Back to School

It's that time of the year again. Back to school. I remember those days, and the most exciting thing is always getting school supplies. Is that what you'll be doing this weekend?
A set of crayons for art classes.

Free pattern from Crochet N Play Designs

Art is not your thing? What is your favourite school subject? Chemistry perhaps?

Free pattern from Shanna's Journal

Don't forget to take good notes from your classes.

Free pattern from Greetingarts

And you'll pass with flying colours

Free pattern from All About Ami

Amigurumi Basics by a Beginner V: 5 More Basic Stitches & Techniques

Here're five more basic amigurumi techniques (click here for Part I):

7. Magic Circle or Ring

See my earlier post on how to do the magic ring

Now that you've mastered the single crochet, let's go back and learn the magic ring, the preferred way of starting an amigurumi round.
Also called: adjustable ring, magic loop
Good to know: You can substitute the initial "Ch 2. __ sc in 2nd chain from hook" instruction with the magic ring, doing the designated number of single crochets in the ring.
Tutorial: Check out my previous post.

8. Increase
Abbreviation: inc
How to: If you know how to do a single crochet, you know how to increase. Instead of working one single crochet into a stitch, you do more than one, which will increase the overall width (in rows) or circumference (in rounds).
Sometimes the pattern will just say "2 stitches in the next stitch", instead of "increase", and that's exactly what this is.
Purpose: Increasing (and decreasing) helps shape your amigurumi.
Good to know:
• Usually you will space out your increases evenly across the round. In patterns, for example, you'll see:

*1 sc in the next 2 st, inc* repeat 2 times 

We'll look at deciphering patterns later, but the above basically means:

Stitch 1: 1 single crochet

Stitch 2: 1 single crochet

Stitch 3: 2 single crochets in the same stitch (= increase)

Stitch 4: 1 single crochet

Stitch 5: 1 single crochet

Stitch 6: 2 single crochets in the same stitch (= increase)

In your previous round, you have 6 stitches, and in this round, you'll have 8 stitches because of the increase.

• It's important to keep your increases gradual and incremental. If you increase too drastically right away, you'll end up having a bunched up look.
• Increases are easy to do, but keeping track of how many stitches you've done and when you need to increase can be tricky in the beginning. Try a stitch counter.

9. Right Side and Wrong Side
• The "right side" (abbreviation: RS) = the front of your piece
• The "wrong" side=  the back.
How to tell: The stitches look different (check out the video below)
Another quick way to tell in amigurumi that is worked in rounds is that the side with the yarn tail from your magic circle sticking out is the "wrong" side.
Good to know: Whether you choose to show the right or the wrong side of your piece to the world is really up to you, and unlike the names, there really is no right or wrong. To ensure your amigurumi's surface looks uniform, you just have to make sure that all your pieces have the same side showing.
More information and comparison: 
• All About Ami 
• Video from Nerdigurumi comparing the differences. Interestingly, the sizes and shapes of the balls change depending on which side you've showing:

10. Front Loops and Back Loops
You will come across instructions that tell you to work in a specific part of a stitch, so what are they talking about exactly?
Let Stitch Diva Studio explain with a photo tutorial.

Source: Stitch Diva Studio

Good to know: Stitches that are worked in, for example, just the front loop, will look different from stitches that are worked in, say, the back loops. Crochet makes use of the different looks to add texture to your piece.
Take a look at this Crochet Spot's comparison.

11. Decrease
Abbreviation: dec, sc2tog (single crochet 2 together)
We saw how an increase makes the "circle" get bigger earlier. To make it go smaller, you'll need a decrease. Here, you're trying to join two stitches in the previous round together by making one stitch only.
How to:  
1. Skip a stitch: generally not recommended because of the hole you'll leave in your piece.
2. Insert the hook into one stitch, yarn over, and draw up a loop. You don't complete that stitch, but insert the hook immediately into the next stitch, yarn over, and draw up another loop. Now you've three loops on your hook. You yarn over, and pull through all loops at once.
However...
I've never done anything but Planet June's invisible decrease to make sure the amigurumi looks as good as it can without too many bumps and holes caused by the decrease.

