Beary Jackson Amigurumi Bear

Here's the sixth bear I've made from the Beary Jackson pattern at Rheatheylia.com. I don't have the time or the patience to make baby blankets for all the babies in my life, so this is a great alternative that only takes me about a day.

This time I went with a chunky yarn in an off-white (I threw away the yarn wrapper already so I don't have the name). I guess I forgot since the last time I made Beary that using a heavyweight yarn makes for a very large bear. I had to redo the head to make it smaller so I would have enough yarn to finish! I would recommend using no heavier than worsted weight yarn. My favorite yarn I've used so far was the Red Hearts Baby Teri I used on this bear. Unfortunately it's no longer being made and I haven't found a good replacement.

I'm torn about how to do the eyes and nose on the bear. On this bear and the one before it, I embroidered on a fleece nose and eyes because it seems the less dangerous alternative to buttons or even safety eyes, which can easily be pulled out between loose crochet stitches. On the first bears I did the eyes and nose with embroidery only, which seems to work better on smaller bears. I'm not sure which option looks better.

Amigurumi Nativity: Crocheted Angel Pattern

Here are the previous nativity patterns: Mary and baby Jesus, Joseph.

Angel Amigurumi Pattern

Notes on this pattern:

• My patterns are free and may not be sold. Please do not reproduce or repost patterns or instructions from CraftyCattery.com without my permission. For information on selling items created from my patterns, please view the FAQ.
• Most of this pattern is continuous crochet and there are a few color changes. The wings are crocheted flat.
• I like to make all the accessories first so they are ready to be sewed on when I make the body. That's why they're listed first in the pattern.
• The finished size of the figure is 5 inches.

Materials needed:

• Bulky weight yarn in a flesh color, white (for body and wings) and brown (for hair). I used Lion Brand Jiffy. Optional: you can also a fluffy or feathery white yarn for the wings.
• Optional: gold embroidery floss (for decoration on sleeves)
• Wired gold cord or floral wire and unwired gold cord (for the halo)
• Thread that matches the hair color
• Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Stuffing
• Optional: Bean bag plastic pellets. Putting some of these in the bottom of the Joseph figure can help it balance better. Make sure the pellets are large enough that they won't work their way through the crochet stitches. Pellets are not recommended if small children may have access to the figure.

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

• Rnd = round, when doing continuous crochet
• Row = row, when doing flat crochet
• sc = single crochet
• st = stitch
• sts = stitches
• ch = chain
• slp st = slip stitch
• sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.) sc3tog = single crochet three stitches together.

The pattern:

Angel's Hair
Use spiral crochet with the brown (hair color) yarn to make the wig cap:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Go to my amigurumi wig instruction page and follow Steps 2-5 to add hair to the wig cap.

Angel's Wings 

Make two. Crocheted flat using white yarn (the same yarn as the body or the optional fluffy/feathery yarn). Leave a long tail at the start to use to sew the wing to the body.
Row 1: ch 9. sc in second chain from hook. sc in each chain 7 more times (for a total of 8 sts).
Row 2: ch 2. sc in second chain from hook. sc 7 (for a total of 8 sts). ch 1 and turn.
Row 3: sc 5. slp st 1 and turn.
Row 4: *sc 4. ch 1 and turn.
Row 5: sc 4. slp st 1 in earlier row and turn.
Row 6: *sc 3. ch 1 and turn.
Row 7: sc 3. slp st 1 in earlier row. Bind off, leaving long tail to sew to body.

* When doing a single crochet after a slip stitch, do not do the single crochet in the slip stitch. Instead, skip over the slip stitch and do it in the next single crochet (see video).

Angel's Arm
Make two using spiral crochet. Begin with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (6 sts).
Color change to white:
Rnd 4: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew arm to body. If desired, used gold embroidery floss to decorate the sleeves. Stuff arm.

