Feb
Why I Started With a Simple Whale Pattern
So back in spring 2022 I made this tiny whale amigurumi because my niece was obsessed with ocean stuff and honestly it was way easier than I thought it’d be. I grabbed some Red Heart Super Saver in turquoise because it was cheap and I wasn’t sure if I’d even finish the thing. The pattern was free from a blog I can’t even remember now but it taught me basically everything about how amigurumi actually works.
The main thing with these animal patterns is you’re working in continuous rounds which sounds fancy but really just means you keep spiraling around without joining each row. You need a stitch marker though or you’ll lose track of where you started – I used a bobby pin for like three projects before buying actual markers.
What You Actually Need Before Starting
Don’t overthink the supplies part. Here’s what I used:
- Worsted weight yarn (Red Heart Super Saver or Caron Simply Soft work great)
- A 3.5mm or 4mm crochet hook depending on how tight you crochet
- Polyfil stuffing from any craft store
- Safety eyes if you want but you can embroider eyes too
- Yarn needle for sewing parts together
- Stitch markers or literally any small clip thing
I crochet pretty tight naturally so I use a 4mm hook with worsted weight but if your stitches are loose you’re gonna see stuffing through the gaps which looks weird. Go down a hook size if that happens.
Starting With the Magic Ring
Okay so the magic ring is how you start basically every amigurumi piece and it confused me for SO long until I watched like one video and then it clicked. You’re making an adjustable loop that you can pull tight so there’s no hole in the center of your work. Most patterns start with “magic ring, 6 sc” which means make the ring and then single crochet 6 stitches into it.
The alternative is chaining 2 and working into the first chain but that always left a little gap for me so I just learned the magic ring and used it for everything.
My First Actual Animal Was a Disaster Bear
Summer 2024 I decided to make a bear following a free pattern from Craft Passion I think? It had separate arms, legs, ears, a muzzle piece – way more parts than the whale. What annoyed me SO much was sewing all those pieces onto the body because the pattern didn’t really explain WHERE to put them exactly. Like it’d say “attach arms to sides of body” but at what row? How far apart? I had to undo the arms twice because they looked drunk.
My cat kept batting at the stuffing too which didn’t help.
Understanding Increases and Decreases
These are the only “special” stitches you really need for basic amigurumi. An increase means you put 2 single crochet stitches in the same stitch from the previous row. A decrease means you crochet 2 stitches together to make them into 1 stitch.
Patterns write these as “inc” and “dec” usually. So a typical round might say something like: “sc 1, inc, repeat around” which means single crochet in one stitch, then increase in the next stitch, and keep doing that pattern all the way around.
The increases make your work get bigger (like for a head or body) and decreases make it get smaller (like closing up the top of a head or making a neck).
Best Beginner Animals to Start With
Based on what I made and what didn’t make me want to throw my hook across the room:
- Simple blob animals – whales, octopi, jellyfish (minimal parts)
- Snakes or caterpillars (literally just a long tube)
- Basic bears or bunnies with simple shapes
- Owls (usually just a body with wings sewn on)
- Bees (cute and fast to make)
Avoid anything with tons of color changes or really detailed features at first. I tried making a raccoon with stripes on the tail and it was… not good.
Where to Find Actually Good Free Patterns
There’s a ton of free patterns out there but some are written way better than others. I’ve used stuff from:
- Amigurumi.com – they have a massive free library
- Ravelry – you can filter by free and skill level
- Individual blogs like All About Ami or Club Crochet
- Pinterest but be careful because sometimes the links are broken or lead to paid patterns pretending to be free
Look for patterns that have lots of photos showing each step or at least a photo of the finished product from multiple angles. If a pattern is just text with no pictures I usually skip it because I’m gonna need visual reference when I inevitably get confused.
Reading Pattern Abbreviations
Pattern language looks like alphabet soup at first but you’ll memorize this stuff fast:
- sc = single crochet
- inc = increase
- dec = decrease (sometimes written as sc2tog)
- ch = chain
- sl st = slip stitch
- rnd = round
- rep = repeat
Most beginner amigurumi only uses single crochet honestly. You might see half double crochet (hdc) occasionally but that’s about it.
The Stuffing Process Nobody Warns You About
So you’re making your animal and eventually you need to stuff it before closing it up completely. I learned you gotta stuff as you go especially with parts like legs or arms because once you’ve decreased too much at the top you can’t fit your hand in there anymore.
Use small pieces of stuffing and pack it in with like a chopstick or the back of your hook. Don’t just shove one big wad in there because it’ll be lumpy. For heads I stuff them pretty firm so they’re not floppy but for bodies sometimes a slightly softer stuff looks more cuddly.
I was watching The Bear while making a bunny once and got distracted and understuffed the whole thing – it looked sad and deflated so I had to open up the seam and add more which was annoying.
Safety Eyes vs Embroidered Eyes
Safety eyes are those plastic eyes with a washer back that locks them in place. You have to put them in BEFORE you finish stuffing and close up the piece because they don’t work once it’s closed. The pattern usually tells you what size and what row to place them on.
