Category: Patterns

Patterns

Toki, realistic crochet Dachshund pattern

Sonja

Finally I can show you something new and exciting! My first amigurumi dog on all fours is finished. This is Toki, a miniature Dachshund crochet pattern!

teckel haakpatroon, realistic dog amigurumi.

After designing a few sitting dogs, I felt like doing something new this time. A dog on all fours had been on my mind for a while, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. What dog could be more suitable for that challenge than a Dachshund?! A sitting Dachshund would be a bit dull, because it is the elongated body that makes it cute. So, I sat down and started crocheting ‘sausages on paws’ to make myself familiar with a new technique and the long-bodied animal.

After a few silly-looking sausage dogs in bright colours (I use left-overs from other projects before I use the intended yarn), I felt confident enough to start designing the actual dog. I already had made myself familiar with the technique of chaining four legs together, but how on earth was I going to write that down so that you would be able to do the exact same thing? A simple and effective solution presented itself and helps you work in the correct stitches. One hint: mark many stitches! My testers found that it worked very well and the dogs they made were a copy of Toki, I was relieved!

This pattern also contains something else new: images with little hints to point out certain steps. I often get asked if I have videos for a pattern. I do have a Youtube channel with tutorials for complicated constructions, but I prefer my patterns to be written, with supporting images. To make it easier for those who don’t like only written instructions, I added those images.

Anyway, this little dog was a joy to design, and I’m very satisfied with how it turned out. From a sausage on four paws with a realistic head, it evolved into an actual Dachshund-shaped dog, with a broad chest, an elongated body, and short stubby legs with broad feet. Even the hind legs run backwards like a real dachshund! I’m delighted that my ideas worked out. At some point I had quite a decent-looking crochet dachshund, but the belly and crotch where the same size, whilst a real dachshund has a broad chest and belly and a slim underbelly and crotch. The solution to that issue came when I was in bed. ‘What if I just use smaller stitches (sc’s instead of dc’s) for closing the back of the belly than for the rest of the belly?’ That worked like a charm.

Here are some more pictures of this cute and realistic mini-dachshund and below them you can find all the info you need about the pattern.

For an experienced crocheter this is an easy pattern, and I always try to write it in a way so beginners can make it too. The body of the dog is rather small, so once you’ve connected all the pieces, it works up pretty fast. I explained very thoroughly as to what stitches you need to work, and I added extra images to make sure you understand how everything works.

This dog is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 6 inch / 15 cm long and about 4 inch/ 10 cm high. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images with notes next to the text and pictures of the finished doll at the bottom. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own realistic Dachshund amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 25th of May.

Patterns

Rufus, crochet Northern cardinal pattern

Sonja

Some animals I’ll probably never see for real, but I can make myself one! I proudly present to you my Northern cardinal amigurumi pattern.

realistic crochet cardinal bird pattern

Ever since I started watching the Cornell feeder watch Cam, I’ve been amazed by the Northern cardinals, especially the male. Red isn’t my favourite colour at all, but this bird looks absolutely magnificent. And not only the colour makes the bird so gorgeous, but both the male and female have that curious tuft! And the black face gives them even more character. I like a bit of extravagance when it comes to animals, and the cardinal has touched my heart. To fill the gap of not being able to see them soon, I made myself a crochet version of the male, and I hope many of you will be excited by this pattern for the same reason.

Birds are a different thing to design than furry animals. For birds, my goal isn’t to make them perfectly realistic, but more a representation of their character and beauty.

My cardinal has become an elegant and sturdy crochet bird. I exaggerated the crest and chose a sitting posture, so simple – plump crochet feet are a lovely feature (I don’t like adding realistic metal woven bird feet to my amigurumi). These crochet feet make the crochet cardinal look like a stunning cardinal plushy, which I love!

The black face was the most complex part to design. Most of you know that crocheting in a spiral doesn’t make the stitches stack up straight but diagonally. So getting the black face to look the same at both sides was pretty challenging. With some extra in- and decreases I managed to get it almost perfect. The other bit that was difficult to design was the tail. But I’m very delighted by what I came up with, and I think this is the perfect bird tail!