Angel's Head and Body
Using spiral crochet. Beginning with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Color change to white:
Rnd 11: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 12: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 13: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] three times (18 sts).
Rnd 14: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] three times (21 sts).
Rnd 15: [2 sc in next st, sc 6] three times (24 sts).
Rnd 16: [2 sc in next st, sc 7] three times (27 sts).
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 8] three times (30 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 9] three times (33 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (33 sts).
Rnd 20: [2 sc in next st, sc 10] three times (36 sts).
Rnd 21: sc around (36 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (36 sts).
Stuff the head. Sew the wig to the head (see Step 6 here). Sew arms to body underneath head. Sew wings behind arms. Stuff the upper part of body (stuffing it partially now is easier than trying to stuff the whole thing as you are closing it up).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 4] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 25: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 26: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Stuff the rest of the body. Add plastic bean bag pellets if desired.
Rnd 27: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, closing hole and weaving in tail.

Halo
Step 1 if you do not have wired gold cord: cut a 9 inch length of regular gold cord and a 11 inch length of floral wire. Run the floral wire through the middle of the gold cord until one inch of the wire is exposed on either end of the cord. Go to Step 2.
Step 1 if you do have wired gold cord: Cut an 11 inch length. Remove an inch of the cord from each end, leaving the wire exposed.
Step 2: If needed, use glue or Fray Check to keep the raw ends of the cord from unraveling.
Step 3: Holding the ends together, twist about two inches away from the ends to create a circle. Twist all the way down to the wire ends.

Final Construction
Trim and style hair. Place halo on head by sticking the bare ends of the wire into the head. If desired, sew the angel's hands together in prayer. Pair with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus and enjoy your nativity!

How To Make Amigurumi Hair: Wig Method

Dumbledore's fluffy hair and beard

Here's a tutorial for the method I used to make the hair for several of my Harry Potter amigurumi dolls. Be aware that it can be very time consuming - I think I spent about three hours on each wig. I have also added a tiny bit at the end about amigurumi beards as well.

Supplies needed:

• Your hairless amigurumi
• Yarn in the color you want for their hair (use same weight yarn as the amigurumi)
• Crochet hook (size depends on weight of yarn)
• Scissors
• Felt glue (or other non-washable fabric glue)
• Plastic yarn needle
• Sewing pins
• Sewing thread that matches the hair color
• Sewing needle

Step 1 - Make a wig cap.

Crocheted wig cap

Spiral crochet a wig cap that is slightly bigger than your amigurumi's head in the color of yarn you will be using for the hair. The simplest way to do this is to recreate the top of the amigurumi's head to the point at which it stops increasing and then add one more increasing round. For example, if the amigurumi's head has this pattern:

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts). < last increase
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).

Then for the wig cap, crochet up to the last increase and add another increasing round like this:

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts) 
Rnd 6: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] six times (36 sts). < add one more increase

Bind off and leave the tails - they can be used as part of the hair.

Step 2: Add the hair.

Adding loops of hair

Starting at the center of the cap and working outwards in a spiral, use a crochet hook to pull loops of yarn through the holes between stitches. The length of the loops depends on how long your character's hair will be, but be sure to make them a bit longer than necessary so you have some extra to trim off at the end.

Unless you want your character to have a crazy-thick head of hair, don't put a loop of yarn in every single hole. Experiment by skipping one or two holes and see how you like the thickness. As long as you haven't glued or cut the hair, you can always pull it out and start over. Make sure that your skipped holes don't clump together or you might end up with bare patches on the wig.

It's a good idea to mark the front of the wig (see the red piece of embroidery floss in the photo above). Hair at the back of someone's head is usually shorter than hair at the front, so I made my loops longer when I was close to the marker.

Adding loops in outside stitches

After you've filled all the holes, do an extra round by pulling a loop through the outside strand of each of the outer stitches (see photo above). Do not skip any stitches.

When you're done, the wig will look like this:

Outside

Inside

Step 3: Glue the hair.

