Transcript:
This is Jess from jesshuff.com. In this video, I’ll show you how to crochet the ears for my free amigurumi crochet pattern, Esther the Elephant. I’ve included a link to the pattern in the video description.
Round 1
With light gray yarn, create a magic ring. Single crochet three into the magic ring. When completing the third single crochet, switch to pink yarn.
How to Switch Colors: Mid-Stitch Color Change
Insert your hook and draw up a loop. Then drop the light gray yarn and pick up the pink yarn. Leaving a six inch yarn tail, pull the pink through both loops on your hook to complete the single crochet.
With the pink yarn, single crochet three more times into the magic ring. When completing the last single crochet, switch back to light gray yarn.
Close up the magic ring and insert your stitch marker into the last stitch of the round. At this point, you can trim these tails to get them out of the way. At the end of the round, you should have six stitches.
Round 2
To complete round two, increase in the first three stitches of the round. When completing the last increase, switch back to pink yarn.
Increase in the next three stitches. When completing the last stitch, switch back to light gray yarn. At the end of the round, you should have 12 stitches.
In the next six stitches, alternate between a single crochet and an increase. When completing the third increase, switch back to pink yarn.
Continue alternating between single crochet and increase in the remaining six stitches. When completing the last increase, switch to gray yarn. At the end of the round, you should have 18 stitches.
Now that you have the hang of changing colors, complete rounds four through seven on your own as instructed by the pattern.
Cutting & Knotting Color Changes
If you turn over the work, you’ll see the strands striping back and forth from your color changes. Eventually, we’re going to fold our circle in half to make the ear, and having too many strands back there will make the work too bulky.
To prevent that, we’re going to start cutting and knotting each color change. You can use this method for 3D projects as well. Having strands crisscross inside the work can affect the shape and/or make the item difficult to stuff.
The strands from rounds one through six are too short to easily cut and tie, so you can leave those as is. Starting with round seven, which is the round we just completed, we’ll cut and tie the color changes at the end of each round.
On the back of the work, pick up the top strand of each color and cut them down the center. When tying your not mind the tension of the yarn. Make sure the corresponding stitches on the front of the work won’t be too loose or too tight.
Complete rounds 8 through 14 on your own, and be sure to cut and knot the color changes at the end of each round. We’ll complete the remainder of each ear together.
Closing the Ears: Row 15
Until now, we have worked the ears in continuous rounds. We will work the remainder of the ears in rows.
With the light gray side facing you, fold the circle in half along the color divide, with the tail ends inside the work. Remove the stitch marker and chain one.
Now we’re going to single crochet 42 times along the curve, through both the light gray layer and the light pink layer.
The instructions for the final row will be different for each ear. So keep track of which is Ear 1 and which is Ear 2. We’ll complete Ear 1 first.
Ear Fold for Ear 1: Row 16
We’ll be working on the flat edge of the half circle where the two colors meet. To complete this final row, we’ll be single crocheting between the previous rounds of the ear.
Chain one. Single crochet 14 times. Align the left corner with the magic ring. We’re going to do seven single crochets through both layers to create the fold. At the end of the row, you should have 21 stitches.
Ear Fold for Ear 2: Row 16
Fasten off, leaving a 6-inch (15cm) yarn tail. Secure with a knot, then hide the yarn tail inside the work. Fasten off, leaving a 6-inch (15cm) yarn tail. Secure with a knot, then hide the remaining yarn tail inside the work.
With gray yarn, create a slip knot on your hook. Hold the work with the light gray side facing you. We’ll be working on the flat edge of the ear.
This time will be aligning the right corner with the magic ring to create the ear fold. We’ll do seven single crochets through both layers to create the ear fold.
To figure out where to place your hook, start from the outside and count between rounds eight times. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
Bend the work and insert your hook between the previous two rounds as well. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. This is what the back of the work looks like. And the front of the work.
Now that we’ve created the ear fold, we’ll single crochet 14 times to finish the row. Fasten off leaving a 6-inch (15cm) yarn tail. Secure with a knot, then hide both the starting and ending yarn tails inside the work.
You have now finished two elephant ears that are mirror images of each other. If you found this video helpful, please hit the thumbs up button. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you’ll be notified about my future crochet tutorials. Thanks for watching!