Here are some more pictures of Rufus, the fabulous crochet cardinal, and below them you can find all the info about the pattern.

This cardinal works up pretty fast, once you’ve made the first twenty-ish rls stitches (for which I made a very helpful instruction video) for the crest. I would say this is a moderately difficult pattern, but a beginner can mange to make it too, with some help from video tutorials. If you want to make a cardinal couple, you can easily turn the male into a female. Replace the red colour with a warm beige: start the head in red, and then change to beige after round two. This will lend a hint of red to the female’s crest, which I bet will look amazing!

This bird is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 4.3 inch / 11 cm tall. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own charismatic Northern cardinal plushy. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 23rd of February.

Patterns

Winter Woolfie, Eurasian wolf pattern

Sonja

And here he is! Winter Woolfie turned out to be a Eurasian wolf.

eurasian wolf crochet pattern

When I finished the Border Collie pattern I immediately knew I wanted to make a furry version of my wolf. And since I’m not completely settled into our new house just yet I could do with an easy project. But I suppose I can’t do easy and this took much more time than I had anticipated.

When working on the head I decided to improve the facial colouring. And when I was finally satisfied with the new look, I began to realize that I could make a Eurasian wolf, the wolf that is once again living in my country after a long period of absence. We now have four wolf packs in the Netherlands, with one pack not even very far from where I live. So I wanted to make a tribute to our own fantastic wolf.

The Eurasian wolf is quite similar to the North American (grey) one but, surprisingly for me, the Eurasian wolf is bigger. It also has a more rusty colour overall. North American species are more diverse and colourful than the European wolves, so not to worry, you can make your ‘own’ wolf too with this pattern.

So, eventually the Winter Woolfie pattern turned out to be almost completely different. The shape stayed the same, but the colouring of each body part has changed, and I added facial and chest hair to create the winter coat. A more experienced crafter can mix and match the patterns to make a winter version of the original Wolf amigurumi. And of course you can leave out the loops to make a crochet wolf in Summer coat. Or when you make a wolf family you can give the male the fluffy appearance, and the female the slender, short-haired look. There are many possibilities. Let’s celebrate this special animal, and let’s never forget its crucial role in maintaining biodiversity*!

For now, here are some more pictures of this new crochet wolf pattern. You can find info about and links to buy the pattern below.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This is a moderate pattern to make. Most parts work up pretty easily, but the reversed loop stitches for the head, chest and tail take some extra effort. The winter wolf is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 6 inch /15 cm sitting. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the wolf, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own adorably mini wolf. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount until December the 22nd!

*Wolves, like beavers, are eco-engineers. They can change the appearance and biodiversity of immense landscapes with their presence, because their prey —herbivores —will act differently. This has an enormous effect on landscapes and on the variety of plants and species that live there. If we want to save our environment, we must trust certain animals and their abilities to restore landscapes that have been exploited by humans back into the rich habitats they once were.

Patterns

Finnly, crochet Border Collie pattern

Sonja

After a long break, I’m delighted to publish this new dog pattern! Meet Finnly, the realistic Border Collie, a fabulous amigurumi of one of my favourite dogs!

realistic crochet dog pattern

When I started making dog patterns I really wanted to do a Border Collie, but the long-haired features of this Collie kept me from actually making one. I started with less hairy dogs, and then must have gone mad to make a bearded Schnauzer pattern. That actually was a lot of fun to do, and it gave me much inspiration for how to do the Border Collie and other dogs. For the Schnauzer I had used ‘reversed loop stitches’ to create the bearded face, and I knew those stitches would be very suitable for any kind of hairy dog.

So some time in May I started the Collie design. The head was finished pretty quickly, but then a lot of things happened in my life, good things! We finally could move to a new home, away from that noisy house we tried to make our home for so long. Moving means a lot of things to do, so I put the dog on hold until we had settled down in our new home and I had enough ‘space in my head’ to continue designing.

It felt so good to sit down at my improvised desk with a new view and peace and quiet. I worked my way through the body and back paws and spend a whole afternoon on making the fidgety hairy tail. And now I have this amazingly cute mini Border Collie sitting on my desk, waiting to be made by many other Border Collie fans out there.

