What is an invisible decrease?
An invisible decrease is such an easy way to improve the overall craftsmanship of your crochet amigurumi. You might come across it abbreviated as invdec in a written pattern. The technique is worked in the front loop of your stitches resulting in a tinier stitch that is uniform with the rest of your crochet.
when to use an invisible decrease
There isn’t really a need to do invisible decreases when you’re crocheting objects that are worked flat. Invisible decreases are most effective when you’re working on a 3-d crochet object in the round like amigurumi.
Why use an invisible decrease?
My biggest gripe with conventional crochet decreases is that you have very little control over the tension of your crochet. The decreased stitches are larger than a regular single crochet. This leaves a lot of space between stitches.
When there’s excess space between stitches, stuffing tends to pop out of the gaps. Invisible decreases put an end to this annoying issue.
How to do an invisible decrease
some things to make note of before getting started:
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If you’d like to follow along with this tutorial, download THIS ideal sphere pattern. I’m working on the 10 row sphere. The tutorial begins at the first decrease in row 7.
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The magenta piece of yarn running through my sphere is a running stitch marker. If you’re curious, you can see my tutorial for using running stitch markers HERE.
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I finished off both of my spheres with the seamless amigurumi tutorial. You can read more about that HERE.
1. You’ll be working in the front loop only of the next 2 stitches. (highlighted in green)
2. Insert your hook into the front loop only of the next stitch. (2 loops on hook)
3. Insert your hook into the front loop only of the next stitch. (3 loops on hook)
4. Yarn over.
5. Pull yarn through all 3 loops on your hook.
Here is the finished sphere. You can barely see the decreases!
Let me know if you have any questions about this tutorial or any crochet techniques!
Happy Crocheting!
This looks great. Thanks for sharing how to do this. I didn’t know this technique before but it looks really simple and really effective
Thank you! It is super easy. It’s definitely made a big difference in my amigurumi.
Oh that’s not how I learned an invisible decrease. I was taught go through the two loops and then pull up the yarn to work it like a regular single crochet. I’ll have to give this method a go too and see how they compare
That’s so interesting! These decreases definitely look a bit different than a regular single crochet. I need to try out your method!