About This Generator
The Amigurumi Shape Planner turns a small set of shaping decisions into counted single crochet rounds. The original mode retains a closed sphere, open cylinder and open cone. Named studies add a chain-based oval shell, a head with a twelve-stitch neck, paired slim arms, compensated-bend legs, flattened cone ears and counted multi-part assemblies. Use these as studies of volume before adapting a supported component to an original project. The planner does not draw a complete character or calculate a finished diameter from a photograph. You need to know how to identify stitch tops, increase, decrease, and keep a round marker in continuous work.
How to Use This Generator
Choose the counted construction first; the original mode also has its historical Shape selector. Named studies accept two through twelve growth rounds. Increase rounds controls the expansion stage; Even rounds controls the straight section after expansion. Both counts refer to working rounds, not centimeters. A sphere expands, holds its widest count, then decreases toward a small closing opening. A cylinder expands to its selected circumference and continues without the sphere's closing sequence. A cone uses a different increase budget, so the same round setting cannot be read as the same width in all three modes.
Oval foundation chains applies only to the chain-based shell. Its first round works both sides of the chain, with three stitches at each tip, then later rounds add three increases at each tip while keeping the straight sides unchanged. Bend rounds applies to the leg and multipart studies: each bend round has one decrease on the inside and one increase on the opposite side, preserving the total circumference. The resulting physical angle must be assessed in a real sample.
Select the available yarn swatches and US or UK terminology. Generate updates the working instructions and the live structure preview. Beginner View provides an overview; open Advanced View to inspect every counted round, the insertion map, and the full finishing notes. Save project stores a local browser record. Export JSON keeps the parameters and generated construction together. Export SVG preserves the vector diagram, while Print opens the browser's paper or PDF workflow. Keep independent backups before clearing browser data.
Understanding the Crochet Pattern
A single crochet increase consumes one existing stitch and produces two new stitches. A decrease consumes two and produces one. Those two numbers explain why a round can change circumference without changing the number of repeated sectors. The sphere baseline distributes six increases around each expansion round. Its widest count is six times the number of increase rounds. The cone's later growth is different, and the planner's actual round list takes precedence over a sphere rule remembered from another project.
These baselines use a continuous spiral: move the first-stitch marker and do not add a joining slip stitch at every boundary. A round boundary marks a counting location rather than a seam. Yarn thickness, hook size, and tension still determine the real surface. Matching the arithmetic does not prove that a shape will sit flat, stand upright, or withstand stuffing pressure in every material.
How the Generator Works
The explicit shell operation records and original topology records preserve each round's consumed and produced stitch counts. Expansion, even work, and reduction are built as separate phases. The sphere closes only after its reduction sequence; the open forms retain their specified opening. Changing Even rounds affects the length of the straight section without adding new increase sectors. This separation makes it possible to compare proportions without silently changing the circumference calculation.
Open necks retain twelve live stitch positions for a matching seam; drawing closed through six loops is a different finish. A flattened rim is paired and sewn, with no new crochet round added. The multipart connection graph lists actual copies, receiving rounds and stitch references. Attachment-pair counts describe sewing work and remain separate from each component's crochet stitch counts. Head and multipart studies require at least two even rounds before neck narrowing.
Step-by-Step Worked Example
Choose Sphere, Increase rounds 3, and Even rounds 2. Start a magic ring, chain one without counting that chain, and work six sc. Round 2 increases in every stitch to twelve. Round 3 repeats one sc followed by an increase six times, reaching eighteen. Work eighteen sc in each of the next two rounds. The first decrease round repeats one sc and sc2tog six times, leaving twelve. The next repeats sc2tog six times, leaving six. The seven round counts are 6, 12, 18, 18, 18, 12, and 6: ninety worked stitches in total. Add stuffing before the opening becomes inaccessible, then follow the tail-through-front-loops closing instruction.
Download this worked example as JSON. Restore it in this generator to compare the actual counts and structure.
Practical Tips
Use a firm fabric that keeps filling behind the stitches without making insertion painful. Count at each marker before adding another round, because an early error propagates around the shape. Compare the unstuffed forms when investigating proportions. Add filling gradually rather than stretching a small shell to an assumed diameter. Write down your actual widest measurement only after the trial has been finished in the intended way.
Common Mistakes and Solutions
The widest round has an unexpected count
An increase may have been worked twice in one sector or omitted elsewhere. Count the stitch tops and compare each sector with the round instruction. Correct the affected round instead of compensating with an unexplained decrease later.
The form has a raised vertical seam
Joining rounds may have been substituted for the spiral construction. Locate the marker, identify any extra slip stitches, and return to the generated continuous method before comparing the shaping.
An open shape is being closed automatically
The sphere's finish may have been applied to the cylinder or cone. Check the selected shape and its final note. Keep an intended attachment opening rather than inventing a reduction sequence that the saved project does not contain.
Second Reproducible Application
Use this comparison to check how one input changes the amigurumi shape planner output. Enter shape = sphere; rounds = 4; evenRounds = 2. Keep any grid and color data from the downloadable worked example unchanged. Generate again and compare the result with the first example above. The resulting dimensions are 9 rounds; widest round 24 stitches. These depend on the entered block size, not a measured finished sample. This comparison was executed with the site's engine; it is a numerical construction check rather than a claim about physical gauge. Save both settings separately if you want to compare them later.
Related Tools and Guides
The Tools directory at /generators/ lists the available generators. Use the linked examples on this page to study the same construction with different inputs, and the Guides directory at /guides/ for supporting reading. Check terminology and measured gauge before combining output from different tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this make oval or bent limbs?
Yes. The named oval has a two-sided chain foundation and explicit tip growth. Bent legs use compensated increase/decrease rounds and a separate shaft. Their physical shape still requires a real yarn sample.
Is the final six-stitch opening another round?
Drawing the tail through the remaining front loops is a closing action. Do not count it as six newly crocheted stitches or add an undocumented round.
Can I choose separate body and head dimensions?
The two-part and multipart studies generate related shells with matching twelve-stitch necks and counted seams. For independent dimensions outside those supported relationships, keep separate measured component projects and validate their attachment before assembly.
Why are centimeters absent from the round controls?
Rounds and stitches describe construction. Finished dimensions need your own measured stitch and round gauge, material, filling, and finishing method.
Does UK terminology change the shaping budget?
No. The same canonical operations and counts remain. US sc is written as UK dc; translating its name does not introduce an extra stitch or joining step.