This is not a very difficult dog to crochet, the reversed loop stitches take some getting used to, but when you get the hang of it they actually are fun to do.

Here are some more pictures of this adorable crochet dog amigurumi and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This is a moderate pattern to make. Most parts work up pretty easily, but the reversed loop stitches for the head, chest and tail take some extra effort. The Border Collie dog is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 5.1 inch /13 cm sitting. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the Collie, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own adorably mini dog. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount until October the 20th!

Because I had so much fun designing this hairy dog and because it looks a lot like the wolf I used as an example when I made Woolfie, my next pattern will be a ‘Woolfie advanced’. I think you can imagine how that’ll look! And after that… a realistic otter, I want to make a red cardinal bird, a skunk and a poodle. Oh, there are so many lovely animals to make next, see you soon!

Patterns

Schnoodge, crochet Schnauzer pattern

Sonja

I proudly present to you something completely different: Schnoodge the crochet Schnauzer pattern!

realistic crochet dog pattern

After I finished my second dog pattern, I got so many requests for all sorts of dogs that I decided to do at least two dog patterns a year. One night when I was in bed I suddenly thought, ‘How much fun would it be to design a bearded Schnauzer?’ and I pictured a very cute hairy Schnauzer face.

When still working on the Siamese cat, I tried a first bearded dog head just to check if it would work, and the result was so delightful that I knew this was going to be the first new dog.

To make a bearded dog, there was one thing I had to find a new solution for: the loop stitch that would create the long brows and beard. Normally, the loop forms on the inside of your work, so you have to turn the piece inside out. That would mean that the complete head had to be turned inside out and the stitches without loops would also be the wrong side, and I don’t like that look. I had to find a way to get the loops to the front side.

How hard could it be to just pull the loops through each stitch after it was finished? I tried several ways and each time I cut the loops very short after I’ve pulled them through the stitches to see if the stitches would hold. Most of my methods were as secure as the ‘normal’ loop stitches, so I could just pick the one that had the best look. In the end it works the same as the normal loop stitches. As long as you don’t cut the loops shorter than 1 cm/ 0.5 inch, the stitches will hold, even if you put a lot of pressure on them. And for those of you who don’t like doing a complicated loop stitch, I added the instructions for how to attach the hair later.

Now, I could write more about designing this dog, but I want to tell you something about making choices.

Personally, I find that making choices is the most difficult thing about designing crochet animals. And it’s not a few choices I have to make! For every little thing there are options to consider. Mostly it’s about sizing, but also about how realistic I want a design to be. It’s like, ‘Shall I make the legs 10 stitches wide, or would they look better a little bit bigger?’ I have to try both to see how it looks. When I see the result I think, ‘What if I make them shorter, would that be better’? So I have to make another body with shorter legs to see how that looks, et cetera. After many more choices, I assemble the animals, and then come new questions. ‘Would it have looked nicer if I made the neck a little bit thicker?’ I can choose to try that, or I can leave it as it is. I could go on like this for a while, lol. In the end I always love the result and all the choices that can drive me nuts are worth the effort!

Here are some more pictures of this super-cute Schnauzer amigurumi, and below them you can find all the info about the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This pattern is quite advanced because of the reversed loop stitch. I’ve added the link to a tutorial online and added a clear description of how to pull the loops through, but a stitch like this requires more skill than basic stitches. For beginners who really want to make this dog I also added an instruction for how to insert the hair later.

This dog is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 5.1 inch /13 cm sitting. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own silly Schnauzer doggy. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 5th of May.

Patterns

Free mini Easter bunny ears pattern

Sonja

This is a must have pattern for all you Popke fans and amigurumi makers out there. With these fabulous bunny ears, you can turn each and every crochet animal into an Easter bunny. How exciting is that!?! It’s a super simple pattern and easy to adjust in size.

Just look at these two ‘new born’ Easter bunnies!

Instructions

For this pattern you need worsted weight yarn and hook E US/ 3,5 mm. I’ve used Lett Lopi yarn; colours barley 1419 and pale green 9421. You’ll also need sewing materials and a pipe-cleaner for the headband.

