When stitching along in single crochet, I have always used an sc2tog (single crochet 2 together) decrease when a decrease is needed. But recently I have been reading about a different one, frequently used in amigurumi, that makes a less visible, smoother decrease. So I decided to compare them and see which one I would prefer in which projects!
First let’s look at the sc2tog.
(Insert your hook in next st, yo, draw up a loop) twice,
yo, draw through 3 loops on hook.
It’s sturdy, it’s easy, it’s a little bit thicker than the surrounding stitches, and if you look at the work even a little closely, you can see it.
For the amigurumi or front loop single crochet decrease, insert your hook through the front loop only of each of the next 2 sts,
Yo and draw through both stitches,
Yo and draw through both loops on hook.
I have made a little video so you can see both of these stitches!
When I posted the video to YouTube, one of the OG Loopy Groupies Cheryl in MTL asked what the back looked like – and I thought that was a really terrific question, thus this blog post.
While I think the Ami decrease is hands down the winner on looks on the right side of the work, on the wrong side, you can absolutely see two little horizontal bars where the back loops of the stitches in which the decrease sits are empty. For amigurumi, this doesn’t matter at all, because you are generally making items in the round that are going to be stuffed, so who cares what the wrong side looks like? For flat pieces though, I think I would have to decide on a case by case basis if the increased invisibility of the front was worth the increased visibility on the back!
You’ll have to look closely, but you can absolutely see a difference on the wrong side!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope this helped you pick the right single crochet decrease for your project!
