Best Single Crochet for Amigurumi Explained- Every yarn over (YO)/yarn under (YU) combination for making single crochet

A single crochet is typically made with two loops. You insert your hook into the next stitch, wrap your yarn around your hook and pull a loop up, then wrap your yarn around your hook again and pull another loop through the two loops on your hook to complete the single crochet.

Changing the way you wrap your yarn around your hook for each of these loops will change the look and characteristics of the stitch itself.

For those of you who prefer the single crochet for beginners video tutorial, you’ll find it on my YouTube channel, or just watch the video below:

How to Yarn Over or Yarn Under

There are two ways to wrap your yarn around your hook. For most stitches, yarning over is the standard way to wrap your yarn. To yarn over, take your yarn and wrap it over the top of the hook. The motion makes it feels like you’re bringing the yarn from the back to the front.

To yarn under, take your yarn and wrap it under the hook. The motion for this feels like you’re bringing the yarn from the front to the back.

In this post, I will be showing you all of the yarn under yarn over combinations for making single crochet stitches. With each method, I’ll also be showing you the invisible decrease so that you can see how “invisible” the decreases are.

To keep everything consistent, I am using the same yarn weight and hook size for each method (Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran and 3.25mm Crochet Hook). This way, you’ll be able to see how the changes to your method will affect the tension of the stitches.

Yarn Over/Yarn over (YO/YO) – Standard single crochet stitch

The first method I’ll be showing you is the standard single crochet that most non-amigurumi crocheters will use.

To make the standard single crochet, insert your hook into the next stitch. Yarn over (wrap from the back to the front going over the top of the hook) and pull a loop up. You should have two loops on your hook, then yarn over one more time and pull it through the two loops on your hook.

YO/YO Invisible Decrease Crochet Stitch

To make the invisible decrease, insert your hook into the front loop of the next two stitches. Yarn over, pull a loop up through the two front loops. Yarn over again and pull through the two loops.

When you take a closer look at the YO/YO invisible decrease, you’ll see that it blends in really well. You can still make it out if you look closely, but it really just looks a lot like two stitches stacked on top of each other.

Working the standard single crochet will give you v-shaped stitches. The standard single crochet stitches are a little bit looser when you compare them to the other methods. So if you plan to work the standard single crochet for amigurumi, make sure to go down a few hook sizes to avoid gaps between stitches.

Yarn Under/Yarn Over (YU/YO)

The next single crochet method is the one that I prefer and use. I call it the x-stitch, but I’ve seen people call it the false x-stitch. Either way, this method produces a single crochet stitch that looks like an x.

To work this single crochet stitch, insert your hook into the next stitch. Yarn under (wrap from the front the to the back, with your yarn going under the hook) and pull a loop up. Then, yarn over (wrap back to front, over the hook) and pull through the two loops on your hook.

YU/YO Invisible Decrease Crochet Stitch

The invisible decrease when working with the YU/YO single crochet is worked more or less the same way as the invisible decrease for the standard single crochet. The only difference is that you start with a yarn under first, then yarn over for the second loop.  Insert your hook into the front loops of the next two stitches, yarn under to pull a loop up, then yarn over and pull through the two loops on your hook.

The invisible decrease for this single crochet isn’t as “invisible” as the decrease for the first method, but it’s still not as noticeable as a regular decrease.

Working the yu/yo single crochet will give you x-shaped stitches. This method will create a slightly tighter stitch when compared to the standard single crochet.

Yarn Under/Yarn Under (YU/YU)

The next single crochet stitch is the yarn under/yarn under single crochet. This is another popular single crochet method when making amigurumi.

To work this single crochet, insert your hook into the next stitch, yarn under and pull a loop up. Then, yarn under again, and pull it through the two loops on your hook.

YU/YU Invisible Decrease Crochet Stitch

The invisible decrease for this stitch is similar to the invisible decrease from the previous two methods- insert your hook into the front loops only of the next two stitches, yarn under and pull a loop up, then yarn under again and pull it through the two loops on your hook.

Just like with the YU/YO method, this invisible decrease will not blend in fully but you won’t notice it unless you’re really looking for it.

This method creates a really tight single crochet stitch and you can see that it looks like a tiny “x” in the front, just like the yu/yo method.

