How to crochet a flat circle

How to crochet a flat circle – the basic pattern

To crochet a flat circle, you start by making a round of stitches into a magic ring or a loop of chains. Each round, you increase evenly by the same number of stitches.

That’s it in it’s simplest terms, but let’s walk you through the details.

The number of stitches you work into that first round, and increase by each subsequent round, will depend on the stitch you are working.

In the pattern template below, I have replaced this number with an X. After the pattern I will go over what stitch count is suitable (what X is equal to) for different crochet stitches.

The same pattern applies for any of the basic crochet stitches, so I’ve just used the generic term of ‘sts’. You can substitute this with the stitch you want to work (single crochet, double crochet etc.).

Abbreviations used in this tutorial – US terms

• Chain = ch
• Single crochet = sc
• Half double crochet = hdc
• Double crochet = dc
• Treble crochet = tr
• Stitch(es) = st(s)
• Slip stitch = ss

Quick pattern notes

• The same principle applies whether you turn at the end of the round, work in the same direction or if you crochet in continual rounds of single crochet. (Learn about crocheting in rows v rounds here.). I have excluded the turn/don’t turn instructions from the description below
• I have also excluded the instruction to chain to start the round as the chain number will depend on which stitch you’re working.
• Instructions after * should be repeated as instructed.

The number of stitches you have at the end of each round will be the number of stitches you started with multiplied by the number of rounds.

As an example, say that you started by working 10dc into a magic ring. Your X would = 10. Your stitch count for Round 1 would be 1X, i.e 10 sts. For Round 2 it would be 2X, i.e. 20 sts, Round 3 it would be 3X, i.e. 30 sts and so on.

How to keep your crochet circle round

You may find that as you work this pattern, your circle turns more into geometric shape such as a hexagon or octagon ec.) with corners rather than smooth curves.

If you don’t turn at the end of each rounds, this will be more pronounced. You get this effect because all of your increases are stacked on top of one another.

The simple way to rectify it is to stagger your increases so they no longer stack, but are spread evenly over different rounds.

For example, using the 10 dc example, without turning at the end of your round, you could rework the first 5 unturned rounds as follows;

• Round 1: 10dc into magic ring, ss to top of first st, do not turn throughout
• Round 2: Ch2 (doesn’t count as a st), 2dc in each st to end, ss to top of first st
• Round 3: Ch2, starting in first st, *2dc in next st, 1dc in next st; rep from * to end, ss to top of first st
• Round 4: Ch2, starting in first st, *1dc in next 2 sts, 2dc in next st; rep from * to end, ss to top of first st
• Round 5: Ch2, starting in first st, *2dc in next st, 1dc in next 3 sts; rep from * to end, ss to top of first st
• Round 6: Ch2, starting in first st, *1 dc in next 4 sts, 2dc in next st; rep from * to end, ss to top of first st

You can see that in each round, the increases are moved around so they are not stacked on top of one another. Rounds 3 and 5 start with an increase, but round 4 and 6 do not, so you’re not going to get that hint of a corner, but a rounded circle.

There are many ways to do this (the above is just one example) and the arrangement will change if you’re turning at the end of your round.

As your circle gets bigger, you might want to mix it up even more, so say you have 8 sts between each increase, you could start the round with 4 sts then increase, then make 8 sts, then increase, finishing the round with 4 sts to balance out the 4 at the start. Then the next round you could start with an increase. This is the approach I use in the flat-out crochet bag pattern which is worked in continuous rounds.

Whatever approach you’re using, the key thing to remember is this: Offset the increases each round (so they aren’t stacked) and to keep an equal number of non-increase stitches between the increases.

Oh and check your stitch count at the end of each round to make sure you’ve not added or omitted an increase somewhere along the line.

So now you have the basics, here’s the really important question;

Crocheting flat circles with different height stitches

The number of stitches you start with to keep your circle flat will depend on what stitch you are working, more specifically how tall it is.

The taller the stitch, the more of them you will need to work each round to keep the circle flat (the maths will explain why below).

Below are 3 crochet circles I have made using 3 different stitches; sc, hdc and dc (from left to right). In each case I started with 8 sts in the first round and increased by 8 sts each round. I worked 5 rounds following the basic pattern given above.

You can see that in the first example below, where I have started with 8 single crochet, the circle is not flat. It ruffles up because there are too many stitches to ‘fit’ in a flat circle.

In the second example, I have worked the pattern starting with 8 hdc. This one sits pretty flat after 5 rounds. A green tick here!

In the last example below, I have worked the same pattern a third time, starting with 8 dc.

You can see that this circle is starting to curl up. This is because there aren’t enough stitches to stretch around to make a flat circle. Because each stitch is taller, the edge of the circle needs to be bigger. i.e. it needs more stitches to ‘fill’ it.

Here is a rough guide of how many stitches you need to start with (and increase by each round) to create a flat circle using the most common basic crochet stitches (US terms).

• Single crochet: 6 -7 sts
• Half double crochet: 8 – 10 sts
• Double crochet: 10 – 12 sts
• Treble crochet: 14 – 18 sts

Note that these are a guideline only. The numbers will vary, mainly depending on your tension and whether you are turning or not turning (as this does impact stitch height – see this post for details on that one!)

Different sources may give slightly different guidance to what you see here (though from my research, these are not easy numbers to find).

Some of the guides give larger margins than I have here, some give a single definitive number. I have arrived at my recommendations based on my experience and a bit of maths…

The math of crocheting a flat circle

Because I like to look beneath the surface, I want to get into the maths of why I have given these numbers. Understanding why it works the way it does will help you to make adjustments based on your own crochet style.

Just like with my approach to hat sizing, I have gone back to some school geometry for this one.

I’m going to walk through an example of how you can calculate the number of stitches you need to start with, based on your gauge. That way you can tailor your project to your own tension.

Crocheting a flat circle with more complex stitch patterns

You can use this process with any stitch type, whether it’s another basic stitch, or something a bit different, like a bobble, or even more complex stitch patterns which use stitch multiples like shells.

The key is knowing what your gauge measurement is. Then you just follow the maths.

If you’re not familiar with measuring gauge, I strongly recommend you learn the best practices for making and measuring a gauge swatch.

If you like this kind of logical approach but the maths is newer to you, then you might want to check out this post which explains how to use your gauge measurement to calculate your stitch and row counts.

It’s similar to what we have done here, but without the circle part. It’s a really useful skill to have if you like to freestyle it!

If you want to create something using stitch patterns and understand how many repeats to fit into a circle then you can use this process, but you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of stitch multiples.

There are endless ways to work circles using crochet patterns with different stitch multiples. There isn’t one approach that fits all here. Each stitch pattern will have it’s own little puzzle to solve!

Crocheting a flat circle using the Pi circle method

So far we have looked at making flat circles by increasing by the same number of stitches each round. This is the most common approach in crochet, but there is an alternative called the Pi circle method, which is more commonly discussed in knitting.

With the Pi circle approach, you double your stitch count on each increase row, but spread your increases out, working non-increase rows in between.

For example, you might start with 6 sts, work 1 non-increase round, double the next round to 12 sts, work 2 non-increase rounds, then double again to 24 sts, work 4 non-increase rounds, double the next round to 48 sts. And so on and so forth.

Because you are doubling your stitch count each round, the number of non-increase rounds between will double in each section.

This is a basic summary of the approach. You can read more about pi circles and pi shawls here.

I’ve never designed an item using this method but it’s something I would like to experiment with in the future.