Glue the hair

On the inside of the wig cap, liberally apply glue to each strand of hair. Use felt glue or some other sort of non-washable fabric glue. Be sure not to miss the outside row of hair you added on the last round. While it is important to make sure every strand is covered, don't go overboard and slather every millimeter with glue or the wig cap will lose its flexibility when the glue hardens.

Let the glue dry.

Step 4: Cut the loops.

Once the glue has dried, take a pair of scissors and cut each loop on the outside of the wig into two strands of hair. Be sure to straighten out each loop and cut it at the longest point so both strands will be the same length.

For straight hair, skip to Step 6. For curly or bushy hair, go to Step 5.

Step 5: Separate the plies and brush if desired.

This is the part that will probably take you the longest. Each strand of yarn is made of several smaller strands twisted together. These smaller strands are called plies (3-ply yarn has 3 plies, 4-ply yarn had 4 plies, etc.). Start on one side of the wig and take each strand of hair and carefully separate the plies. I did this by using a plastic yarn needle to pick the strands apart. When the plies are separated, use a spare piece of yarn to tie them to the side so they won't get tangled or mixed in with the unseparated hair.

Unbrushed hair

When you're finished you will have a wig of curly like Hermione's. If you want bushy hair instead of curly, then use a wire brush (I used a wire slicker cat brush) to gently comb the strands. I recommend taking a clump of hair and holding it by the root while you brush it so that the strands don't get pulled out. Be aware that large amounts of the hair will end up being brushed out, so only do it if your wig already has very thick hair. Hair that has been brushed out will be bushy like Hagrid's:

Hagrid's bushy hair

Step 6: Sew the wig on.

You marked the front of the wig in Step 2, right? Line up the front of the wig with the middle of the amigurumi's forehead. Make sure it looks how you'd like it to then pin it in place. Use a double strand of thread on a sewing needle and sew the wig to the head. At the end, put the needle in the middle of the wig, tie off and trim the thread (that way the end bits are hidden in the hair).

Step 7: Cut and style.

Now that the hair is on your amigurumi character, it's time to cut and style it how you wish. Brush out the hair with your fingers (a real brush will mess it up) and trim any uneven ends. Cut the hair to the length you desire then style it. Congrats, your amigurumi has hair!

Beards

To create Dumbledore's and Hagrid's beards, I used the same method as outlined above except instead of creating a wig cap in Step 1, I crocheted a flat triangle , the bottom of which would become the top of the beard. After following Steps 2-5, I sewed it underneath the amigurumi's nose (or where their nose would be if they had one) and the whole thing was trimmed in to a beard shape.

Harry Potter Amigurumi Dolls

Harry, Dumbledore, Ron, Hagrid and Hermione

I made these five Harry Potter amigurumi dolls for a friend and her kids who all love the series. I had a lot of fun making them though they took much longer than I expected. Part of that may be because I was trying to made a duplicate set of dolls for myself at the same time because I knew if I didn't make them then, I never would. Unfortunately when we decided to move I had to rush to finish them and didn't get to make Dumbledore or Hagrid for myself.

Since I don't own the rights to Harry, I can't post a pattern. However, I will explain some of the basic techniques I used to create the dolls. I ended up doing a few new things for these dolls that I had never attempted before.

The bodies: I used a basic mushroom body shape, like the body I made for my Nativity dolls. Hagrid needed to be bigger so I added stitches to make him fatter and added extra rounds to make him taller. For Dumbledore, I didn't add extra stitches but I did add extra rounds.

The hair: This was my biggest challenge as I had never done hair on an amigurumi doll and it took a lot of experimentation. I think I will do a separate post with photos of the methods I used, but for now I will summarize by saying that for Hermione, Dumbledore and Hagrid's hair as well as the two beards, I crocheted a "wig cap" then threaded yarn through the spaces between stitches. I put glue on the underside of the cap so the hair wouldn't get pulled out. I pulled apart the strands of each yarn then used a wire brush to gently brush the yarn so it got fuzzy (except for Hermione, I didn't brush her hair out). I then attached the cap to the head. For Harry and Ron, I embroidered the yarn directly on to their heads.