Yarn Over/Yarn Under (YO/YU)

This final single crochet I’ll be showing you in this post is the yarn over/yarn under single crochet. This is something I actually haven’t seen anybody do, and that’s probably because this is the most difficult one to work with the tension of it being so tight.

To work this single crochet, insert your hook into the next stitch, yarn over to pull a loop up, then yarn under and pull through the two loops on your hook.

YO/YU Invisible Decrease Crochet Stitch

The invisible decrease is worked in the exact same way as the previous methods. Insert your hook into the front loops only of the next two stitches, yarn over to pull a loop up, then yarn under and pull it through the two loops on your hook.

This single crochet method creates a REALLY tight single crochet stitch that looks like a “v” in the front.

Tension/Size Comparison

Here are the four balls that I made with the different single crochet methods. I used the same yarn and hook size for all four methods and tried my best to keep my tension as even as I could when crocheting these balls. And right off the bat, you can see that the sizes of the balls are not the same.

The ball made with standard single crochet (green ball on the left) is the biggest one. That’s because when you yarn over, you’re wrapping more yarn around the hook, which makes the tension around the hook a little looser.  

All of the other methods include a YU loop somewhere in the construction of the stitch. When you yarn under, you’re wrapping less yarn around the hook, which makes the tension tighter. With tighter tension, your final product will be smaller.

What do the Stitches Look Like for Each Method?

Out of the four methods for making single crochet, the YO/YO (green on left) and YO/YU (yellow on right) methods create stitches that look like “v”s.

The YU/YO (pink on the left) and YU/YU (blue on the right) methods create stitches that look like “x”s.

The loop that determines what your stitch looks like is the first loop that you make. If you yarn over for the first loop, your single crochet stitch will look like a “v”. And if you yarn under for the first loop, your stitch will look like an “x”.

Which Single Crochet Stitch is Easiest to Work With?

The stitch that’s easiest on your hands to make is the standard single crochet. When you yarn over, you use more yarn, which in turn make the tension of the stitch a little looser. Since you are yarning over for both loops when making the standard single crochet, the stitch itself is quite loose and easier to work into.

I personally found that as long as the 2^nd loop is a yarn over, it’s a little easier on your hands. That’s because the second loop makes up the top of the next stitch, so when it’s looser, it’s easier to insert your hook into the stitch for the next round.

When the second loop is a yarn under, the space for you to insert your hook into for the next round becomes a little tighter, which makes it more difficult to insert your hook into.

The most difficult one to work with out of the four is definitely the YO/YU. That’s because the first loop, which is the yarn over, uses more yarn. And when you make the second loop, which is the yarn under, and it creates a tighter stitch. The space for you to insert into for the next round gets taken up by the extra yarn from the initial yarn over.

Does Changing Your SC Method Reduce the Lean of Your Stitches?

Another thing I wanted to test was to see if any of the stitches reduced the lean when worked in continuous rounds. If you make amigurumi, you’ll notice that your stitches don’t stack straight on top of each other and your stitches will usually lean to one side.

I wanted to see if using the different single crochet methods will make a difference, and the answer to that is… not really. For my tension, the lean on all of the balls land between 82 degrees 85 degrees.

What Do These Stitches Look Like with Chenille Yarn?

Finally, since chenille yarn is so popular for amigurumi, I figured I would make some balls with the different single crochet methods to show you what the stitches look like with chenille yarn.

With chenille yarn, the stitch itself isn’t as defined, but you can still see the shape of the stitches. And there is an obvious size difference between the standard single crochet and the other balls, just like with cotton yarn.

The one thing I do need to note is that when I was working the yo/yu single crochet, my hook shredded up the chenille yarn slightly. So when working with chenille yarn, you just want to make sure the stitch you use isn’t super tight.

Conclusion

After experimenting with the different combinations, I’m personally going to stick with my favourite single crochet method for amigurumi, which is the yarn under/yarn over method. I like that the stitch is tighter than a standard single crochet, and I like the x-look for my amigurumi stitches because I think it looks neater. It’s also a lot easier on my hands than the yu/yu and the yo/yu.

Ultimately, the single crochet method you use is up to you. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how one way is better than the other, and that’s just not true. You should always use the method that you are most comfortable with. And most importantly, the method that doesn’t hurt your hands.

Which method do you use and why do you prefer it? Let me know in the comments down below!

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