Reference / Techniques
Rounds versus rows
Crochet fabric is built one of two ways, and every pattern assumes you know which one it means.
In the round
You spiral (or join and restart) around a center, always facing the same side. Amigurumi is almost always a continuous spiral: no joining, no turning chain, one long coil of stitches. A stitch marker in the first stitch of the round is what keeps you sane.
In rows
You work across, TURN the whole piece, chain up to height (the turning chain), and come back. The fabric alternates faces; the direction of every row is opposite to the last.
Why it matters for counting
- A spiral round works into the round below it, one lap at a time: the stitch counts of neighbouring rounds have to reconcile.
- A row works back across the row you just made, in reverse order.
- Turning chains usually do not count as stitches for sc rows; for dc rows many patterns DO count the chain-3 as the first dc. The pattern should say; when it does not, the stitch count tells you.