The robes and Hagrid's vest: I started with my pattern for Joseph's robes and just added sleeves by picking up stitches around the arm holes and then crocheting in a spiral until they were long enough. Hagrid's vest was a short version of the robe without sleeves.

Scarves: I experimented with crocheting and knitting ties and scarves out of embroidery floss but when nothing turned out how I wanted, I switched to regular yarn and a homemade four-stitch knitting Nancy to make the i-cord scarves (this could also be done by using the double pointed knitting needle method, see this video).

Details: The faces and details were embroidered with embroidery floss. The eyes were safety eyes. Dumbledore's hat was a simple cone.

Work In Progress: Harry Potter Amigurumi Dolls

 

A quick peek at the Harry Potter amigurumi dolls that I am making for a friend. I've finished the "trio" of Harry, Ron and Hermione and am starting on Hagrid and Dumbledore.

Because Harry Potter is a licensed property I won't be able to post a pattern for any of the dolls, but when I am finished I will detail some of the techniques I used while making them.

Big Blue Amigurumi Bear

 

This is the fifth bear I've made using the Beary Jackson pattern from Rheatheylia.com. It's perfect for a baby gift since it's so quick and easy to make. This time I used Bernat's Baby Blanket yarn in baby blue. It's very thick and soft, sort of like a chenille. Because the yarn was so thick the bear ended up being twice the size of the other bears I made using regular weight yarn. He's almost as big as the baby!

You can see the bears I've made previously here, here and here.

Amigurumi Nativity: Crocheted Joseph Pattern

Every Christmas my goal is to come up with a pattern for a new nativity figure. 

Last year was Mary and baby Jesus and this year is Joseph! (Update 2/1/12: there's an angel too)

Joseph Amigurumi Pattern

Notes on this pattern:

• My patterns are free and may not be sold. Please do not reproduce or repost patterns or instructions from CraftyCattery.com without my permission. For information on selling items created from my patterns, please view the FAQ.
• There are a few color changes in this pattern. Aside from that, the most complicated part of the pattern to crochet is the headband which is crocheted in the round (as opposed to in a spiral which is the traditional amigurumi way). There are also a few pieces that are crocheted flat.
• The finished size of the figure is 5 inches.

Materials needed:

• Bulky weight yarn in a flesh color, blue (for headcloth and robe), red (for body and headband) and brown (for beard and hair). I used Lion Brand Jiffy.
• Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Stuffing
• Optional: Bean bag plastic pellets. Putting some of these in the bottom of the Joseph figure can help it balance better. Make sure the pellets are large enough that they won't work their way through the crochet stitches. Pellets are not recommended if small children may have access to the figure.

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

• Rnd = round, when doing continuous crochet
• Row = row, when doing flat crochet
• sc = single crochet
• st = stitch
• sts = stitches
• ch = chain
• slp st = slip stitch
• sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.) sc3tog = single crochet three stitches together.

The pattern:

Joseph's Arm
Make two using spiral crochet. Begin with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (6 sts).
Color change to red:
Rnd 4: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew arm to body. Stuff arm.

Joseph's Head and Body
Using spiral crochet. Beginning with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Color change to red:
Rnd 11: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 12: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 13: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] three times (18 sts).
Rnd 14: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] three times (21 sts).
Rnd 15: [2 sc in next st, sc 6] three times (24 sts).
Rnd 16: [2 sc in next st, sc 7] three times (27 sts).
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 8] three times (30 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 9] three times (33 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (33 sts).
Rnd 20: [2 sc in next st, sc 10] three times (36 sts).
Rnd 21: sc around (36 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (36 sts).
Sew arms to body underneath head. Stuff head and upper part of body (stuffing it partially now is easier than trying to stuff the whole thing as you are closing it up).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 4] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 25: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 26: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Stuff the rest of the body. Add plastic bean bag pellets if desired.
Rnd 27: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, closing hole and weaving in tail.

