May
okay so amigurumi patterns and where to actually find them
Ravelry is gonna be your best friend here honestly. Like I know everyone says this but there’s literally thousands of free patterns and you can filter by difficulty and yarn weight and everything. I made this little octopus thing in summer 2022 while I was binge watching some cooking show I can’t even remember the name of now, and I found the pattern on Ravelry in like five minutes. The search function is actually decent once you figure out how the tags work.
Pinterest is also surprisingly useful but you gotta be careful because half the links are broken or they lead you to sites that want your email before showing you anything. I usually use Pinterest to find ideas and then reverse image search to find the actual pattern source. It’s annoying but whatever works right?
the yarn situation nobody talks about
So here’s the thing about yarn for amigurumi that drove me absolutely crazy when I started – the pattern will say “worsted weight” or whatever but then your plushie comes out looking completely different from the photo. I’ve learned you really need to pay attention to the actual brand they used if they mention it.
Red Heart Super Saver is cheap and works fine for practice stuff. It’s acrylic so it’s not super soft but it holds shape really well which matters more than you’d think for stuffed animals. I used the “Black” color for a bat I made during a really bad breakup in spring 2023 and honestly the repetitive stitching was pretty therapeutic even though the bat ended up lopsided.
Bernat Blanket yarn is chunky and works up fast but it’s harder to see your stitches which makes counting basically impossible. I only use this for really simple shapes now.
Lily Sugar’n Cream is cotton and I hate it for amigurumi actually. It has no stretch and my hands cramp up. But some people swear by it for like food items or stuff that needs to be really structured.
Caron Simply Soft is probably my actual favorite for most projects – it’s soft, comes in tons of colors, and it’s acrylic so you can wash the finished plushie without it falling apart. Used this for a little bunny I made last month and it turned out really nice.
actually starting a pattern when you’re not used to reading them
The abbreviations are the worst part at first. Every pattern uses them and they assume you know what sc, inc, dec, and all that means. Single crochet, increase, decrease – but there’s also dc (double crochet), hdc (half double crochet), sl st (slip stitch), and it gets confusing fast.
I keep a little note in my phone with all the common ones because I still forget what hdc means sometimes even though I’ve been doing this for years. Don’t feel bad about looking stuff up constantly.
Most amigurumi patterns work in continuous rounds which means you don’t join at the end of each round, you just keep spiraling. This is different from flat crochet and it messed me up for like the first three projects I tried. Use a stitch marker – I just use a piece of different colored yarn – to mark the beginning of each round or you WILL lose track.
the magic ring situation
Every amigurumi starts with either a chain or a magic ring. The magic ring looks way neater but I cannot tell you how many times I’ve pulled the wrong end and the whole thing just… dissolves. So frustrating. There’s videos on YouTube that show it better than any written pattern can explain it. I probably watched the same tutorial like eight times before it clicked.
Some patterns just have you chain 2 and work into the first chain instead and honestly that’s fine too. It leaves a tiny hole in the center but once you stuff the piece you can barely see it.
free pattern sources that actually work
Okay so besides Ravelry there’s a bunch of designer blogs that post free patterns. AllAboutAmi has really clear patterns with lots of photos. Her patterns are good for beginners because she over-explains everything which is actually helpful when you’re starting.
Spin a Yarn Crochet has some cute stuff. I made a little dinosaur from there that turned out pretty good except I somehow made the tail way too long and it wouldn’t stand up properly.
Club Crochet posts free patterns sometimes and they’re usually pretty trendy designs. Like last summer they had this jellyfish pattern that was everywhere on Instagram.
YouTube is honestly underrated for patterns. Lots of designers do video tutorials where they walk through the whole thing. I find this easier for complex shapes because you can actually see where the hook goes. The downside is you can’t skim ahead to see what’s coming like you can with written patterns.
the stuffing issue that everyone has
Polyfil is the standard stuffing and it’s fine but it gets lumpy so easy. You gotta pull it apart into small pieces before you stuff or you’ll have these weird bumps. I learned this the hard way on a bear that looked like it had tumors or something it was so lumpy and uneven.
Some people use wool roving which is supposed to be better but I’ve never tried it because it’s more expensive and I’m making like a frog or whatever, not a family heirloom.
Stuff as you go, don’t wait until the end. This was my biggest mistake early on – I’d crochet the whole body and then try to stuff it and I couldn’t reach the top parts properly. Now I stuff every few rounds and it’s so much easier.
when patterns don’t make sense
Sometimes you’ll find a free pattern that just has errors or the English is weird because it was translated or whatever. If you’re working along and suddenly the stitch count is wrong, it’s probably the pattern not you.
I was making this cat pattern I found on some blog in summer 2024 and the head instructions just completely skipped round 8 or something. I had to like… guess what should go there based on the shape. It actually turned out okay but I was so annoyed because I thought I was doing something wrong for like an hour.
Check the comments on patterns if there are any. Other people usually point out errors or confusing parts. On Ravelry people post project notes that are super helpful for this.
gauge literally does not matter for most amigurumi
This is gonna sound wrong if you’re coming from garment making but honestly for plushies gauge doesn’t really matter that much. Like yeah your finished size might be different from the pattern but unless you’re making something that needs to fit with other pieces, who cares if your bunny is 6 inches tall instead of 7?
