Colour Change Tutorials (right-handed)

Link easily to this tutorial in your patterns: www.planetjune.com/colour or www.planetjune.com/color

Looking for the left-handed version? Or the video tutorial? Or tips on what to do with the other yarn colour? If not, read on:

Colour change after a single crochet stitch

Note: In the photographs, A = white, B = grey)
Crochet with colour A until you come to the last stitch in colour A:

To make the last stitch of A, insert hook into next stitch, yarn over and draw up a loop:

Holding the end of yarn B behind your work, yarn over with B, and draw through both loops on hook:

Make the next stitch as normal, using yarn B.

Colour change after a single crochet decrease

Insert hook into stitch, yarn over and draw up a loop. Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over and draw up a loop:

Yarn over with the new colour, and draw through all three loops on hook:

Make the next stitch as normal, using the new colour.

Return to Colour Changes in Amigurumi >>

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17 Comments »

vale said

December 12, 2022 @ 5:16 pm

Hello I have problems to change color , the item become like this :
i.postimg.cc/4HpWMstM/Screenshot-20221212-174947-Chrome.jpg

What to do to avoid that? Thank you so much for the help

Reply
- June said
  
  December 15, 2022 @ 7:14 am
  
  To avoid that colour jog, you’ll have to switch to joined rounds instead of continuous spirals. For the best result, I recommend my Ultimate Stripes technique for this: www.planetjune.com/stripes
  
  Reply
Ana garzón said

March 23, 2022 @ 6:49 pm

Hello, i am trying to do the face of Frodo, but even i count each thing and follow the material, it doesn’t look like the picture in the manual, it got like , i don’t know how to describe. What i am doing wrong??

Reply
- June said
  
  March 30, 2022 @ 9:16 am
  
  Ana, I’m afraid that’s not one of my patterns, so I can’t offer any advice. Please see my FAQ for where you can get more crochet help. 🙂
  
  Reply
Camilla said

January 7, 2018 @ 12:27 pm

I have some issues with symmetry when I crochet say an animal with a base colour and a white tummy. My left side (from my perspective – i.e. the first colour change into white) looks neat and tidy while the right (i.e. changing back into the base colour) looks less tidy and the end result looks asymmetrical. I do use the above trick when doing every colour change. Is there something I’m missing?

Reply
- June said
  
  January 10, 2018 @ 10:31 am
  
  The differences you’re seeing are because single crochet stitches aren’t symmetrical, so the left and right side of each stitch will always look different, and the stitches also don’t stack perfectly on top of each other when you work in a rounds without turning the work between rounds, so the left and right edges of stacked colour changes will never look the same. See my Colour Changing Investigation for some examples. This is just a fact of amigurumi-style crochet!
  
  In my patterns from the last few years, I’ve tried to design ways to improve the look and symmetry of patches of colour, but there’s no ‘best’ way to do this – it’s very dependent on the base shape and the shape and size of each patch, so I spend a lot of time refining each design to make the colour changes look smoother than you’ll see in other amigurumi patterns. See my Orca (Killer Whale) as an example.
  
  Reply
Eve said

October 7, 2016 @ 7:42 am

Hi June,
Thanks for the great tutorials – they’ve really improved my crochet! I have noticed though, when I change colors, it looks great until I crochet the next round – then a speckle of the “other” color becomes visible through the stitch above. Is there any way to remedy this?
Thanks,
Eve

Reply
- Eve said
  
  October 8, 2016 @ 10:29 am
  
  I’ve ready the “managing yarns changing colors” (properly this time!) And I think the #5 case is the answer for me! A combination of cut and tie and stranding should sort out the problem!
  
  Reply
SARAH LANTHIER said

August 9, 2016 @ 7:34 pm

Hi June.
when using different colors, for contrast (eg. in Meerkat pattern, should I cut the beige yarn and knot the brown onto it, each time I need to switch yarns for this eye area……………or just allow the different yarns to hang in the back ?
By allowing them to hang in the back, it appears that it causes the premature rounding of the head.

Please advise.
Thanks.

Reply
- June said
  
  August 10, 2016 @ 7:37 am
  
  Sarah, for my advice on this, please see my tutorial Changing Colour: Managing the Yarns 🙂
  
  Reply
Christine Chipman said

February 9, 2011 @ 4:29 am

Could you tell me how you change colours in Amigurumi when working stripes so that there is no obvious change that shows in the row where the change is made?

Hugs

Christine

Reply
- June said
  
  February 9, 2011 @ 12:03 pm
  
  Christine, see my comment about this on the main Colour Changes in Amigurumi page: www.planetjune.com/blog/amigurumi-help/changing-colour/comment-page-1/#comment-105583
  
  Reply
June said

January 17, 2010 @ 2:04 pm

Lisa: yes, that’s right. The only way to make stripes without a ‘jog’ at the end of the rounds where you change colour is to join at the end of each round and then ch 1, instead of crocheting in a continuous spiral.

Reply
Lisa said

January 13, 2010 @ 4:35 am

I have been using this method to change colours in for example, this pattern: www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80975AD.html
However, I find if I do use this method when working in a round, colour A interrupts colour B when I do change to it, and the whole colour A and B change is kind of abrupt. To remedy this, would I have to join, then chain one to start another round of the colour?

Reply
Bookworm said

August 5, 2009 @ 6:02 am

This is helpful. I wanted to make something for a friend who’s beagle just died but wasn’t sure how to do this. Using your instructions, so far so good. I will say though, maybe the pictures would be slightly easier to follow if the color difference between the two yarns was more distinct, maybe a white and a blue? It was a little hard for me, sometimes the gray looked like the white and then things didn’t completely make sense to me.

Reply
Katja Majori said

June 26, 2009 @ 4:59 pm

OMG thanks I never knew how to do a clean color change. I kinda just improvised and it looked decent but damn… this it a lot better then my way! thanks much!

Reply
Brittany said

December 12, 2008 @ 12:33 pm

wow! now it all makes sense! thanks so much!!

Reply