You know those lines that form when increasing or decreasing for multiple rounds in a row? There is a way to prevent them! At the same time, you also won’t get that strong hexagon shape that develops.

Why do those lines form? Those lines are the result of having your increases (or decreases) in the same location, right on top of each other, from round to round.

Typically with amigurumi, when increasing for multiple rounds in a row, you increase by 6 at a time. For example:

rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6)
rnd 2: inc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: (inc, 1 sc) 6 times (18)
rnd 4: (inc, 2 sc) 6 times (24)
rnd 5: (inc, 3 sc) 6 times (30)
rnd 6: (inc, 4 sc) 6 times (36)
rnd 7: (inc, 5 sc) 6 times (42)
rnd 8: (inc, 6 sc) 6 times (48)

Along with the lines, this also results in your piece forming a strong hexagon shape because of the stacked increases creating angles. Six increases at the same location for multiple rounds creates 6 angles and 6 sides = a hexagon!

If you have made an amigurumi from one of my patterns before you may have noticed that my increase (and decrease) rounds don’t typically look like those above. My patterns are just slightly different in order to prevent those strong lines from forming. I especially like this for my large amis (like Bobby the Bumble bee) which need to increase for numerous rounds (and right on the face!).

It is a very simple formula: when it is a round where there is an even number of single crochet stitches between the increases, split one of these sections of single crochets in half so half the stitches are at the start of the round, and the other half is at the end. This will essentially stagger your increases with each round so they aren’t right on top of each other.

For example – rnd 8: (inc, 6 sc) 6 times (48)

Becomes – rnd 8: 3 sc, (inc, 6 sc) 5 times, inc, 3 sc (48)

See how there is now 3 sc at the beginning and 3 sc at the end, but overall there is still 6 sc between each increase? The other rounds with an odd number of stitches between the increases stay the same. Overall, from rounds 1-8, it would look something like this:

rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6)
rnd 2: inc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: (inc, 1 sc) 6 times (18)
rnd 4: 1 sc, (inc, 2 sc) 5 times, inc, 1 sc (24)
rnd 5: (inc, 3 sc) 6 times (30)
rnd 6: 2 sc, (inc, 4 sc) 5 times, inc, 2 sc (36)
rnd 7: (inc, 5 sc) 6 times (42)
rnd 8: 3 sc, (inc, 6 sc) 5 times, inc, 3 sc (48)

In the end you get far less defined lines and a more circular shape:

I encourage you to try this on any amigurumi pattern you have! It is especially useful when using a yarn with really good stitch definition where the lines are more noticeable, or a large ami where the lines can get long.