Joining colours in the round (amigurumi)

[Rennie1989]

Hello!

I am making a multi-coloured giraffe amigurumi for a baby shower.  I'm trying to keep the colour changes as smooth as possible, which is proving a challenge when the rounds are spiralled.  One method I found was joining the next colour when completing the last stitch of the round and making a slip stitch as the first stitch rather than a dc (or sc for US) on the next round.  Unfortunately, I noticed that when looking at my giraffe's arm the colour changes appear to be in a spiral going up the arm.  I've attached a picture to show you all.

I'm not quite sure how to fix this.  It might not be so noticeable in the arms but I'm worried it will in the legs and body, which have more rows.

Do you all have any suggestions on how to fix this?

Ta, Jade

PS: The arm has 12 dc per round and rounds are spiralled.

[redrosesdz]

Welcome to Crochetville! 

It sounds like your rounds are joined, instead of spiral. Is that right? I'm going to give my opinion assuming it's joined rounds. 

The color change that you're doing is common, but it's not the only way to change colors. Sometimes a different method works better for a particular project.

The slip stitch is part of the round you just finished, so it needs to be the old color. Go ahead and do the slip stitch as your fasten off of the old color. Next join the new color with an UK dc join. (This saves you from having to ch 1 to start the new color's round. )

Just in case you've never done a UK dc join, here's how...

Make a slip knot on your hook, just like starting something new. Insert your hook in the previous round's first stitch. Yarn over and draw through a loop. Yarn over and draw through both loops on your hook to finish the stitch. 

Your rounds should have a cleaner look with the fasten off old color and UK dc join the new color method. Let us know how it looks. I'd love to see the finished giraffe! 

[Rennie1989]

Thank you for your reply, redrosesdz.

I worked a magic circle and the rounds were spiralled.  I can see that my original post didn't specify this so I've edited it, sorry for the confusion!  What I did was finish the 12th stitch of the round with the new colour, made the first stitch of the new round as a slip stitch instead of a dc and proceeded with the round in dc.  I used the technique from this clip. 

I see what you mean though and it does make sense when joining colours.  I'll have a play around on the second arm and see what I can achieve.

Many thanks!

[redrosesdz]

If you're doing a spiral, that changes things. The color change method you were using makes the most sense. Changing the first stitch to a slip stitch wouldn't change the way a color change looks on a spiral. 

You can change the pattern from spiral to joins at the color change rounds. For things like legs, it's not going to make much of a difference. 

[Granny Square]

I think what the video is saying is to minimize the color jog by having the first stitch in a new color spiral round as a slip stitch instead of a SC, then finish that color stripe a few rounds later with a slip stitch as well.  The jog is still there, just a bit subtler (the height of a slip stitch, not a SC).  (US terms) .  

 

[ocelotito]

Maybe this can help. It

 

https://www.planetjune.com/blog/amigurumi-help/perfect-stripes-for-amigurumi-video/