Do you know how to crochet, but feel like patterns are a foreign language? You’re not alone!

Many of us crocheters learn how to do the stitches from a family member or friend, and don’t learn to read the patterns until much later. And it’s true, reading a pattern can be scary… but well worth learning how! Once you can read crochet patterns, you’ll be able to make anything!

The patterns you find here at Shiny Happy World are written in a little more “plain English” than you may see elsewhere – but we still use abbreviations and common conventions. I’ll walk you through the instructions for making Howie the Penguin’s wings below. (Howie is a free pattern you can find here.)

The instructions are in regular black text. The “translation” is below it in pink. 🙂 If there’s a link in the translation, that’s taking you to a tutorial demonstrating that skill.

Wings

Make 2.

This is just telling you that you need to make two wings. Make one from start to finish – then make a second one just like it.

With MC, ch 2

With the main color of yarn, chain two.

Round 1 sc 6 times in 2nd ch from hook (6)

The instructions number each round in the project. Single crochet 6 times in the second chain from the hook. The 6 in parentheses tells you that there are 6 total stitches in this round.

Round 2 sc twice in each st (12)

Single crochet twice in each stitch (that’s an increase), for a total of 12 stitches in round 2.

Rounds 3-4 sc in each st (12, 2 rounds)

This line of instructions applies to two rounds. Single crochet in each stitch for a total of twelve stitches, and repeat for a total of two rounds.

Round 5 [sc twice in next st, sc in next st] 6 times (18)

These brackets look scary, but they’re actually easy. They just tell you that everything in the brackets will be repeated. So for round 5, single crochet twice in the next stitch, then single crochet one in the next stitch. Repeat that sequence [single crochet twice in the next stitch, then single crochet once in the next stitch] for a total of 6 times. It will be a total of 18 stitches in the round.

Rounds 6-9 sc in each st (18, 4 rounds)

Single crochet in each stitch for a total of 18 stitches in the round. And repeat that round for a total of 4 rounds.

Round 10 [sc2tog, sc in next st] 6 times (12)

Single crochet 2 together (that’s a decrease), and then single crochet in the next stitch. Repeat that sequence for a total of 6 times. There should be 12 stitches total in the round.

Fasten off with long tail.

You’re done! Fasten off, but don’t cut your yarn short. Leave a tail of at least a foot.

That one little pattern for a wing includes most of the major conventions you’ll run into in patterns. It has starting, fastening off, increasing, decreasing, repeating sections, and repeating rows. Beyond that – or for patterns from other companies who abbreviate a bit more or use different abbreviations – this tip sheet will help you out a lot.

Click here to download this page as a pdf (much better resolution)!

Now that you can read crochet patterns, what are you going to make?

Here are handy links to all the posts about working with crochet patterns. . .

• How to Work with Digital Patterns
• How to Read a Crochet Pattern
• American/British Crochet Conversion Chart

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for working the first round of your crochet pattern.

Happy stitching!

Happy Tip Tuesday! Last week, I talked about how to crochet with 2 colors of yarn, using a technique called stranding. This technique works wonderfully when there are only a few stitches between color changes.

I get a lot of questions about how to handle the color changes for the body of Nelson the Owl. To crochet Nelson’s body and head, you crochet 20 stitches in one color, then 40 stitches in another color, meaning stranding doesn’t work too well. Today, I’ll show you what I do!

One option is to cut the yarn every time you change colors, and tie a knot. However, this is time consuming, and makes the process of crocheting this cutie owl a drag… so I skip it!

What I do is strand the yarn across the back while crocheting! Crochet just like you would with a short color change, leaving the yarn stranded across the 20 stitch color change, as pictured:

Now, you can’t just leave them like this, because of two reasons. One, the stranding won’t allow you to stuff the owl well. Two, all of that extra yarn with no tension on it will make the edge stitches uneven. So, what you need to do is cut down the center of the strand:

It will look like this when you’re finished:

Now, you need to tie these ends into knots to secure them. I start at the bottom of each side, and tie a square knot (you know, that boring kind of knot) with one strand of white and one strand of brown. (If you’re wondering why there looks like there are too many strands here, it’s because I crocheted this particular owl using two strands of yarn at once… try to ignore that if you can!)

Here’s how it will look:

Yay! With this technique, the knot tying happens all at once, which means it takes less time overall. I’ve gotten pretty speedy with my owls!

Hope you enjoyed this crochet tip!

Here are handy links to all the posts about changing yarn color in crochet. . .

• How to Change Colors in Single Crochet
• How to Crochet Stripes with Minimal Jog
• How to Crochet with Two Colors – Stranding
• How to Strand Short Color Changes
• Tips for Working Long Color Changes in Crochet
• How to Do Barbershop Striping in Crochet
• How to Crochet in Joined Rounds

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons about crocheting stuffed animals in different sizes.

Happy stitching!