Am I crocheting inside out?
I’ve been getting asked this question a lot recently, and when I get the same question more than once, I know it’s time for a blog post!
It’s pretty common for folks on discussion boards to say that you have to crochet with the right side facing out. This makes beginners feel very anxious when they are crocheting with the right side on the inside of the work. They think they’re doing something wrong if they’re crocheting inside out. 🙁
Good news! There’s no right way to crochet, as long as you know which side is the right side and turn your piece appropriately before you are finished.
So today I’ve created a little video for you about crocheting inside out.
I hope the video has shown you the two possibilities, and convinced you that crocheting inside out isn’t a big deal!
Here are handy links to all the crochet troubleshooting posts. . .
- How to Count the Number of Stitches in a Round of Crochet
- How to Hold Your Yarn for Crochet
- Am I Crocheting Inside Out?
- Help! Crocheting in the Back Loop Is Too Hard!
- What to Do If Your Foundation Chains Are Always Too Tight
- How to Work Small Pieces in the Round
- Tips for Crocheting Teeny Tiny Antennae
- How to Measure Gauge for Amigurumi
- Getting Accurate Row Gauge
- How to Clean Amigurumi
- Wrist Exercises for Knitters and Crocheters
Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.
Happy stitching!
What I like about crochet is that for most stitch patterns, there is no right nor wrong side. Crochet is more forgiving than knitting, IMO.
So true!
Totally agree. If you drop a stitch in knitting, it’s a trick to fix but not so with crochet. So you go back a few stitches = much easier to figure out. IMHO
Why do I start crocheting on the right side, but in the middle of the foundation chain I have ribs, meaning I’m somehow flipping the side. I start off with the braid look, but then I continue and somehow in the middle of the chain the braid becomes the ribbed wrong side, and if I continue I can sometimes get the right side back up again. I’m not altering my hands. It just happens for some reason. Why is this? And how can I stop doing it? Please send me a response to dennismichaeltiffany@rocketmail.com. I’m frustrated. 🙂
Hi Dennis!
It sounds like you’re rotating your chain as you crochet, which happens because foundation chains can be curly. It might help if you block (wet, lay flat and let dry) your chain before you start your first row!
I think the best way for me to learn which was the correct way (which especially makes a difference when you are told to use back loop or front loop only)…is to think of your project like a cereal bowl and you are crocheting around the top lip of the bowl– if you are going clockwise, it is “correct” and if you are going counter-clockwise, it is “incorrect”.
Prior to being told that, it was always just confusing..even though both ways look nice, there are times when it needs to be correct for future steps to work in the pattern.
Thanks for writing in! There’s no ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ way… both ways of crocheting are completely normal and which you do is just a matter of personal preference. I often crochet ‘inside out’ and turn it just before attaching.
It’s true that there is a right side to the work, but as long as you know where that right side is, you should be able to continue on with the pattern- and crochet in your preferred way.
Fantastic tip for beginners 🙂
Sometimes, depending on how small the piece is & how long it’s gonna end up being, it’s actually easier to crochet ‘inside out’ then your yarn & your fingers & your opposite side stitches don’t get in each other’s way !
As you say, just then turn it so the right side’s out when you finish.
Thanks Stacey! I’m just a beginner to crochet – so it was great to see this video – as I wasn’t sure what was the right side myself. I have a question for you – how do you hold the yarn correctly to get the right tension on your crochet? I am taking your Craftsy class on Amigurumi: Woodland Animals – which is fantastic by the way, and was wondering how to hold the yarn to keep the tension (as mine looks quite uneven!). Thanks! Love your work and the podcasts with Abby too!
Hi Jody-
First, I should say that there’s no ‘right’ way to hold the yarn… there are about 50 ways that work for different people!
But, if you’re asking how I hold it, I wrote a little blog post 🙂 http://www.freshstitches.com/how-to-hold-yarn-with-pinkie-crochet/
🙂
stacey
c est super j aimrai avoir les modeles merci
For fifteen years of crocheting, I could never crochet a HAT without it looking like a flying saucer…..until I accidentally held my work inside-out……AH-HA!! Now I love making hats, and I often try inside-out for anything that needs to have a good shaping starting out. As long as you can turn it right side-out at some point, you’ll have success. Right now I’m making Stacy’s walrus, and the flippers and snout I started inside-out.
Your ideas and patterns are great. I started a afghan and/or could possibly be used as a rug, which has 29 sections, each section has many just a few. You pick the the colors and is single crochet. Have never completed it. Hopefully I will, if I can get my arthritic fingers to work.
THANK YOU!!! I am a beginner and I WAS freaking out – just got the hang of it when I saw that the pattern said I needed to be working right-side out. Thank you for making this so easy to understand (my very first amigurumi – a wee mouse – thanks you too) 😉
So happy to hear it, Lynda! 🙂
That looks more like back loop crochet.
I’m still confused. I’m right handed, and trying to start my 1st amigurumi project. However, each time it curves to the right side being inside and me going counter-clockwise. No matter how hard I try, it turns that way.
If I turn it around after a few rows, then I have 2 different looks on the outside of the bunny’s head. If I continue working from inside the circle, then I assume my invisible decreases won’t work, correct?
Please help, as I need to get this done asap! This is driving me nuts, I’ve started over so many times.
Finally, the pattern I bought on Etsy, seems a little odd. For the head, I’m supposed to stop and tie off, then fill the head, then add 2 more rows, to complete and then attach to the body later. Why can’t I stuff the head after completing all of it?
Sorry for all of the questions. The pattern maker gave up on me, she is from Russia and said her English isn’t good enough.
Thanks,
Theresa
This isn’t about turning your work around and crocheting in a different direction – it’s just about flipping the “bowl” that forms when you start most amigurumi shapes so that the front loop ridges are on the outside of the work. You keep crocheting in the same direction. I don’t use invisible decreases, so I can’t really speak to that. I’m sorry – I have no idea why you’d stop stitching the head, fasten off, stuff, then add two more rows. It seems like you’d do it all as one without fastening off – but maybe the method the designer uses creates a more well-defined neck? Since it’s not my design, I can’t really say.
my 3rd loop stitches keep ending up on the inside of my work when i work in the round. I did not know i was crocheting ” insideout” and was suppose to flip my hat when i was done.
Hi! Thanks for the video. I naturally crochet in the round counter clockwise and have read this contributes to the work curling in on itself which makes it harder for me to see the stitches for the first few rows of increasing, especially with darker yarn. I can’t find a video or any explanation of how to start a magic ring and go clockwise; it must be super simple which is why it seems to be unexplained on the internet lol. I just want to not have to flip my work and hopefully have the caving in on itself relax a bit. Thank you in advance for any reply!!
The magic circle itself is the same whether you’re going clockwise or anti-clockwise. Once you’ve done the magic circle and finished round one you just need to turn you’re work upside down (relative to what you’re doing now) before you start round two. If you were to place just round one on the table in front of you, you want it to be in a position where you’d need to turn your head 90 degrees to the right in order to be in a position where your stitches would look like vs so you can put your hook up from under the first round when making round two and go round clockwise. If you’d need to turn your head 90 degrees to the left you’ll only be able to crochet anti-clockwise if you put your hook up from underneath round one as it is.
Just realised I got my right and left the wrong way around in my reply above.
This same this has happened to me and I can’t fix it either! So hard to see when the stitches are inside the piece!
I am crocheting a piece that has you make the body attached to the hat. The hat is the right side out but when I start the body it’s wrong side out. How do I fix that?