{"id":22604,"date":"2022-12-10T14:25:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T19:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/?page_id=22604"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:10:20","slug":"ultimate-stripes-for-amigurumi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/amigurumi-help\/ultimate-stripes-for-amigurumi\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Stripes for Amigurumi"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"infobox\">Link easily to this tutorial in <a href=\"\/faq\/linking\/may-i-link-to-your-pattern-tutorial-in-my-pattern\/\">your patterns<\/a>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/stripes\" class=\"autohyperlink\">www.planetjune.com\/stripes<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve developed this Ultimate Stripes method to make <strong>the most perfect stripes in amigurumi<\/strong>. There is absolutely no seam or colour jog, and no way to tell where the join is in the finished piece &#8211; it&#8217;s completely perfect!<\/p>\n<div class=\"infobox\"><em><strong>Note: <\/strong>This Ultimate Stripes method replaces my previous &#8216;Perfect Stripes&#8217; techniques, the <strong>Invisible Join<\/strong> and the <strong>No-Cut Join<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking for those methods, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/amigurumi-help\/perfect-stripes-for-amigurumi-video\/\">find the tutorial here<\/a> \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Or see why I believe Ultimate Stripes are better and compare all three methods for yourself in my <a href=\"\/blog\/new-ultimate-stripes-for-amigurumi-video-tutorial\">amigurumi stripes comparison post<\/a>.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/ultimate_stripes.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi crochet technique by planetjune\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Where&#8217;s the seam, you ask? (In the green round, it&#8217;s exactly in the middle of the photo. In the round below, the join is also somewhere in the photo, but I can&#8217;t even remember where it is!)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I recommend you watch the video to see the Ultimate Stripes method in action, but in case you prefer text or want something visual to refer to, I&#8217;ve also made a photo tutorial version for you.<\/p>\n<p>Quick finder:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#video\">Video Tutorial (right- and left-handed)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#right\">Step-by-Step Instructions (right-handed)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#left\">Step-by-Step Instructions (left-handed)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#faq\">FAQ: Additional Notes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#use\">Use in Amigurumi Patterns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 id=\"video\">Ultimate Stripes for Amigurumi &#8211; Video (right-handed)<\/h2>\n<div class=\"video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eWOjCQlKTZI\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Click to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/eWOjCQlKTZI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">watch this video on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Ultimate Stripes for Amigurumi &#8211; Video (left-handed)<\/h2>\n<div class=\"video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9KC4m9ZZGm8\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Click to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9KC4m9ZZGm8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">watch this video on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Note:<\/strong> The videos may look a little small embedded in the blog: if so, you can fullscreen them or click through to YouTube to watch them full-sized \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 id=\"right\">Step-by-Step Instructions (right-handed)<\/h2>\n<p>Fasten on by drawing up a loop in any stitch (below, left). Ch 1 (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes1.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Single crochet in the next stitch (below, left), crocheting over the starting yarn tail to lock it in place. Single crochet in each remaining stitch around (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes2.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Cut yarn leaving a 2&#8243; tail. Draw up last loop to pull cut end through to the top (below, left &#8211; arrow marks first sc, for next step.) Insert your hook from back to front under <strong>both loops<\/strong> of the <strong>first single crochet<\/strong> (the second stitch)  of the round (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes3.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yarn over and draw the cut yarn end through to the back (below, left &#8211; arrow marks last sc, for next step). Insert your hook from back to front under the back loop of the last stitch of the round (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes4.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yarn over and draw the cut yarn end through to the back to complete the join (below). (In the next round, work over the remaining yarn tail to lock it in place.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes5.