How do I work a flat circle?
Here’s how to keep your motif at…
To make the circle flat, you need to increase the number of stitches on each round…
Step 1 To start the second round of your circle, make the turning chain (ch1 for dc), then dc into the first dc.
Step 2 Work a second dc into the first dc. Step 3 Work 2dc into each of the dc on the round below, moving around the circle. You should have a total of 12 dc, so make sure you count them at the end of the round, like this. You’ve increased by 6 dc.
Step 4 Now slip stitch to the first dc to complete the second round. In a pattern, this round would be written as: Ch1, 2dc in each dc around, ss to beg dc. [12 dc]
Step 5 To continue the flat circle, you need to increase your stitch count by 6 dc on each round. The secret is that you started with 6 dc, so you need to increase by 6 dc on each round. That’s why 6 dc became 12 dc on the second round. On the third round you need to increase to 18 dc, but the increases need to be evenly spaced as follows: Ch1, dc into first dc, 2dc in next dc, *dc into next dc, 2dc in next dc; repeat from * 4 times more, ss to beg dc to close the round.
Step 6 On the following rounds, 18 dc will become 24 dc, then 30 dc, then 36 dc and so on in multiples of 6. As well as evenly spacing the increases, it’s also a good idea to stagger your increases between rounds to get a smooth round shape, especially in dc. This means only working plain dc into the 2dc increase stitches on the round below, and working 2dc increases into plain dc below, evenly spacing them between two sets of 2dc increases below. Let me explain how to do this. So on the fourth round, work as follows: Ch1, 2dc into first dc (this is a plain dc from the row below), dc into each of the next 2 dc (these are the 2 increase dc from the row below), *2dc in next dc, dc into each of the next 2 dc; repeat from * around, ss to beg dc.
Step 7 By staggering the increases, your dc piece should grow evenly into a circle. In comparison, if you place each 2dc increase directly on top of another 2dc increase, your dc circle will end up looking like this, which is more like a hexagon.
Step 8 You can use these rules to create flat circles in other stitches. For example, you usually start a treble crochet circle with 12tr for the first round, then increase by 12tr on each subsequent round. Similarly, you usually start a half treble circle with 9htr for the first round, then increase by 9htr on each subsequent round. Staggering the increases is less important with longer stitches and larger increases like these, but it’s still worth it to create neat flat circles.