Besides your crochet hook and yarn, a locking stitch marker is your best buddy for crocheting amigurumi!
Locking stitch markers come in a few varieties:
(from top left, clockwise: handmade markers from The Sexy Knitter’s Etsy shop, round-ended markers from Hiya Hiya, Clover Locking Ring Markers and regular ol’ safety pins.)
Everyone has their favorites, but the most important thing is that they open and close! Don’t get fooled into buying those ordinary ring markers that are for knitting needles… they don’t work for us crocheters!
Do you have your stitch markers ready? Let me get you and your new best friend acquainted!
Handy use #1: mark the end of the round
The most common problem crocheters have in making amigurumi is losing track of where the round starts and ends… which leads to an incorrect stitch count and mayhem! So, I’ll show you how to use a locking stitch marker!
Don’t lose track of your end of round!
I don’t tend to use a stitch marker for the first couple of rounds (because there are so few stitches per round), but I usually start at the end of the third round (here, I’m crocheting the snout of the cow, but most pieces begin similarly):
Since I crochet through the back loop only the front loop is available to hold a locking stitch marker:
Close it up, and keep crocheting!
I know I’m finished with my next round when I’m just above the stitch marker, like this:
Then I can move the marker and start my next round. No confusion!
Handy use #2: counting how many rounds you’ve done
A lot of amigurumi are made by crocheting in the round. When teaching classes, I’ve noticed that counting rounds is something that gives a lot of crocheters trouble… I mean, who wants to count every stitch? I’ll show you how a locking stitch marker can help you in counting rounds.
Let’s do a little example.
I’ve been following my pattern instructions for the first three rounds (read this post if reading patterns baffles you!), and now my pattern says:
Rounds 4-6: sc in each st (18)
How can we do this without counting?
I take a locking stitch marker (the orange thing in the photo above), and lock it onto the last stitch of the round. Then, I’m just going to keep crocheting around and around until I’m exactly 3 rounds above my marker!
Check out the photo above… and you’ll also see why I prefer crocheting through the back loops- each round leaves behind a little horizontal ridge that makes each round super-easy to count!
Handy use #3: position your pieces for attaching
Attaching pieces can be a little tricky, too… but stitch markers can help! So, let’s look at some instructions that say, ‘attach legs to rounds 9-14’.
What you want to do is find out where round 9 is, and place a locking stitch marker there. Start counting (see the ridges?) from the center:
Count until you’re at round 9, and place a marker. Place another at round 14. Now you know where your leg should be located on the body!
Handy use #4: hold pieces while attaching
So now you’ve marked where your pieces should go… but locking stitch markers have one more great use: I use locking stitch markers to hold my pieces in place while I’m sewing!
They’re big enough to go through a couple layers of crochet fabric, and by placing a couple around the piece that you’re attaching, and it’ll be held in place- making your sewing even easier. Yay!
Wendi Gratz
I also use them to hold my last loop if I have to put my project away for a while. I’ve had too many times where my hook slid out of the last working loop and then I somehow unraveled a few stitches while pulling it out of the bag. Sadness – especially because if I was counting something I also lost where I was counting. Now I slip my hook out and slide a stitch marker into that last loop. Easy peasy!
Stacey
Yes, that’s another great use!!!
Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing and Crafting
This is such a useful article! I need to use crochet markers for the first time and had no idea how, so this is a big help. Thank you! :) Lisa
Lisa Edwards
This article is really helpful, thank you! I’m new to crocheting so I’m struggling a little with being able to count rows clearly, and it looks like stitching in the back loops only makes it WAY easier. If I’m following a pattern, will it do the pattern any harm to only crochet into the back loops, as opposed to both?
Stacey
So glad you found it helpful! The only thing is that amigurumi crocheted through the back loop will be a *bit* taller because the stitch is slightly taller. You can either roll with it, or omit a plain round of crochet to compensate :)
Sarah
I needed to use two of them when I did your little rabbit at Craftsy. One in the end of the row, and one follow up row after row because the center stich was dragging alot to the right and I couldn’t count properly ????Why do it go so far to the right when I do both loops?
Stacey
That’s a great question! Crochet biases (leans) slightly to the right, and the effect is more pronounced when you go through both loops because of how the stitch is shaped. Another reason I like only using the back loop :)