Joseph’s Headcloth
See the pattern for Mary's Veil for photos on how the headcloth is crocheted. Crocheted flat. Using blue:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc). In 10th chain, 4 sc. Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn (22 sts).
Row 2: sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (26 sts).
Row 3: sc 9, 2 sc in next 8 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).

You can stop there, but I like to run a chain of single crochet across the bottom to even out the edges. Here’s how to do it: After Row 9, ch 1 then sc across bottom (about 18 or 19 st). When you reach the end, ch 1 then slp st in first stitch on other edge. Bind off, weaving in tails.

Unfinished bottom edge on headcloth.

Single crochet across the bottom edge.

Finished bottom edge on headcloth.

Joseph’s Headband
Crochet in the round in red:
Rnd 1: ch 26. Join by slp st in the first st (so you will have a circle)
Rnd 2: sc all. There will be a gap at the end so close it by slp st in the first st in the round.
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew on headband.

Chain 26.

Join chain using slip stitch to form circle.

Single crochet around circle.

Close circle using slip stitch.

Joseph’s Robe
Crochet flat in blue:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. sc in each chain 9 more times (for a total of 10 sts). ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 and turn (10 sts).
Row 3: sc across, ch 1 and turn (10 sts).
Row 4: 2 sc in first st, sc 8, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 7: 2 sc in first st, sc 10, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 10: 2 sc in first st, sc 12, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 11: sc across, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 12: sc across, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 13: 2 sc in first st, sc 14, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 14: sc across, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 15: sc across, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 16: 2 sc in first st, sc 16, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (20 sts).
Row 17: sc across (20 sts).

Joseph's Robe Edging: Note that the stitch counts in parenthesis in this section are approximate and may vary. If you don’t end up using exactly the same number of stitches as I did, it’s okay.

1. Chain 1 and single crochet up the side, stopping about 2/5ths of the way from the top (9 sts).
2. To make the arm hole, chain enough stitches to be even with the top row (6 sts).
3. Use slip stitch to join the chain to the last stitch in the top row.
4. Chain 1, turn and single crochet back down the side (15 sts).
5. At the bottom corner, chain 1 and single crochet across the bottom row (21 sts).
6. At the end of the bottom row, repeat steps 1-4 for the next side. Then chain 1 and join it using a slip stitch into the first stitch in the bottom row. Bind off and weave in ends.

Here's a slide show showing how the edging on the robe is done:

Joseph’s Beard
Crochet flat in brown (leave long tail for sewing to face):
Row 1: ch 8. sc in second chain from hook. sc in each chain 6 more times (for a total of 7 sts). ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 and turn (7 sts).
Row 3: sc2tog, sc 3, sc2tog, ch 1 and turn (5 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 and turn (5 sts).
Row 5: sc2tog, sc 1, sc2tog, ch 1 and turn (3 sts).
Row 6: sc3tog (1 st).
Bind off and weave in tail.

Final Construction
Put headcloth and headband on Joseph and sew them down. Sew beard to Joseph's face. Add hair if desired. Put on his robe by sticking the arms through the arm holes. If you want his arms to be down instead of sticking out, you can hold them down and use some yarn to sew them to his sides.
Pair Joseph with Mary and baby Jesus and enjoy your nativity!

Crocheted Amigurumi German Shepherd

I made this amigurumi for my brother who wanted one that looked like his black and tan German Shepherd:

I used my Amigurumi Wolf pattern to create this doll and only had to make a few color changes to the paws and chest to make it look like my brother's dog. :)

Amigurumi Nativity: Crocheted Mary and Baby Jesus

For Christmas this year, I made this amigurumi Mary and baby Jesus for my friends and family. My plan is to make a new pattern every year for a different figure (Joseph, shepherds, wise men, animals, angel, etc.) so that after several years they will have a complete amigurumi nativity scene. This is the first year I'm doing it so this is the only pattern I have come up with so far.

