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Here’s a confession. I am a Ravelry project photo lurker. I love to look at other people’s work. One of the things that always makes me grimace in empathy is a well-made crocheted toy with a face that looks somewhat off — or sometimes, flat out wonky. And I get it because I definitely have created my own small army of “butterface” toys over the years! After finishing all the crocheting, the pressure of embroidering a good face can be overwhelming. A weird expression can make your toy look cursed after all that effort. Well, here I am with my favorite crochet tip to help rid the world of accidentally scary toys forever!

First, get yourself a beautiful blank slate! Finish crocheting the toy and get ready to take a clear, straight-on photo of the face.  Make sure the lighting is good and you can see the stitches clearly.  After you take the photo, open it in a basic editing app (even just a phone app works), and try “drawing” on the face — experimenting with where to place features until you find one that looks right for that toy’s shape and expression.

Each stitch kind of becomes a pixel yous can draw on top of. Sometimes the face I planned originally looks completely wrong once I see it sketched out on the photo. Once I’ve drawn on the perfect expression, I then use the photo with the markings as my guide as to exactly where to place the stitches in order to replicate it!

Example: Testing Faces on a Finished Crocheted Octopus

Here’s the straight-on shot I took of my Purple Bottomed Daisypus before I embroidered anything on her face:

And here are three face ideas I tested out in an image editor:

And here’s the final face I chose and stitched on. Can you tell which of the three I used as my guide?

I hope my fabulous crochet tip helps the next time you’re stuck deciding how to make your amigurumi’s expression just right. With a photo, you can test as many as you want before ever picking up a needle. See if it helps your confidence, and your faces!

Curious how this sweetly smiling, definitely not cursed octopus came to life? I walk through all the pattern hacks and color choices right over here.