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 id=\"left\">Step-by-Step Instructions (left-handed)<\/h2>\n<p>Fasten on by drawing up a loop in any stitch (below, left). Ch 1 (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes1_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Single crochet in the next stitch (below, left), crocheting over the starting yarn tail to lock it in place. Single crochet in each remaining stitch around (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes2_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Cut yarn leaving a 2&#8243; tail. Draw up last loop to pull cut end through to the top (below, left &#8211; arrow marks first sc, for next step.) Insert your hook from back to front under <strong>both loops<\/strong> of the <strong>first single crochet<\/strong> (the second stitch)  of the round (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes3_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yarn over and draw the cut yarn end through to the back (below, left &#8211; arrow marks last sc, for next step). Insert your hook from back to front under the back loop of the last stitch of the round (below, right).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes4_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yarn over and draw the cut yarn end through to the back to complete the join (below). (In the next round, work over the remaining yarn tail to lock it in place.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes5_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 id=\"faq\">FAQ: Additional Notes<\/h2>\n<p><strong>How Do I Make Thicker Stripes?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt doesn&#8217;t matter if your stripes are 1 round high or 10; the technique is always exactly the same. For this technique to work so perfectly, you have to cut the yarn at the end of <strong>every<\/strong> round, whether you&#8217;re changing colour or not.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Do I Count my Stitches?<\/strong><br \/>\nIf you&#8217;re counting your stitches to check your stitch count, you should make <strong>one fewer sc stitches<\/strong> than you need in the round, because the ch 1 at the start (plus the finishing steps at the end to create the top of the stitch) counts as the first sc of the round.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Do I Do About Increases &#038; Decreases?<\/strong><br \/>\nIf your pattern rounds include increases or decreases, you can work them as written, <strong>unless<\/strong> the round <strong>starts<\/strong> with an increase (2 sc in next st) or decrease (invdec). This is because the first stitch of the round (the ch 1) will be the fake sc stitch, so it can&#8217;t form part of an increase or decrease.<\/p>\n<p>The easiest way to fix that is to move the increase or decrease to the <strong>end<\/strong> of the pattern repeat, so instead of e.g. <em>(2 sc in next st, sc in next X st)<\/em>, rewrite the part in parentheses as <em>(sc in next X st, 2 sc in next st)<\/em> &#8211; and remember that the fake stitch counts as the first of those <em>X<\/em> sc stitches!<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: The above advice assumes a basic amigurumi pattern with a simple repeat that places increases or decreases evenly around the round, e.g. &#8220;(invdec, sc in next X st) six times&#8221;. A pattern with more complex shaping would need careful modification to make sure you aren&#8217;t disrupting the shaping &#8211; that&#8217;s beyond the scope of this tutorial!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>How Do I Make an Amigurumi with a Striped Section?<\/strong><br \/>\nIf you&#8217;re making an amigurumi that starts out with a solid colour and then has a striped section, you can make the first part of the amigurumi in a continuous spiral as usual. When you reach the end of the solid-coloured part, join with a slip stitch to the next stitch and fasten off. From here on, you can work in joined rounds using the Ultimate Stripes technique.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Do I Return to Spirals After Finishing the Stripes?<\/strong><br \/>\nOnce you&#8217;ve completed the entire striped section of your piece, you can resume working in continuous spirals. To do this, start the first round of the colour you&#8217;ll be continuing with as an Ultimate Stripes round. (If your piece has a back or bottom side that will be less visible on the finished piece, start this round on that side, as there&#8217;ll be a slight jog at the point where you transition from joined rounds to spirals.) <\/p>\n<p>When you reach the end of the round, do <strong>not<\/strong> cut the yarn or finish the round. Insert your hook into the closest strand only (rightmost for RH, leftmost for LH) of the starting ch 1 of the round, then complete a single crochet. The stitch you&#8217;ve just completed is the first stitch of the second round, so you can place your start-of-round stitch marker in this stitch and then continue crocheting in a spiral. Here&#8217;s how that looks:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes6.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><br \/>\n<em><strong>Right-handed.<\/strong> L: arrow shows the closest strand of the ch 1; R: the completed sc<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/ultimate_stripes6_LH.jpg\" alt=\"ultimate stripes for amigurumi tutorial by planetjune\" \/><br \/>\n<em><strong>Left-handed.<\/strong> L: arrow shows the closest strand of the ch 1; R: the completed sc<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>How Do I Make the Cleanest Transition Between Spirals and Stripes?<\/strong><br \/>\nFor the smoothest colour transitions between the spiral and striped sections, switch from a continuous spiral to Ultimate Stripes for the round <strong>before<\/strong> the first colour change, and return to working in a continuous spiral <strong>after<\/strong> the first round following the last colour change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do I Have to Move the Join?