I prefer embroidering eyes with black yarn though especially if I’m making something for a little kid because safety eyes can potentially be pulled out. Plus you can make whatever expression you want – sleepy eyes, happy eyes, derpy eyes which honestly sometimes makes the animal cuter.
Sewing Parts Together Without Losing Your Mind
This is still the part I like least about amigurumi. You’ve made all these pieces and now you gotta attach them and if they’re crooked or uneven the whole animal looks off.
What works for me is pinning pieces in place first with regular sewing pins before I actually sew them. Put the head on the body and stick some pins through to hold it, then look at it from all angles. Too far forward? Tilted? Adjust before you commit to sewing.
Use the same color yarn as the body when you’re sewing so the stitches blend in. I use a whip stitch usually going back and forth through the edge of the piece and into the body. Pull tight as you go so there’s no gaps.
For arms and legs I usually sew them on with the yarn needle but some people use thread joints if they want moveable limbs which I haven’t tried yet because it seems complicated.
Tension Issues That’ll Make Your Animals Wonky
If your tension isn’t consistent your animal will end up with tight sections and loose sections that look weird. This just takes practice honestly but here’s what helped me:
Hold your yarn the same way every time. I wrap it around my pinky and over my index finger but some people do it different – just stay consistent. When you’re pulling yarn through stitches try to pull the same amount each time.
Also if you put your project down for a few days and come back to it your tension might be different than when you started. I made a cat once over like two weeks and you can literally see where I picked it back up because the stitches changed size slightly.
Yarn Choice Actually Matters
I mentioned Red Heart Super Saver and Caron Simply Soft already but there’s other options too. Bernat Blanket yarn is really soft and makes huge amigurumi fast but it’s hard to see your stitches. Lily Sugar’n Cream is cotton and makes sturdier animals that hold their shape good.
Avoid fuzzy or eyelash yarn for your first projects because you literally cannot see what you’re doing. Same with dark colors – trying to count stitches in black yarn is awful especially in bad lighting.
I mostly stick with acrylic because it’s cheap and machine washable which matters if you’re making toys for kids who will definitely get them dirty.
When Patterns Don’t Make Sense
Sometimes you’ll follow a pattern exactly and your piece still doesn’t look right. Maybe it’s too small or shaped weird or the stitch count seems off. This happens with free patterns especially because they’re not always tested thoroughly.
If something seems wrong check the comments if there are any – other people might’ve found errors and posted corrections. Or look for a similar pattern and see how they do that section differently.
I’ve definitely had to improvise and just add extra rounds or change where I place decreases to make something work. That’s kinda the nice thing about amigurumi being three dimensional – small mistakes usually don’t show once it’s stuffed.
Color Changes for Stripes or Details
Some animals need color changes like a bee with yellow and black stripes or a frog with a white belly. The trick is to change colors at the LAST pull through of the stitch before you want the new color.
So you’d insert your hook, yarn over with the old color and pull through, then yarn over with the new color and pull through both loops. That makes a clean color change without a weird bump.
Carry your unused color inside the work as you go if you’re doing stripes – just crochet over it so it’s hidden. Otherwise you’ll have loose strands hanging inside which looks messy and wastes yarn.
Making Multiples Gets Faster
The first time I made that whale it took me like three hours maybe? Now I could probably make one in under an hour because I’m not constantly recounting stitches or checking the pattern. Once you’ve made a few animals you’ll recognize the structure – they almost all start with a magic ring and increase rounds to make a sphere shape then straight rounds for the body then decreases to close up.
I made like five little bees last fall as gifts and by the third one I barely looked at the pattern anymore. Your hands just remember the rhythm of it.
Common Mistakes I Still Make Sometimes
Forgetting to move my stitch marker and then losing track of where the round starts – this screws up your count and your increases end up in the wrong spots which can make your sphere into like an oval shape.
Not stuffing firmly enough in the neck area so the head flops around.
Sewing parts on slightly crooked and not noticing until it’s too late and I don’t wanna undo all that sewing.
Starting a project in one yarn weight then switching colors with a different weight yarn because it’s what I had – this makes the animal look weird with different sized sections.
Fixing Mistakes Without Starting Over
If you notice you missed a stitch or added an extra one a few rows back you can sometimes fudge it by doing an extra increase or decrease in the current round to get back to the right count. It won’t be perfect but in amigurumi it usually doesn’t matter much.
If you really messed up you only have to frog back to where the mistake is – you don’t have to start completely over. Just pull out your hook and gently unravel to that spot then put your hook back in the right stitch and keep going. I do this constantly because I get distracted and lose count.
For sewing mistakes you can carefully cut the yarn and pull it out then resew it better. Use small scissors and go slow so you don’t accidentally cut the actual body of the animal.
What To Do With All These Animals
After you make a few you’ll have like a pile of little creatures and you gotta figure out what to do with them. I give most of mine away – they make good birthday gifts or baby shower gifts. Some people sell them at craft fairs or on Etsy but check if the pattern allows commercial use first because not all free patterns do.
You can also use them as ornaments or decoration or honestly just keep making them because it’s relaxing even if you don’t need more tiny animals in your life.
