Decrease (dec)

Have a hearing disability or prefer subtitles? Watch the video here

Just as increases help your project grow, decreases (Dec) are used to make your amigurumi smaller or to shape it in specific ways. Decreases allow you to reduce the number of stitches, which is ideal for creating more defined shapes, such as narrowing limbs or closing the top of a head.

For example, when decreasing in single crochet (sc), you work two stitches together to form one. This technique helps your project shrink smoothly, resulting in those cute, tapered shapes.

Why Use Decreases in Amigurumi?

🐣 Shaping: Decreases are essential for creating the tapered parts of your amigurumi, like the top of the head, arms, or legs.

📏 Definition: Decreasing adds structure to your amigurumi, helping form features like necks, limbs, or other more defined shapes.

📜 Pattern Flow: Like increases, decreases are key in amigurumi patterns. You’ll often see instructions like "decrease in the next two stitches" or "sc2tog" (single crochet two together). This tells you to work two stitches into one, reducing the stitch count and shaping your project.

How to Use Decreases

Decreases typically come into play as you reach the end of a section, like when you’re closing up the head or tapering the body. After rounds of increases, the pattern will guide you to start decreasing to refine the shape. Just like increases, we’ll cover decreases in more detail as you progress through the course, so don’t worry if it seems unclear right now.