The formula is simple! Follow these steps to make the perfect oval.
Ovals can have varying features, of course, because an oval is a round, slightly elongated shape. An oval can resemble an egg and it can have round ends and flat sides. For this tutorial, I will show you how to make the shape in the center of the image below, with the flat sides.
This oval is crocheted in the round, but we begin with a chain. The number of chains you begin with will depend on the length of the oval you need. For this tutorial, I will make a relatively small oval just to show you the formula for the shape.
Basically, we will be taking a flat circle, cutting it in half, and adding 4 stitches on each side. This is referenced in the image below. The white circle was crocheted with spiral rounds, beginning with a magic circle, and each round was increased by a factor of 6. What's similar between these two shapes is the factor of increases. If you're unfamiliar with this concept, you can learn about it in my Increase Factor post. If you're already familiar with increase factors, or you just want to follow this tutorial for now, begin making your oval using the next outlined steps.
Making an Oval
For this tutorial, I am using a 5mm crochet hook and medium weight acrylic yarn. You may notice that I crochet into BOTH loops of each chain. This is not required - I simply prefer how it looks.
To follow this tutorial, make sure you're familiar with the following stitches & terminology:
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
inc = increase = 2 sc in same stitch
st(s) = stitch(es)
[...] = number of stitches you should have at the end of round
R1: ch 7, starting in 2nd ch from hook, sc 5, in last chain: sc 3, rotate to work along opposite side of chain, sc 4, inc [14]
R2: inc, sc 4, inc 3x, sc 4, inc 2x [20]
R3: sc, inc, sc 4, (sc, inc) 3x, sc 4, (sc, inc) 2x [26]
R4: sc 2, inc, sc 4, (sc 2, inc) 3x, sc 4, (sc 2, inc) 2x [32]
You may notice a pattern here... each round is increasing by 6 just like a circle, the only difference is that we split the increases in half, adding 4 sc sts between.
Continue making your oval bigger with R4 if you wish, increasing by 6 sts each round. If you're not completely comfortable with increases, refer to my Crocheting in the Round post. If you're having trouble with the oval pattern, check out this video.
Oval Increase Variances
As you may have guessed, you can also use this oval formula to make one with a greater increase factor, such as 8. This makes a slightly longer oval starting with the same number of chains. To do this, use the following pattern:
R1: ch 7, starting in 2nd ch from hook: inc, sc 4, in last ch: sc 4, rotate to work on opposite side of chain, sc 4, inc [16]
R2: inc 2x, sc 4, inc 4x, sc 4, inc 2x [24]
R3: (sc, inc) 2x, sc 4, (sc, inc) 4x, sc 4, (sc, inc) 2x [32]
As you can see from the image above, the oval increased with a factor of 8 is slightly longer than the oval increased by 6. Both ovals began with a chain of 7 and have 4 sc stitches along each side.
I hope you found this tutorial helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions. Check out my other posts for more information and my YouTube channel for helpful video tutorials!
Happy crafting!
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