Ears

1. ch of 9, in 2nd ch from hook 2 sc, sc in next 6, 2 sc in last, turn, 2 sc in bottom loop of next, sc in next 7 = 19

2. ch 1 and go back, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 7, 2 sc in next 2, sc in next 8, sl st in last and leave yarn end for sewing. Weave in the other yarn end.

If the ears you made curl all different ways you don’t like, make them doubled. I didn’t do that because I like the playful effect. If you need bigger ears, repeat round 2 but do 8 sc’s before the increase and so on.

Headband

1. magic ring of 4 = 4

2-21. sc in each around = 4, sl st in 1st (keep going if you want it to be longer)

22. sc in each around = 4, sl st in 1st and leave yarn and for sewing.

Now stretch the tube and insert the pipe-cleaner. You can sew the band closed by putting the needle from the inside out through all the outside loops of the 4 st, clockwise. If you do it correctly, you can pull the yarn end and it will close the gap.

All you have to do now is attach the ears to the headband, about three rounds apart and a bit folded together at the bottom so they are a bit hollow.

There, now you can give all your Popkes an Easter bunny metamorphosis!

Here you can find the free pattern for Easter eggs and a little basket. You can easily turn the basket into the backpack you see in the pictures, by adding an extra strap to it.

Thank you Rafi Made It for giving me this lovely idea!

Patterns

Maisie, crochet Siamese cat pattern

Sonja

After making the very complex stoat patterns, I felt like making something a bit more simple. So I made a new cat! This is Maisie, a shy crochet Siamese.

realistic crochet cat pattern
When I designed my first amigurumi cat, Baltazar, I made all sorts of cat faces in the process, just for the fun of it. I made a tuxedo cat, a tortoise shell, an orange tabby, a Siamese and a few more. It resulted in a lovely image for Instagram and I knew I would finish some of these later.

So, the pleasant thing when designing this pattern was that I already had a finished head. I only had to design a new coloured body. Luckily for me – and for you, too – Siamese cats don’t have very complicated stripes or colour patches, so I could quickly work my way up the body. Only the back paws were a bit of trial and error, because I wanted to create a shape in colouring that made it look like the legs are folded underneath the hips for this sitting cat.

Maisie turned out to be a bit more shy-looking than Balthazar, probably because of the dark facial features. I really love how each animal has its own character. Seeing the creatures made with my patterns always gives me much joy, because I see my own work in it, but also a new and unique doll.

Here are some more pictures of this curious crochet cat, and below them you can find all the info about the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This is a pretty easy and quick amigurumi Siamese to make. Only the colouring of the face and the attaching of the front paws require some extra concentration. The cat is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 5.1 inch /13 cm sitting. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own lovable Siamese cat. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount until March the 30th.

Patterns

Nims and Ermine, realistic crochet stoat pattern

Sonja

With much joy I present to you my first seamless amigurumi pattern, Nims and Ermine the stoats.

realistic amigurumi stoats

Ermine is the term used for animals that turn white in winter, hence the name for the white version. And with this pattern you can make a weasel too, they look quite similar except for their shorter tail without the black brush-tip. So if you skip that part you can make a weasel. Keep in mind, though, that in most parts of the world weasels don’t turn white in winter.

This animal took me the longest time ever to design, and I’ve learned so much much during the process. I stumbled upon many difficulties, and several times I almost gave up. But every time I decided to stop, I either got an idea of how to fix the difficulties, or I just realised it would be a waste to give up after all the time I had spent designing this already cute crochet animal. Now that Nims and Ermine are finished, I absolutely love the result, and I am glad that I didn’t give up.

Designing this pattern actually turned everything upside down, literally and figuratively speaking. Normally I design the head and then a body from the bottom up. But this time I designed the head and worked my way down, creating holes for the arms, designing hips, and continuing with the legs. Where I normally did increases, I now had to do decreases. I also used a different technique to create the bend for the neck. Early on I worked with short rows, but that results in a different texture of stitches. I discovered that there is another method where you crochet a chain to the first part of the head and continue working on the head and the chain, decreasing stitches to close the back of the head. When the head is finished, you attach a new strand of yarn to the other side of the chain and work downwards for the body, with not a seam to be seen.

