This is a technique I’ve used for years to add built-in joints to my crochet designs. You don’t have to cut and reattach your yarn at all, which is a bonus! Everything is worked as one continuous piece.
If you’re right handed, you can find that tutorial here, or if you prefer a video tutorial, you can check that out here.
This technique is definitely a little funky, but is super intuitive once you understand what’s going on. Make sure to pay close attention to the instructions, and refer to the video if you need to!
The Setup
There are three things you need to have or do to use this technique properly:
- Even stitch count rounds
- Start at the side of the limb
- Face the back of the joint
I’ve also only used this technique when working a limb bottom up (so working from hand to shoulder, or from foot to hip), but there shouldn’t be any issue with this technique being used for a top down limb.
In the following examples, I’ll be using a leg and foot to make it clearer what parts of the limb should be facing towards or away from you.
Even stitch count rounds
In order to use this technique, you must have an even number of stitches in your round. We’re going to be pinching the joint shut by crocheting through two stitches at once, one in the back of the limb, and one in the front. Since these stitches get paired, we need an even number to work this properly!
It’s likely possible to do this with an odd number of stitches in your round, but it’s definitely easier to do if your stitch count is even.
Start at the side of the limb
You’re going to want to make sure that when you pinch your round shut, the last stitch you worked is at the end of your pinch point. Correct and incorrect examples of this are shown below.
You may have to add or remove stitches from your limb in order to start in the proper position.
Face the back of the joint
Before starting, make sure you’re facing the back of the joint. You want to be working facing the part of the joint that will be compressed when bent. For legs, this means facing the back of the leg, and for arms, this means facing the front of the arm.
The joints created through this technique like to bend one way more than the other. Making sure you’re starting at the back of the joint, in the compressing section, ensures that your joint bends in the correct direction!
Creating the joint
Set yourself up for your joint using the setup tips above. Also, make sure to stuff your limb before starting- we’re crocheting this part shut, so you won’t be able to add stuffing later!
I’m working a knee joint, so I’m going to start at the side of the leg, with my next stitches going into the back of the leg.
I’ll also be placing a stitch marker in the front loop of the last stitch I worked, which will help us later.
1. Slip stitch across in the back loops
We’ll be closing the limb by slip stitching through pairs of stitches in their back loops. These stitches are paired up by being adjacent when the round is pinched shut
Begin by inserting your hook into the back loop of the next stitch.
Now, insert your hook through the back loop of the last stitch of your round- this is the stitch I marked earlier. Go through this loop back to front.
Slip stitch through both of these stitches. That’s our first pair connected!
Continue this process for all subsequent pairs of stitches, closing up the round. In the image below, you can see lines marking how my stitches are paired for the rest of this step.
You’ll go through the back loop in the next stitch facing you, then the back loop of the next stitch facing away from you.
In total, you’ll have slip stitched half the total stitch count of your round- there were 10 stitches in my round, so I had 5 total slip stitches.
2. Single crochet in the front loops
Now we build our round back up around this seam. There are a couple ways to figure out where your first single crochet should be.
The easiest is to use the stitch marker and count back half your stitches in the round. For my round of 10, I’m starting with the stitch that’s marked and counting back 5 stitches. This locates the last stitch you worked into with your slip stitches, and is where we want to work.
Once you find that stitch, work a single crochet into it. Continue working single crochets in the leftover front loops all the way around the limb. You’ll have the same number of stitches in your round as you had before working the joint.
You can now continue the limb by working in continuous rounds!
Final thoughts
The major thing to note with this technique is it puts the starts of your rounds 180 degrees away from where they were before you worked the joint. This means that you may not be able to incorporate this technique into existing patterns like you can with the layered rounds technique.
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