Amigurumi Pattern
Notes on this pattern:

• My patterns are free and may not be sold. Please do not reproduce or repost patterns or instructions from CraftyCattery.com without my permission. For information on selling items created from my patterns, please view the FAQ.
• There are a few color changes in this pattern. Aside from that, the most complicated part of the pattern to crochet is the swaddling, where you must switch from continuous crochet to flat crochet, and Mary's veil which is crocheted flat.
  
• The finished size of the pair of figures is 5 inches.
  

Materials needed:

• Bulky weight yarn in a flesh color, white (for veil and swaddling), and blue (for Mary's dress). I used Lion Brand Jiffy.
• Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Stuffing
• Optional: Bean bag plastic pellets. Putting some of these in the bottom of the Mary figure can help it balance better. Make sure the pellets are large enough that they won't work their way through the crochet stitches. Pellets are not recommended if small children may have access to the figure.
  

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

• Rnd = round, when doing continuous crochet
• Row = row, when doing flat crochet
  
• sc = single crochet
• st = stitch
• sts = stitches
• ch = chain
• sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.)

The pattern:
Baby Jesus' Head
Using flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tail.
Baby Jesus' Swaddling
Using white:
Rnd 1: 3 sc in magic ring (3 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (6 sts).
Rnd 3: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (12 sts).
Switch to flat crochet:
Row 10: sc in each st for 8 sts, ch 1 turn (8 sts).
Row 11: sc2tog, sc 4, sc2tog, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Row 12: sc2tog, sc 2, sc2tog, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 13: sc2tog, sc2tog. (2 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tail.

Swaddling, showing flat crochet at top:

Stuff the head and the swaddling. Put the open end of the head just inside the open end of the swaddling and sew them together.
Mary's Veil
Crocheted flat. Using white:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc). In 10th chain, 4 sc. Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn (22 sts).
Row 2: sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (26 sts).
Row 3: sc 9, 2 sc in next 8 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tails.
Here are some photos detailing how to start the veil.

Row 1 - Chain 11:

Row 1 cont'd - sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc):

Row 1 cont'd - In 10th chain, 4 sc:

Row 1 cont'd - Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn:

Row 2 - sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn:

Keep working back and forth according to the pattern. Here is the final result:

Mary's Arm
Make two. Begin with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (6 sts).
Color change to blue:
Rnd 4: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew arm to body. Stuff arm.
Mary's Head and Body
Beginning with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Color change to blue:
Rnd 11: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 12: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 13: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] three times (18 sts).
Rnd 14: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] three times (21 sts).
Rnd 15: [2 sc in next st, sc 6] three times (24 sts).
Rnd 16: [2 sc in next st, sc 7] three times (27 sts).
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 8] three times (30 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 9] three times (33 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (33 sts).
Rnd 20: [2 sc in next st, sc 10] three times (36 sts).
Rnd 21: sc around (36 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (36 sts).
Sew arms to body underneath head. Stuff head and upper part of body (stuffing it partially now is easier than trying to stuff the whole thing as you are closing it up).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 4] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 25: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 26: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Stuff the rest of the body. Add plastic bean bag pellets if desired.
Rnd 27: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, closing hole and weaving in tail.
Final Construction
Sew veil to Mary's head. Add hair if desired. Sew baby Jesus to Mary's hands. Enjoy!

Amigurumi: Crocheted Fruit Keychains

Ever heard of geocaching? It's a game where you use your GPS to find "caches" - containers of varying sizes - that have been hidden outside all over the world. Inside the container is a log where you sign your username to show that you've found it, and also sometimes there are trade items. You can take an item out of the cache as long as you leave another item of equal or greater value. Generally the items are small toys or random dollar store items. I thought it would be fun to come up with something different to leave in the caches that I visit, so I made these amigurumi crocheted fruit keychains.