<\/strong><br \/>\nYou&#8217;ll see that in the video I recommend moving the join with every round of these stripes, so the joins don&#8217;t stack on top of each other. This will give the most perfect result, so I do recommend you do this if your pattern allows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the pattern you&#8217;re using requires a start-of-round stitch marker so you&#8217;ll be able to line up the position of some asymmetrical shaping or colourwork at a later point on the piece, you can still use the marker to mark the position of the original start of the round, even though you&#8217;ll be starting the striped rounds in different place. Move the marker up each time you reach it, but otherwise ignore it while you&#8217;re working the stripes. Once the striped section has finished, you can start the next round in the marked stitch and continue from there.<\/li>\n<li>If your pattern has both stripes and asymmetrical shaping within the same rounds (so it matters exactly where you place the increases or decreases), you can use this technique <em>without<\/em> starting each round at a different point around the circle. The general Ultimate Stripes technique will still work, but, for security, I&#8217;d recommend that you tie the starting and ending yarn tails from the previous round together on the inside of the piece before you start the next round.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>I Don&#8217;t Want to Cut the Yarn Each Round!<\/strong><br \/>\nIf you hate the idea of cutting the yarn and rejoining it for every round, my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/amigurumi-help\/perfect-stripes-for-amigurumi-video\/\">No-Cut Join<\/a> is the best alternative option. It <em>does<\/em> leave a slightly visible seam at the end of each round, but there&#8217;s still no colour jog and you never need to cut the yarn!<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"use\">Use in Amigurumi Patterns<\/h2>\n<p>You can safely use the Ultimate Stripes technique for <strong>any<\/strong> of my patterns that use stripes in joined rounds, like my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/shop\/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&#038;search_in_description=1&#038;keyword=snake\">snake patterns<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/striped_snakes.jpg\" alt=\"striped snakes by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and others (e.g. <a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=17&#038;products_id=77\">Ring-tailed Lemur<\/a> tail, <a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=20&#038;products_id=110\">Easter Eggs<\/a>, <a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=20&#038;products_id=156\">Christmas Baubles<\/a>, <a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=19&#038;products_id=47\">Ami Paint Set<\/a> brush and paint tube, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=17&#038;products_id=244\">Red Panda<\/a> tail, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=17&#038;products_id=235\">Iguana<\/a> tail, <a href=\"\/shop\/index.php?main_page=product_info&#038;cPath=15&#038;products_id=54\">African Violets<\/a> pot, all pictured below).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/tut_images\/striped_ami.jpg\" alt=\"striped amigurumi by planetjune\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can also substitute this join for a normal join to give you neater stripes in <strong>any<\/strong> other amigurumi pattern, or to add stripes to any amigurumi (it&#8217;s the stripe equivalent of substituting invdec for a sc2tog: it will work in almost every case). This join will improve the appearance of striped hats too, or any other pieces single crocheted in the round!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"halfright\"><a href=\"\/amibook\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/ega_cover_thumbnail.jpg\" alt=\"The Essential Guide to Amigurumi book by June Gilbank\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Loved this tutorial? I have so many more amigurumi tips and tricks to share with you!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Boost your amigurumi skills<\/strong> with my latest book, <a href=\"\/amibook\">The Essential Guide to Amigurumi<\/a>, your comprehensive guide to amigurumi techniques and tips.<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Do you find my tutorials helpful?<\/strong> If so, please consider making a contribution towards my time so I can continue to create clear and concise tutorials for you:<\/p>\n<div class=\"donate\"><a class=\"cssbutton\" href=\"\/shop\/just-a-donation-no-product-p-308.html\">make a donation<\/a><\/div>\n<p><strong>Thank you so much for your support!<\/strong> Now click below for loads more crochet video and photo tutorials (and do let me know what else you&#8217;d like me to cover in future tutorials&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/help\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/more_planetjune_crochet_tutorials.jpg\" alt=\"See more helpful PlanetJune crochet tips and technique tutorials\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Link easily to this tutorial in your patterns: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/stripes\" class=\"autohyperlink\">www.planetjune.com\/stripes<\/a> I&#8217;ve developed this Ultimate Stripes method to make the most perfect stripes in amigurumi. There is absolutely no seam or colour jog, and no way to tell where the join is in the finished piece &#8211; it&#8217;s completely perfect! Note: This Ultimate Stripes method replaces my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":190,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22604","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22604"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26536,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22604\/revisions\/26536"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}