This all works out perfectly well for a single-coloured doll, but a big challenge introduced itself when I started on the duo-coloured stoat. Now that technique with the chain became a difficulty, because the chain itself had to become duo-coloured. I had trouble with the tension, and the unused yarn was in the way; it just seemed undoable. It was only after I decided that this was an impossible pattern that I had the rather brilliant idea to carry the unused colour upwards on the chain. I don’t always carry the yarn with me in every stitch, but leave most of it resting against the inside of the work. The reason for that is partly because I find that easier, and also, when you work with sharply contrasting colours, you can see the yarn showing through the stitches. But for a chain it worked like a charm. The tension was good and you have both colours with you when you need them. I was delighted I had this fixed, and I finished the stoat in its Summer coat.

A seamless animal works up quickly and pleasantly when you have a pattern, but when you are designing the pattern, it takes much more time. Only when the stoat was finished was I able to see how it looked and what needed to be changed. Many times it wasn’t possible to just unravel a short bit, and I had to start all over again.
For the last version, I only had to change the colouring for the neck using the pattern I had made. But somehow for this version, the middle was off, and I couldn’t figure out why. I did it again, exactly the same as before, took it apart, tried again but still it looked crooked! It was so frustrating!

Sometimes what seems a big problem has a solution so simple, you never think of it. At some point I started fumbling around with the body, and I realised that it wasn’t crooked at all but just rotated too much. I just had to twist it to get it straight! The reason that this can occur must lie in the length of the body: when you work in a spiral in one direction and pull the piece in that direction all the time, it starts to look crooked. After I twisted the body, it now looks the same as the other versions, and that’s the stoat you see in the pictures.

To sum things up, this was the most challenging pattern I have made so far, and I almost lost my mind at one point, but it was totally worth it! I have mastered many new skills, and you will too! The stoats look realistic and cute at the same time!
Here are some more pictures of the seamless stoat amigurumi, and below them you can find all the info you need about the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

The pattern for the seamless, realistic crochet stoat is a bit more challenging to crochet than my other patterns. Working seamlessly requires different techniques that can be difficult for beginners; making the white version first could help you learn and master these skills. This animal is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 6.3 inch / 16 cm standing. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own lovable stoat. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount until February the 21st.

Patterns

Free Santa hat & mini antlers pattern

Sonja

Look at this happy Christmas duo! Don’t they look adorable wearing their little decorations?!

Long ago I designed the crochet Santa hat pattern and a few years later I added the pattern for the mini antlers. This weekend I had the idea to do a fun photo-shoot with my newest animals wearing them. But oh no! It seemed that I’d lost the Santa hat! I looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. I was almost about to order a skein of yarn to make a new one, when I thought of a last place where it could be and there I found it!

Because I’ll be posting a lot of pictures of animals wearing these lovely items, I decided to refresh both patterns. So here they are! Happy crocheting and dressing up your Popkes with crochet Santa hats and antlers!

Mini Santa hat pattern

For this pattern you need worsted weight yarn and hook E US/ 3,5 mm. I’ve used Lett Lopi yarn; colours white 0051 and dark red 1409. You’ll also need sewing materials and a hard brush to fuzzy up the brim and pompom.

The red part, work in rows

1. magic ring of 6 = 6

2. sc in each around = 6, close with sl st.

3. ch 2, (dc in next 2, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 8, sl st,

4. ch 2, (dc in next 3, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 10, sl st.

5. ch 2, (dc in next 4, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 12, sl st.

6. ch 2, (dc in next 3, 2 dc in next) x 3 = 15, sl st.

7. ch 2, (dc in next 4, 2 dc in next) x 3 = 18, sl st.

8. ch 2, (dc in next 8, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 20, sl st.

9. ch 2, (dc in next 9, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 22, sl st.

10. ch 2, (dc in next 10, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 24, change colour to white in sl st. If you need a bigger mini hat, don’t change to white just yet and continue like above by adding two stitches each round, till your hat is the right size. Keep in mind there will be white folded rounds (three rounds of sc’s) below the red part of the hat.

11. ch 2, (dc in next 11, 2 dc in next) x 2 = 26, sl st.

12. ch 1, sc in each around = 26, sl st.