They were a little difficult to photograph, but the fruits are (clockwise from left): cherries, orange, apple, lime, and lemon. The shapes are so simple that you don't really need a pattern for them. The cherries, orange, and apple are all simple spheres and the lemon and lime are spheres with a few extra rounds in the middle and the first and last rounds of six stiches repeated to give their ends the points. I did use a pattern for the leaves, it can be found on the blog Crochet and Other Stuff. You will also find a pattern for a crocheted apple there; I didn't use that exact pattern (my spheres had 24 stitches in their largest round) but what can I say, a sphere's a sphere!

I couldn't find any keychains for sale in my area so I just ordered some online. I got 50 of them for $13.50 which was a pretty good deal.

I also made little tags out of shrink plastic (aka Shrinky Dinks) to put on the keychains with the name of the website (geocaching.com) and my username (blacked out for privacy):

All in all, these were easy and quick to make and will hopefully be a fun thing to find for the next person who visits the cache!

Yet Another Amigurumi Bear

I've crocheted yet another amigurumi bear using the Beary Jackson pattern at Rheatheylia.com. I've made 3 bears prior to this one - they are awesome baby gifts and only take a few hours to make! You can see my first bear here and the other two here. This one was crocheted out of Red Heart Baby Teri yarn in Medium Pink. I love this yarn, it is so soft! The eyes and mouth are embroidered on with blue yarn and pink embroidery floss. I have several other friends who are expecting so I see more Beary Jacksons in my future...

Amigurumi Raven

I crocheted this raven back in March as a birthday gift for my dad. Unfortunately I was in a hurry and I "freehanded" it so I don't have a pattern. If you want to make your own, the shapes I used were fairly simple (except for the feet):

Body: A pill shape - just an amigurumi ball with a few extra rounds thrown in the middle to make it longer.

Beak: I think I started out with four stitches in a circle, then increased twice in each round, putting the increases opposite from each other. I stuffed it a tiny bit.

Wings: Also started with four stitches in a circle. I then put all the increases on one side so that the wing would be curved. I didn't stuff the wings.

Tail: I did the tail a little different. I chained several stitches (6 or 8 maybe) and then started crocheting "in the round" up and down both sides of the chain. Once I had one round finished, I decreased twice in each following round, putting the decreases opposite from each other. I stopped when there were only a few stitches left in the round. This made a flat trapezoid shape. I did not stuff the tail. I sewed the open end (the less-wide end of the trapezoid) to the raven's body.

Feet: I'm a little unsure how I made them. I think I made a small circle (maybe 4 or 6 stitches) and then did the toes by making a few chains away from the circle then turning and stitching back down the chain until I hit the circle again. I repeated that for each of the three toes.

I hope this helps explain how I made it. If I still had the raven I would try to write up a pattern but it is now in Texas with my dad so I'd have to start from scratch and I don't have time for that at the moment. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help.

Crochet Pattern: Amigurumi Wolf

I've created my first original amigurumi pattern - a wolf. I wanted to crochet a wolf for a friend who was going off to school at the University of Nevada - Reno (their mascot is the wolfpack). But I couldn't find a wolf pattern online that I liked, so I decided to write my own.

Coming up with my own pattern was easier than I thought it would be - I just started crocheting and if I didn't like the way the it was going I just ripped the stitches out and started again. As I crocheted I kept a log of how many stitches I used in each round and made notes if I used any special increases or decreases. This type of pattern was easy for me to read, but when it came time to post it online I realized that many crocheters would have no idea what to do with my crazy list of numbers!

To find out how an amigurumi pattern should be written, I looked online at other free patterns created by bloggers and picked the three that I thought were easiest to understand: Ana Paula's, Planet June's, and Nimoe's. I then used the writing style of these patterns as a guide to how mine should be written. After writing up my pattern properly I tested it by using it to create another wolf.

I hope you enjoy this pattern and I'd love to see photos of any wolves you make using it. If you have any questions or find any errors please let me know in the comments section.

