Invisible Decrease Tutorial (invdec)
Posted on: December 30, 2007
- In: crafty
- 31 Comments
Merry belated Christmas, my friends. And here’s a little present, at least for my crafty friends.
Since I couldn’t find a drawing or photo online of how to do an invisible decrease (invdec), I decided I might as well put one up myself — it’s not always the right one to use, but it’s such a lovely, useful stitch, especially for amigurumi. Here’s a slide show of it (probably overkill on some of the steps; with all this folderol you’ll think it’s a hard stitch, but it really isn’t, though sometimes it’s a little tight to fit the hook into. Oh well).
For those who for some reason can’t see the slide show, here’s a few of the more relevant photos.
The green arrows just show the sideways “v”s of the top of the stitches. The red arrows point out the front loops where you’ll insert the hook.
Up through the front loop of the first stitch.
Then immediately angle the hook down (while ignoring my abominably torn cuticles) and …
… go up through the front loop of the second stitch …
… and you have three loops on the hook. Yarn over and draw up a loop through the two front loops, then finish as you would a regular single crochet.
This is a view of the wrong side of the crochet. The red arrow points to the back of the invisible decrease (see how there’s a dropped line of yarn, just below where the arrow is pointing? that’s the two back loops from the two stitches you decreased to one), while the green arrow points to the back of the single crochet, for contrast. All this because from the front (which I probably should’ve also taken a shot of, oh well, go try it and see how awesome it looks) it’s well… almost invisible, so if you need to count back to the decrease you may have to look at the back of the work to tell. And this is what you’re looking for.
Well, there it is. I hope it’s all clear and helpful. Any comments or suggestions for improvement are appreciated. (P.S. I did make a video of this. Does anyone want me to put it up?)
31 Responses to "Invisible Decrease Tutorial (invdec)"
January 4, 2008 at 12:07 am
I am in awe.
I am totally incompetent in any craft and/or tactile project.
January 16, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I’ve never heard of this technique before! I’d like to see it from the right side… I’ll try it in my next ami and see how it looks! Thanks for this tutorial 
February 12, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I have to try this! I have heard of it and read about it but I had no idea on how to do it! I’m workingon some ami’s so we’ll see what it looks like, for I too, had holes. 
March 23, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Fantastically clear.. Just one question – if you are doing amigurumi and using invdec, do you stagger where you postion the invdec stitch? That is, if you are crocheting an arm/leg and have to do 3 rounds where you drop one stitch in each round (using and invdec) do you do the first invdec on stitch 1, then on the next round, do it halfway round the round, and on the third round, do it at the end of the round?
I’ve just done it with an invdec at the beginning of each of the three rounds and it leaves an ugly angled decrease, hence my question…..please help!
[...] of several other ways to decrease, this one is truely invisible: invisible decrease. [...]
[...] So, i did not know about this but apparently there is such a thing as an invisible decrease. Learn something new everyday! Here is the video on how to do it: http://falwyn.wordpress.com/2007/12/30/invdectutorial/ [...]
May 11, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I’m curious, if that’s an invisible decrease, what’s the visible decrease like?
June 11, 2008 at 11:49 am
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this tutorial. I wish I’d found it months ago!
August 2, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Thanks for your great tutorial. I used your pics and displayed them on my blog (I need to use Chinese to explain the steps) I did put links and link back your pics back to your flickr. I hope you don’t mind. Thanks again for your pics.
September 3, 2008 at 6:21 am
Thanks for this tutorial! It’s going to make a lot of difference in several of my crochet projects (not just amigurumi).
[...] invdec = invisible decrease [...]
May 19, 2009 at 12:27 am
AWESOME! I’ve tried both and THIS is way better in the over all finished quality of my crochet works! Thanks for such a great tut!
[...] invdec = invisible decrease [...]
August 11, 2009 at 2:10 am
thanks!
saw a video tutorial, but it was too fast and they didn’t repeat it. thanks for the photos.
why isn’t my address “behind girls college”?
September 10, 2009 at 2:37 pm
thanks! i was very unhappy with my old decreases, this looks so much better!
November 11, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I am having a hard time with the back leg. I am confused by step five which says “3 invdec, sc around, leave 1 sc in rnd” I don’t understand what to do. I would be so grateful if you could coach me!!! Thanks so much!!!! Sincerely, Anita
p.s. I am VERY new to this!!
[...] Suddenly, I found myself inspired to get started. I think it turned out well. I am sad that I didn’t follow the links on the pattern’s site for the magic round or the invisible decreases. Very clever ideas. I used a size H hook instead of an F. I couldn’t figure out how to get the tiny hook to work correctly with the worsted weight yarn. Maybe I’ll try another one since I now know the magic of the magic round and invisible decreases. [...]
[...] Invisible Decrease Tutorial [...]
January 24, 2010 at 6:17 am
[...] falwyn.wordpress.com [...]
March 26, 2011 at 6:27 am
Im defo gonna try this out ! I hate those gaps from decreasing so hope this will work better 
TY !
March 28, 2011 at 8:12 am
Just tried it out – amazing! Looks really good this will be big improvement to my amigurimis !
May 20, 2011 at 1:56 pm
[...] When decreasing (2 hdc tog in the finishing rows) I would really recommend using an invisible decrease – it looks so much better. This is a really helpful tutorial. [...]
September 14, 2011 at 1:27 am
Thank you so very much for the instruction!! =) I’ve been making amigurumi since about 3 months, and i always had these annoying holes while decreasing. I tried your technique, and it definitely works! =)No more ugly holes. I’m so happy!=)
thank you so very much!! =)
June 14, 2012 at 5:52 pm
This is how I’ve always done it, what is the other way?! Good to know I’m doing something that looks nice Do you normally just skip a stitch when decreasing?
June 14, 2012 at 9:07 pm
The normal way to decrease is to put the hook into the first stitch (both sides, instead of front loop only), pull up a stitch onto the hook and leave it there, then do the same in the next stitch, so that there are two stitches on the hook, and then finish that stitch like a single crochet. At least that’s my normal way
And here’s a link to it…
http://www.crochetcabana.com/decrease-basic-st.htm
May 17, 2013 at 8:35 am
I’m not particular the place you’re obtaining your details,
but excellent subject. I have to commit a even though studying much more or understanding far more.
Many thanks for excellent information I used to be
looking for this info for my mission.
1 | Gumball the Kitten - the amigurumi pattern « quaking aspen
January 3, 2008 at 11:38 pm
[...] Invisible Decrease Tutorial (invdec) [...]