13. ch 1, sc in each around = 26, sl st.

14. ch 1, sc in each around = 26, sl st in 1st and leave yarn end for sewing.

Now fold the white part upwards, so your hat will have a nice and thick brim. Sew it tight with the yarn end.

Mini antlers pattern

For the antlers you also need the worsted Lett Lopi yarn in the colour brown and any other colour you like and the same hook as above. Pipe-cleaners to make the pieces bendable are optional. I have used them but they are not safe for small children!

The antlers (brown, make two of each piece)

Part 1

1. magic ring of 4 = 4

2 – 6. sc in each around = 4, sl st and leave yarn end

Part 2

1. magic ring of 4 = 4

2 – 4. sc in each around = 4, sl st and leave yarn end

Part 3

1. magic ring of 4 = 4

2 – 3. sc in each around = 4, sl st and leave yarn end

Now you can insert the pipe-cleaners in the longest 4 pieces. Stretch the parts to get the right length and make sure the cleaners in the longest two (part 1’s) stick out just a little bit, so you can prick them into the headband. Now attach the parts 2 to the bottom parts of the parts 1 and the parts 3 to the top part of the parts 1, as shown in the picture. Weave in the yarn ends except for the yarn ends of the longest parts, so you can use them to sew the antlers to the headband.

Headband (any cheerful colour will do)

1. magic ring of 4 = 4

2 – 22. sc in each around = 4, sl st.

Now stretch this piece too and insert the pipe-cleaner. Now you can sew the band closed by putting the needle from the inside out through all the outside loops of the 4 st, clockwise. If you do it correctly, you can pull the yarn end and it will close the gap.

All you have to do now is attach the antlers to the headband, about two rounds apart.

There, now you can give all your Popkes a reindeer metamorphose!

Patterns

Okiri, realistic crochet owl pattern

Sonja
Woot woot, I’m so happy I can finally present this pattern to you! I wasn’t sure about how to define this owl, because it resembles both the European little owl (steenuil in Dutch) and the American pigmy owl. Both are most adorable small owls, and I believe Okiri would almost make a live-size Pigmy owl. So meet my new realistic crochet owl pattern, isn’t he adorable?! amigurumi little owl and pigmy owl When I started this pattern, I was worried that crafters wouldn’t really fancy making a cranky-faced plushy, but my worries receded when I posted a first teaser picture and so many of you fell in love with the face right from the start! Now I knew I had to make sure I would meet your expectations and design a fabulous cranky and cute owl amigurumi. How I designed the face is a funny story. I started out with the barn owl face as a basis, but that didn’t work out for a little owl or a pigmy owl face. So I fumbled around trying different things. At some point, when I was playing with a basic round shape, I discovered that if I folded the top down, I got the perfect owl’s frown, how delightfully simple! Just the folded circle wouldn’t do, it needed some colouring and a beak. So I worked ahead and that’s how this striking face came to be. Many of you asked about these striking eyes. The eyes I used for this crochet owl pattern are animal safety eyes with a dark pupil and transparent backs. I painted the backs yellow with acrylic paint and added a little felt patch to create the dark line around the eyes, voila, easy peasy. The body is pretty basic by itself, but when I started to add the spots things became somewhat challenging to crochet. And as I wrote the pattern down, my head started to spin at some point. I’m sorry about all the colour changes, even I didn’t enjoy them! But they really are worth the effort because they make the most fabulous textured owl’s body. And if you keep your yarns separated, like one on the left and one on the right, and you keep grabbing them from the same direction, they will not tangle. You need to get into that ‘rhythm’ for the wings as well. To sum things up, this crochet owl has a seamless body and head made from the bottom up. Right before you close the head, you attach the face with eyes to the head. Not much sewing needs to be done here because the eyes secure the face quite well already. The feet, tail and wings need to be sewn to the body and that’s it. Here are some more pictures of this little / pigmy owl amigurumi, and below them you can find all the info you need about the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

The pattern for this realistic crochet little owl and pigmy owl is pretty straightforward. The colour changes can make your had go spinning, so take your time there! This animal is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 4.3 inch / 11 cm tall. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images next to the text and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own cranky owl. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount until the 4th of November!