The main thing is to crochet tight enough that the stuffing doesn’t show through. If you can see white polyfil poking through your stitches your tension is too loose. Use a smaller hook than you normally would for that yarn weight. Most amigurumi uses a hook 2-3 sizes smaller than the yarn label recommends.
body parts and assembly
Most patterns have you make all the parts separately and then sew them together at the end. This is where stuff gets tricky because placement really matters for how the finished plushie looks.
Take photos of the pattern example from different angles if you can find them online. Sometimes the pattern just says “attach arms to side of body” which is like… where exactly? How far down? What angle?
I use regular sewing pins to position everything before I actually sew it. My cat keeps trying to steal the pins though which is a whole other problem.
Embroidery thread or regular sewing thread works better for attaching parts than yarn most of the time. Yarn can be really thick and bulky for sewing. I use the same color as the piece I’m attaching so the stitches don’t show.
faces are harder than you think
Safety eyes are the easiest option and they look professional. You can get them on Amazon in like a hundred different sizes. The trick is to place them before you finish stuffing because once that washer is on the back you cannot move them. I’ve had to abandon projects because I put the eyes in the wrong spot and the whole thing looked deranged.
Some patterns tell you exactly what round to place eyes but a lot don’t. Generally they go about 2/3 up the head with like 6-8 stitches between them but this varies a ton based on the pattern.
You can embroider faces instead with black yarn which gives more flexibility since you can redo it if you hate it. But I’m terrible at embroidering so mine always look kind of wonky. There’s some simple face styles that are just dots or X’s that work fine though.
common problems I still run into
The increase and decrease rounds always mess up my count. Like the pattern will say “sc 4, inc, repeat around” and I’ll get to the end and have like 3 stitches left instead of 4 and then I don’t know if I should just inc anyway or…
When you’re decreasing to close up a piece at the end it often leaves a visible hole. You’re supposed to weave the yarn tail through the front loops of the last round and pull tight but it never looks as neat as in the photos. I usually just embrace it and make sure that part faces backward or down.
Invisible decreases look better than regular decreases for amigurumi. It’s basically the same thing but you go through the front loops only before pulling through. Makes the decrease less obvious. Took me forever to figure out what the difference even was.
color changes and stripes
If you’re doing stripes or color changes the jog where the round ends is really obvious. There’s techniques to minimize this – like working in the back loop only or slipping the first stitch of the new color or whatever – but honestly I never remember to do it and my stuff has visible jogs and it’s fine.
When you change colors don’t cut the yarn if you’re coming back to that color soon. Just carry it up the inside of the work. This only works for a couple rows though before it gets too messy.
my actual process these days
I read through the whole pattern first which I know is obvious but I used to just start crocheting and then get surprised by stuff. Now I at least skim it to see if there’s any weird techniques or if I need special materials.
I make a little checklist on scrap paper with all the pieces I need to make. Like “body, head, arms x2, ears x2” etc. Super satisfying to cross them off and also I don’t forget pieces which definitely happened before.
I work on one piece at a time completely before starting the next one. Some people like to do all the same pieces together like both arms at once but I find that boring.
Assembly happens over multiple days usually because my hands get tired and also I need to psych myself up for sewing because I find it tedious.
when free patterns are actually worth paying for
Sometimes I’ll find a paid pattern that’s only like $3-5 and honestly it’s usually worth it because paid patterns tend to have better photos and more detailed instructions. The free ones can be really bare bones sometimes – just a list of abbreviations with no pictures or stitch counts.
But there’s also plenty of amazing free patterns out there. The octopus I mentioned earlier? Free pattern from a random blog and it’s still my favorite thing I’ve made. So it’s not like paid automatically means better.
Etsy has tons of patterns but read the reviews before buying because some of them are just AI generated garbage now which is super annoying.
stuff I wish someone told me earlier
You don’t need every size hook and every color of yarn before you start. I wasted so much money buying supplies I thought I needed. Just get a basic hook set and a few colors of cheap acrylic yarn and start making stuff.
Your first few projects will look weird and that’s completely normal. I still have this lumpy frog from when I started and it’s so bad but also I can see how much I’ve improved which is nice I guess.
Blocking doesn’t really apply to amigurumi the way it does for flat crochet. The stuffing holds the shape so you don’t need to pin it out or steam it or anything.
You can freehand stuff once you understand the basics of how increases and decreases create shaping. Like if you know that 6 increases spread evenly creates a circle and doing that for several rounds makes a sphere, you can just make up your own simple shapes without a pattern. I do this for basic stuff all the time now.
The yarn tail ends are the actual worst part of amigurumi. You’ll have so many ends to weave in especially if you did color changes. I use a yarn needle and weave them through the inside of the work for like an inch or so then trim. Some people say to weave in as you go but I always forget.
If your plushie won’t stand up or sit right it probably needs more stuffing in the base or the legs need to be positioned differently. Or sometimes the design just doesn’t work for standing and that’s a pattern problem not a you problem.