Source: Planet June. Click here for the left-handed version

You can also check out All About Ami's photo tutorial on how to do an invisible decrease.
p.s. An invisible decrease requires you to work in the front loops, hence all that talk earlier about parts of a stitch.

Putting it all together: Let's crochet something already!
Now that you have all these stitches and techniques in your bag, let's try doing a common sphere shape, which will make use of the magic circle, single crochet, increase and decrease.
I find following videos and crocheting along is one of the best way to learn. Reading instructions can give you a headache sometimes, but if you've someone there to guide you through it's a lot less painful.

Here's one version of crocheting a ball. You'll find others on youtube.

Video from unwindpatterns

Note: The crocheter in the video uses two different decreases techniques. You can see how your piece will look, and you can also substitute one row with the invisible decrease and see which method you like better.

Win 5000 Feet of Yarn!

The Crochet Crowd and AllFreeCrochet are holding a Crocodile Stitch Challenge contest (deadline September 30). Enter and you'll have a chance to win 5000 feet of yarn. Fancy that!  Check out the online contest information.

See also my posts on the crocodile stitch: How to  •  Pattern: Crochet Owl

Free Crochet Pattern Roundup:Moo Cows

At the fair the other day, we walked through the barn and saw a whole ton of cows. They looked nice and relaxed and kids were all snuggled up with them and didn't bother them one bit.  Not as many white and black kinds as you'll find in cow amigurumi though.

Studio Ami has definitely perfected the idea of "cuteness".

Free pattern from Studio Ami

A more anatomically correct cow perhaps?

Free Ravelry download from Marika Allely

And here's a cow tipping toy, complete with a noise maker.

Free pattern by NeedleNoodles via Instructables

How about a cow puppet to practise your moos?

Instructions from Crafting Creatures

Have fun crocheting!

Quick Tip: Single Crochet in Reverse (technique from tapestry crochet)

When I made my Neapolitan Ice Cream Popsicle, one thing that irked me was that the strawberry and vanilla parts are done in rounds, while the chocolate part has to be done in rows. Because doing rows involves turning, the back of the stitches will show up in alternate rows on the outside of the popsicle (the "right side" in crochet terms).
I tried to tell myself that the stitches look close enough, but I know they're not.

Here's how turning makes your piece look. Notice the ridges on the surface.

At that point, the only alternative way I could find is not to turn and just crochet with your other hand (left in my case) every other row. I tried, believe me, I tried, but my left hand just wasn't cooperating.

Today, I stumbled upon a video on flat tapestry crochet, and long and behold, there is a way that doesn't involve me trying to be ambidextrous.

Meet single crochet in reverse. 

All you have to do is that for the rows where you're working with the wrong side of the piece facing you, you insert the hook into the stitch from back to front, instead of the usual way.

Here's a demo from Toni Rexroat from CrochetMe:

And this is how your piece will look like (left), compared to the original (right):

Hurray! The stitches look the same on the right side.

I know I'm probably being too picky, but it can make a difference on an amigurumi. Anyway, just another technique for your consideration. Enjoy!

Free Crochet Pattern Roundup: Coffee

It's seven in the morning and all I can think of that cup of Joe, so while mine is brewing, I thought I'd look up some coffee patterns.
My absolute favourite is Britanny's "You Made Me So Frappe", even though I generally drink black coffee.  The fabric paint looks exactly like syrup.

Free Ravelry download from BritannyJackson

This looks exactly like the cup of coffee I'm going to get...

but wait a second, look at the bottom!

Free pattern from The Left Side of Crochet

So, this is supposed to be a cup of tea, but minus the teabag and you'll have a great pattern for a cup of coffee.

Free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn

And looking for ways to decorate your coffee (you know those fancy frothed milk patterns?) Take inspiration from the following:

From Roses n Lilies

From Bitter Sweet

Mmm... Smells so good.  Thank you to all the above people who have shared their patterns online.