Update 8/16/09: Cissi of Amigurumi på svenska has translated this pattern into Swedish!

Wolf Amigurumi Pattern
Notes on this pattern:

• My patterns are free and may not be sold. Please do not reproduce or repost patterns or instructions from CraftyCattery.com without my permission. For information on selling items created from my patterns, please view the FAQ.
• Probably the most complicated parts of this pattern are the muzzle and tail. The head and body are the typical amigurumi "mushroom" shape and the paws and ears are pretty simple to crochet.
• The finished size of the wolf is about 5 inches sitting, 7 inches standing.

Materials needed:

• Bulky weight yarn in grey, white, and black (I used Bernat Softee Chunky)
• Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Optional: Safety eyes and nose (if the item is intended for children over 3 years)

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

• Rnd = round
• sc = single crochet
• st = stitch
• sts = stitches
• ch = chain
• sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.)

The pattern:
Muzzle
Using white:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 7: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving yarn tail to sew muzzle to head.

Blaze
The blaze is crocheted flat. Using grey:
Row 1: ch 2, 2 sc in second chain from hook, ch 1 turn (2 sts).
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 turn (2 sts).
Row 3: 2 sc in each st, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 5: 2 sc in 1st st, sc next two st, 2 sc in 4th st, ch 1 turn (6 sts) .
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to sew blaze onto muzzle.

Sew blaze on top of muzzle, with short end of blaze positioned just above the point of the muzzle. Use black yarn to embroider nose over end of blaze or attach plastic safety nose. Stuff the muzzle.

Blaze - short end at the right

Blaze sewn to muzzle

Nose embroidered on muzzle

Ear
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] two times (8 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] two times (10 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] two times (12 sts).
Rnd 6: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] two times (14 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail. Use tail to sew open end of ear together so it is flat (do not stuff). Leave excess tail to sew ear to head.

Head and Body
Using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 11: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 12: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 13: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).

Sew the ears and muzzle to the head, using grey yarn to attach the ears and top of the muzzle and white yarn to attach the lower part of the muzzle. Embroider or attach plastic safety eyes. Stuff head then continue crocheting:

Rnd 14: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Rnd 15: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Rnd 16: sc around (6 sts).
(Optional - Rnd 16a: sc around (6 sts). If you’d like a floppy head, do this extra row. If you don’t want a floppy head, leave this row out.)
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 20: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 21: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog] three times (6 sts).

Stuff body. Bind off and close hole.

Front Paw
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 5: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: [sc2tog, sc 1] three times (6 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew paw to body. Stuff paw and sew opening shut.

Back Paw
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 6: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 11: [sc2tog, sc 1] three times (6 sts).
Rnd 12: sc around (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew paw to body. Stuff paw and sew opening shut.

Tail
Note: The tail is crocheted with most of the increases on one side of the tail and most of the decreases on the other so that it will have a curve.
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: sc across (4 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] twice (6 sts).
Rnd 4: 2 sc in next st, sc 1, sc2tog, sc 2 (6 sts).
Rnd 5: 2 sc in next st, sc 5 (7 sts).
Rnd 6: 2 sc in next st, sc 6 (8 sts).
Rnd 7: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 8: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 9: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 10: 2 sc in next st, sc 7 (9 sts).
Rnd 11: 2 sc in next st, sc 8 (10 sts).
Rnd 12: 2 sc in next st, sc 3, sc2tog, sc 4 (10 sts).
Rnd 13: 2 sc in next st, sc 3, sc2tog, sc 4 (10 sts).
Rnd 14: [sc2tog, sc 3] two times (8 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew tail onto body. Stuff tail.

Sew front paws on to body below the head. Sew back paws near the bottom of the body. Sew the tail on the back side of the body between the back paws. If wanted, use black yarn to embroider claws on to each paw.

My test wolf (left) and my prototype wolf (right - smaller because he was made with a lighter-weight yarn)