Oliver the Wombat: My Free Amigurumi Pattern

Oliver taking a nap on his favourite rock...luckily it's cloudy or he'd be hiding in his burrow!

Meet Oliver the baby Amigurumi Wombat! Oliver is a very inquisitive wombat who loves to snuffle about the place, and his favourite things are sleeping, digging holes, messing up my stuff, and eating flowers.

Wombats are one of my favourite animals, so when I couldn’t find a free amigurumi pattern online I just had to make my own! These Australian mammals are herbivores who live in burrows and typically come out at night to go about their business. As a wombat’s young are raised in the pouch of a female until about 6 months, they are more specifically classified as marsupials. There are three main species of wombat that live in south-eastern Australia, although some small pockets of them still apparently exist in south-west Australia. Being a West-Aussie I have never seen them in the wild – only in the zoo.

As cute as wombats look, they would not make very good pets (I have to come to terms with that ). They are about a metre long and weigh about 20-35kg. Although they move slowly, if threatened they can sprint short bursts up to 40km/h and won’t hesitate to attack you! Their powerful back legs can give you a nice swift kick, their sharp teeth and claws can give you a severe gouge, and their size and weight can bowl an adult human over at a run. Wikipedia offers some funny (but very useful) advice: “Humans who accidentally find themselves in an affray with a wombat may find it best to scale a tree until the animal calms and leaves.“

They are quite clever and can be tamed somewhat to be patted and cuddled, but they have strong instincts so even if they have been bred in captivity they can still be released into the wild to thrive. Fortunately for you, my amigurumi wombats have been bred to enjoy your love and home environment! To find out how to breed your very own wombat, read on below.

I thought wombats couldn't climb trees...

Baby Wombat Amigurumi Pattern

My patterns are written down as I create my amigurumi, but let me know if there is anything missing. This is quite a general pattern and could easily be adapted to make other animals (e.g. pig, bear, etc).

Techniques

You will need to know how to crochet in the round and sew separate items together. See my Amygurumi page for details if you get stuck!

Materials

Wombat fur can range from cream to grey, brown, or black, so you have a choice of colours to choose from. But of course, your wombat can be whatever colour you choose!

* Yarn (one colour for whole wombat)
* Stuffing/filler (I used polyfill/polyester fibre)
* Crochet Hook
* Yarn Needle
* Materials for eyes and nose (purchased plastic ones, ones made of wool or tapestry yarn, felt, etc)

Pattern

Note: US crochet stitch terminology is used. ch=chain, sc=single crochet (US), 2sc in next sc=increase, sc2tog=decrease (crochet two sc together to make one sc). I use the invisible decrease method for all decreases.

Wombat: Head/Body

RND1:  4sc magic circle [4]
RND2:  sc in next 1 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [6]
RND3:  2sc in next sc. Repeat [12]
RND4:  sc in next 5 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [14]
RND5:  sc in next 6 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [16]
RND6:  sc in next 3 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [20]
RND7:  20 sc around [20]
RND8:  sc in next 3 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [16]
RND9:  sc in next 6 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [14]  **stuff head**
RND10: sc in next 6 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [16]
RND11: sc in next 7 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [18]
RND12: 18 sc around [18]
RND13: sc in next 8 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [20]
RND14: sc in next 4 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [24]
RND15: 24 sc around [24]
RND16: 24 sc around [24]
RND17: 24 sc around [24]
RND18: 24 sc around [24]
RND19: 24 sc around [24]
RND20: sc in next 4 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [20]
RND21: sc in next 8 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [18]
RND22: sc in next 7 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [16]
RND23: sc in next 2 sc, sc2tog. Repeat [12] **stuff body**
RND24: sc2tog. Repeat [6]

Finish off, put yarn tail inside body.

Wombat: Ears (make 2)

RND1:  5sc magic circle [5]

Slip stitch, cut yarn with plenty spare. Squish ear together so the third stitch will be the “point” of the ear. Tie the two threads at the bottom together, and sew this bit to head.

Wombat: Feet (make 4)

RND1:  4sc magic circle [4]
RND2:  2sc in next sc. Repeat [8]
RND3:  8 sc around [8]
RND4:  8 sc around [8]

Slip stitch, cut yarn with plenty spare. Sew each foot to body.

Wombat: Finishing Touches

Create and attach eyes and nose to wombat, and even stitch a small mouth beneath the nose if you like. You may also want to create and add other decorative touches to pretty up your wombat (they do like to be spoilt) – perhaps a nice flower, scarf, button, or hat?

