Crochet sushi pattern — nigiri in three pieces, 22 rounds written out
This is a free crochet sushi pattern for a single piece of nigiri, about 7 cm long, 3.5 cm wide and 3 cm tall once assembled, worked on a 3.0 mm hook in four colours, around two hours. The rice block and the salmon both open on a foundation of nine chains worked around into twenty stitches, so the two are the same oval from the first round — one is stuffed and closed down to six, the other stops flat at thirty-two. All 22 rounds are written out across the three pieces, each carrying the count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 22 rounds was checked against the round before it by machine — the counts, the increases and the decreases all add up. What nobody can promise you yet is how it sits in the hand.How we check
6 of 8 checks ran on 2026-09-04
- 1 format and stitch chainscripts/validate.py — 113 patterns, all counts chain.
- 2 catalogue auditscripts/audit-patterns.py — 113 audited, 0 errors, 66 warnings.
- 3 geometrygeometry-check.py — 113 checked, 0 errors, 4 warnings.
- 5 not a duplicate113 distinct display names across 113 patterns
- 6c target on the recordseo.headKeyword, confidence and demand present and cross-checked by scripts/validate.py
- 8 page readinessscripts/check-completeness.py --gate — 0 required fields missing, 114 editorial flags, 0 unearned claims.
Not yet checked
- 4 render matches the pattern — no image has been compared against its own prompt, so a render showing a piece the rounds do not make would not be caught here. Nothing has counted how many do.
- 6a recognisability — provenance.recognisability is empty in every pattern, so there is no feature list to check the parts against.
Why it is rated Medium
Medium because of the salmon: two shades travel round together for five of its six rounds, so the resting colour is carried behind the work on every stitch of the slice.
Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.
00
00What you need before you start
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What you need before you start
Yarn — four colours, all weight 3
~15 gDK cotton, light worsted (CYC 3)
~10 gDK cotton, light worsted (CYC 3)
scrapsDK cotton, light worsted (CYC 3)
scrapsDK cotton, light worsted (CYC 3)
Tools
5 you probably own, 1 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
Polyester stuffing (~10 g)
Optional
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start
Two small yarn bobbins, to keep the salmon shades from tangling
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Gauge is not critical here — a looser hand gives a larger piece. What matters is that the rice fabric is dense enough that the stuffing cannot show between stitches.
Finished size
~7 cm long, 3.5 cm wide and 3 cm tall once assembled — about the size of a real piece of nigiri
A 3.5 mm hook gives a larger nigiri on the same counts. Work the nori band on whichever hook you used for the rice, since its twenty-six stitches have to reach round the other two pieces together.
How to make the sushi nigiri, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US20 sc around a foundation of 9 chainsUK20 dc around a foundation of 9 chainsWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The rice
An oval that widens for three rounds, runs straight for four, then…13 RNDS
starts in riceWhite· picked up· Piece 1 of 3
First six rounds[20] [24] [28] [32] [32] [32]
Opening out to 32
RND 1–41[20]
2[24]
3[28]
4[32]
Straight sides at 32
RND 5–85[32]
6[32]
7[32]
8[32]
Closing in
RND 9–139[28]
10[24]
11[18]
12[12]
13[6]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneStuff it lightly and evenly before the last two rounds, then close the top and press it flat between your palms.
2
02The salmon
The same oval start, worked flat and left unstuffed. Two shades…6 RNDS
starts in salmonOrange· picked up· Piece 2 of 3
First six rounds[20] [24] [28] [32] [32] [32]
1[20]
2[24]
3[28]
4[32]
5[32]
6[32]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneThe last two rounds have no shaping, so the edge curls under and the slice cups over the rice without being coaxed.
3
03The nori band
A ring of twenty-six stitches, three rounds tall. It is a short tube…3 RNDS
starts in noriBlack· picked up· Piece 3 of 3
First three rounds[26] [26] [26]
1[26]
2[26]
3[26]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneSlide it over the assembled nigiri the short way, centre it across the salmon, and tack it through both layers so it stays put.
You are here
Nine notes on the sushi nigiri
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Every stitch in this pattern is a plain single crochet worked in a continuous spiral. The fabric comes out smooth and even — nothing here makes ribbing, raised texture or open holes.
03The pale marbling on the salmon is per-stitch colourwork, not embroidery: two shades are carried round together and swapped at the points the pattern marks. Carry the resting shade loosely behind the work so the slice stays flat.
04The pale bands follow the two long edges of the slice, the way the fat sits along a fillet. Real salmon marbling is finer and more irregular than two bands, so this reads as the idea of it rather than a copy.
05All three pieces open on a foundation rather than a magic ring. The rice and the salmon each start on a chain of 9 worked around into an oval of 20; the nori band starts on a ring of 26 chains.
06Stuff the rice pillow lightly and evenly as you close it. Overstuffed, it stops reading as a hand-pressed block of rice.
07The salmon is worked flat and left unstuffed. Rounds 5 and 6 have no shaping, so the edge cups down and the slice drapes over the rice on its own.
08Assembly: sew the salmon along both long sides of the rice, leaving the ends free to overhang a little. Then slide the nori band over the short way, centre it, and tack it down through both layers.
09Yarn, hook and stuffing are recommendations for this design rather than figures from a test piece. DK cotton at 3.0 mm gives the dense, matte fabric a food piece wants.
Four questions this pattern answers
Not questions anybody asked. Each one is written from this pattern's own record, and every answer is read off the fields it names.
How is the colour worked into the sushi nigiri?
How much yarn will the sushi nigiri take?
What hook will the sushi nigiri need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the sushi nigiri take to crochet?
A round that will not add up?
Tell us the piece and the round number — the stepper already knows where you are.There is nowhere to send one yet.
Put the laptop down mid-round
The iPhone app keeps your place — piece of 3, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