Amigurumi Basics by a Beginner IV:6 Basic Stitches & Techniques

Alright, you've got your hook and you've got your yarn. Now we're ready to make something.
To create amigurumi, there are not too, too many basic stitches you'll need to know. Since there are many video tutorials online, I'm going to jot down quirks I've learned along the way, and list good links to check out instead of reinventing the wheel.

Note: UK and Am patterns use different terminology, so be sure to check which version of terms the pattern is using.

Here are the basic stitches / techniques. Feel free to jump to the video tutorials if you just want to get right to it.

As you may have read from this post, many amigurumi pieces begin with a magic ring. However, to make a magic ring, you need to know how to do single crochet. So, to practise this common stitch, I'd recommend learning to do a chain first.
Making chains is useful to know anyway when you need to crochet something flat, like an applique for your amigurumi.

1. Slip Knot: Getting the Yarn on the Hook Before You Start

There are many different ways to tie this knot onto your hook.
Here are a couple: Crochet Spot • Stitch Diva Studios
Good to know: Slip knot doesn't count as a chain / a stitch.

2. Holding Your Yarn Just Right
With one hand holding your hook, the next thing is to figure out how to hold what is called the working yarn in the other hand.
There are again many different ways to do this. The important thing here is to keep the tension on the yarn at a comfortable level as you crochet.  Most people on crochet videos I've watched have the yarn wrapped around their pinky finger, and they bring the yarn up and over the pointer finger, using those two fingers to adjust the amount of yarn you're "feeding" to your work.
Example: Crochet Spot

3. Yarn Over Hook (Often seen in patterns as YO)

Another fundamental in crochet. After you insert your hook, you will wrap the yarn around your hook before you draw your hook back out. In some stitches, you'll also wrap the yarn before you insert the hook. As the name implies, make sure the yarn is "on top" of the hook and not under.


4. Making a Chain

Pop quiz: how many chains have been made so far?

Next we'll make a chain (also called foundation chain). It looks very similar to the paper chains you may have made when you're small.
Abbreviation: ch

Chart symbol: circle / oval
Good to know:
• The slip knot doesn't count as a chain (even though sometimes it suspiciously looks like one)
• The loop on your hook also doesn't count.
• You want your chains to be uniform in size. Using your thumb and middle finger to hold onto the previous chain as you make the next chain will help.

Chain Stitch Tutorial: Moogly

5. Crocheting into the Chain

The middle strand is basically the bottom strand of the next chain

I didn't realize there are different ways to crochet into the chain until way later, and I was doing it not necessarily the wrong way but just not the most desirable in my opinion.

Insert your hook under the top strand of the chain

Or insert your hook under the top and middle, right above the bottom strand

Or turn your chain over and insert it into the "hump" on the back of the chain

All three ways are "right" so to speak, and it's really a matter of personal preference. Detailed explanation can be found at Crochet Cabana. If you like your stitches nice and snug you may want to avoid the first method.

6. Single crochet: Basic of Basics
Finally! Now you're ready to build on that chain you made.
Abbreviation: sc
Chart symbol: X or + sign
UK equivalent: double crochet
Use: The bulk of what you'll do in amigurumi is single crochet, and that's why most people will tell you that amigurumi is not too, too hard to learn, because you don't have to know a lot of the fancy crochet stitches.
Tutorial: Crochet Spot, or check out the following video.

Video and Illustrated Tutorial: Lion Brand

And putting it all together...
Watching someone else is my preferred way of learning, so here're some links and great videos that can show you all the things we've talked about so far. Keep an eye on how these crocheters hold the yarn and do yarn over and all that.
• Hooks and Needles: this is the series of videos I watched a few months ago to learn to crochet. These were the only tutorials that made sense to me at that time.
• How to Start Crochet with Mikey: The first 6 minutes of so of this video covers all the above techniques, then it moves to doing double crochet. You can't get clearer instructions than Mikey's in my humble opinion.

Video tutorial from Mikey

• SassySophelia: First 6 minutes or so shows how to do a slip knot, a chain and single crochet.

Phew. That was a long post, and we've only just got to the fun part. More basic stitches and techniques to come...