Now you have your very own little Aussie wombat! Why not make a whole family of them to forage round your house?

Oliver in his flowers

Note: You are free to use this pattern to make as many wombats (and similar animals) as you like, but please do not post this pattern anywhere else. If you follow my pattern and  blog about it I would appreciate a link back to my website (so others can make it too!). I do not mind if you sell items you make from my patterns, but please be fair and acknowledge the pattern source. More information about pattern use here: http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/my-crochet-patterns/

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Dizzy the Egg: Free Amigurumi Pattern

Dizzy of the Yolkfolk

Dizzy, the amazing yolkfolk citizen and explorer, is the star of many classic video games like “Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure” and “Fantasy World Dizzy”. This egg with his red gloves and boots, runs and flips about the game as you accomplish the required tasks. My partner used to enjoy Treasure Island Dizzy as a child, a bright colourful game that came with its share of annoying game mechanics. This amigurumi was designed and made by me for him (he does get spoilt ), and now the pattern is available here free for you as well! Once you know how to make the basic Dizzy, you can easily change the facial features and add accessories to make other Yolkfolk characters.

Dizzy and the Yolkfolk

Don’t know (or care!) who Dizzy is? Well that doesn’t matter, as you can use this pattern to make your own eggs or egg characters! I looked at some amigurumi egg patterns online when I was trying to work out how to make Dizzy, but sadly they were all too small and narrow. So I had to make my own – and my own little hands/gloves and boots.

Dizzy Amigurumi Pattern

I wrote my pattern down as I was making my Dizzy so all instructions should be correct – but let me know if there is anything missing. Note: I have used the US crochet stitch terminology.

Techniques

You will need to know techniques to crochet in the round: magic circle, single crochet, increase, decrease, single crochet in one loop of a stitch only, and how to finish off. You also need to know how to stuff an amigurumi and cut out felt! For information about these techniques visit my Amygurumi page.

Materials

To make Dizzy, you will need the following colours. If you just want to make an egg or egg character, use whatever you feel like!

* White Yarn
* Red Yarn
* Scrap amounts of Black and White Felt
* Craft Glue (suitable for attaching felt to yarn)
* Stuffing/filler (I used polyfill/polyester fibre)
* Crochet Hook (I used 3.5mm)
* Yarn Needle (needle with hole big enough to thread yarn through)
* Optional: I used 2 x Flat Marbles in the boots to give them weight and help Dizzy stand up.

Dizzy looking for adventure...

Pattern

To make Dizzy, you will need to make:
1 x Egg/Body (white yarn)
2 x Gloves (red yarn)
2 x Feet (red yarn)

Dizzy: Egg/Body

Note: ch=chain, sc=single crochet (US), 2sc in next sc=increase, sc2tog=decrease (crochet two sc together to make one sc). I use the invisible decrease method for all decreases.

RND1:  6 sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc. Repeat. [8]
RND3:  2sc in next sc, sc in next sc. Repeat 3 more times [12]
RND4:  2sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc. Repeat 3 more times [16]
RND5:  2sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc. Repeat 3 more times [20]
RND6:  20 sc around [20]
RND7:  2sc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc. Repeat 4 more times [24]
RND8:  24 sc around [24]
RND9:  24 sc around [24]
RND10: 24 sc around [24]
RND11: 2sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc. Repeat 5 more times [30]
RND12: 30 sc around [30]
RND13: 30 sc around [30]
RND14: 30 sc around [30]
RND15: 30 sc around [30]
RND16: sc2tog, sc in next 3 sc. Repeat 5 more times [24]
RND17: 24 sc around [24]
RND18: sc2tog, sc in next 2 sc. Repeat 5 more times [18]
RND19: sc2tog, sc in next sc. Repeat 5 more times [12]
(**fill the egg with polyfill stuffing by this point**)
RND20: sc2tog, sc in next sc. Repeat 2 more times [6]

Sew up the opening. Fasten off, sew in remaining yarn tail.

Dizzy: Hands

RND1:  6 sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc in next sc, sc in next sc. Repeat two more times [9]
RND3:  9 sc around [9]
RND4:  9 sc around [9]
RND5:  9 sc around [9]
RND6:  sc2tog, sc in next sc. Repeat two more times [6]

Finish off, leave a long tail for sewing.

