crochet barn owl pattern

I’m so excited to present you this pattern! Meet Barnsbie the second, a super-realistic but too-cute-to-be-real crochet barn owl.

When I made my first crochet barn owl pattern, I was rather pleased with its looks. But after I had learned some new techniques while designing the long-eared owls, I didn’t really like old Barnsby anymore. In my eyes he started to look like a silly-looking man.

‘A man?’ Yes, well, whilst I loved the legs when I designed Barnsby, I now really don’t like them any more. All owl species have long legs, you don’t often see them because when they sit on a branch, they are hidden between fluffy feathers. When I designed Barnsby, I wanted to show the legs too. But later I preferred the ‘branching’ look (like bird plushes mostly have too) of just the feet sticking out underneath the belly. And I also wanted to try something different for the face, something more realistic and less ‘big nose’-looking.

So I sat behind my desk and tried all sorts of things. I recently purchased a super-cute but rather silly-looking barn owl plush (I have a thing for plushes), and that was my example. I had to melt for my crochet version, as much as for that wonky-looking plushy.

At some point in the process, I saw my partly-finished new Barnsbie lying in my working basket, and in that moment I knew I had succeeded. I totally loved that look. Especially the face profile looks amazing, and this crochet barn owl has the perfect balance between a realistic and a cute amigurumi.

Here are some more pictures of the little cutie, and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern.

This is an intermediate pattern. It’s made with basic stitches. If you’re experienced, you can go for the spotted version, but if you don’t like colour changes too much, you can leave out the grey yarn and just go for a two-coloured owl. The difficulty of this pattern lies in the face shaping. I try to explain it as thorough as possible, but it requires some extra skills rather than just crocheting.

This crochet owl is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 5 inch / 13 cm tall. 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 owl 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 or Etsy.

And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 16th of May.

I’m so excited to present you this pattern! Meet Barnsby, a super-realistic but too-cute-to-be-real crochet barn owl.

It has been such an interesting ride to design this owl amigurumi pattern. First of all, barn owls are wondrous-looking creatures with their flat dish-like-looking face. Basically, the face functions as a big ear. The flat disc catches sounds incredibly well, so that they can hear even the tiniest rustle of prey. The challenge for me was to create a flat face that would stay flat when attached to the head. Also, for this streamlined animal I wanted to make a design without too many bumps and attached bits. The owl had to be as seamless as possible.

And that was something new for me. This summer I’ve been experimenting with new techniques, and I had something in mind that could do the trick. I had never tried something like it before, but how hard could it be? I enthusiastically accepted the challenge. After a few silly-looking experiments, I learned how to use this technique properly. I’m not going to go into details, but attaching a body piece to an unfinished body and then crocheting ahead is a brilliant and super-easy way to get a seamless result. It won’t work for every animal or design, but it’s perfect for birds.

And the face! I got so many positive reactions about the owl’s face, so many people found it perfect. So very jolly you all liked it so much. The face is simply sewn to the head, and by pushing the stuffing to the back of the head and keeping the front practically empty, the face stays nice and flat.

I really hope the finished crochet owl meets your expectations! I can’t deny that I’m very proud of the looks and simplicity of this pattern. With this pattern I think even someone with basic skills can make this super-realistic-looking barn owl amigurumi.

Here are a few more pictures of Barnsby the barn owl, and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

Barnsby the realistic barn owl is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. If you use the recommended yarn, he will be 6 inch / 15 cm high. I would strongly recommend a fuzzy yarn, because it hides the seams of the colour changes.

The pattern is written in US terms and contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the crochet owl amigurumi, with extra illustrations and example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make your own wondrous owl. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

Heads up: it has a one-dollar release discount till Thursday the 10th of October.