Dizzy: Boots

Additional Note: at RND3 only, do each of the 12 sc in the Front Loop (this means that without adjusting your crochet circle, you will be crocheting in the inside loop of the circle stitches only). This will leave a nice ridge around the outside of the shoe to help define and make the base flatter.

RND1:  6 sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc in each sc [12]
RND3:  12 sc around [12]
RND4:  12 sc around [12]
RND5:  12 sc around [12]
RND6:  sc in next 4 sc, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc in next 4 sc [10]
(**Put in flat-bottomed marble**)
RND7:  sc in next 3 sc, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc in next 4 sc [8]
RND8:  8 sc around [8]

Finish off, leave a long tail for sewing.

Dizzy: Eyes & Mouth

You will need to look at my photos to see the shapes I used, which I based off pixelated screenshots of Dizzy’s eyes. They are tricky to describe, so look at my photos. You may also want to print and cut out eyes and mouth from the photos/screenshots as templates. How to make them:

Eyes
1) Cut out the black felt eye background, which is like two ovals stuck together in the middle. The ovals get wider towards the bottom outer edge, and narrower towards the top outer edge.
2) Cut out the two white felt eyes. The eyes are oval shaped, with a flatter inner edge, narrower top outer edge, and wider bottom outer edge.
3) Cut out the two black felt pupils, which are just small circles.
4) Glue the white eyes onto the black background. Cut around the black eye background felt if needed to make the outside edge even. Glue the pupils on to the white eyes.
Mouth
5) Cut out the mouth from the black felt. It is basically a straight line that curves up at the ends. Compared to the eyes, it will be approximately the width of the outside edge of the white parts of the eyes.

Back view of Dizzy

Dizzy: Assembly

When assembling Dizzy’s parts, remember the narrower part of the egg (where you started) is the top, and the widest part of the egg (where you finished) is the bottom.

Face

1) Glue the eyes and mouth onto Dizzy.

Hands

2) Because you have crocheted the hands in a round without joining, you will see that they are a slightly uneven shape. Squash the hands around a bit until one edge appears slightly longer than the other – this will be the top edge of the hand when attached to Dizzy. It is hard to explain, so check my photos!

3) Sew a hand onto each side of Dizzy. The hands are positioned halfway down the egg (between the eyes and mouth). The open end of the hands (i.e. where you finished crocheting the hands) are sewn on to the body using the leftover yarn on the hands.

Boots

4) Before you sew on the boots, see if you can balance Dizzy on top of his boots – this will give you an idea of the best place to position then to ensure Dizzy stands up without additional support.

5) Sew the top of the boots to the bottom side of the egg. Make sure the boots are facing forward (the back of the boots is a long straight edge and where your yarn finished, the front has the bulge).

Dizzy, or your egg character, should now be complete!

Dizzy to Scale

Note: You are free to use this pattern to make as many eggs as you like, but please do not post this pattern anywhere else. If you follow my pattern and  blog about it I would appreciate a link back to my website (so others can make it too!). More information about pattern use here: http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/my-crochet-patterns/

While I do not mind if you sell eggs and egg characters you make from this pattern, do not sell any Dizzy characters you make. Dizzy and other characters from the Dizzy games are copyright their respective owners, so trying to make money off it would be bad!

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The Day of the Tentacle Amigurumi: Free Pattern

Hmm I'm thirsty...

Hmm…I’m thirsty.

I don’t think you should drink that…it looks bad for you.

NONSENSE! It makes me feel great, smarter, more aggressive.

I feel like I could…like I could………like I could………

TAKE ON THE WORLD!

While that may sound like an energy drink advert, it is actually the opening dialogue between the Purple and Green Tentacles from the very cool game from waaay back in the 90s, “Day of the Tentacle”. It is one of my partner’s favourite games, so I decided to make him amigurumi Tentacles! The Purple and Green Tentacles are two main characters from the game, and while the green tentacle is friendly, the purple one is hell-bent on taking over the world after receiving mutant arms and increased brainpower from drinking toxic waste.

As I couldn’t find a pattern online (but found this very cool photo of someone else’s), I was forced to experiment and make my own. Eeek I am only a beginner and this is only my third project! Well I must have drank some toxic waste too and increased my skills because I made the Tentacles, and here is my pattern so everyone can make Tentacles which can TAKE ON THE WORLD!

Day of the Tentacle

Day of the Tentacle Amigurumi Pattern

I wrote down my pattern as I made the first tentacle, and tested it again when I made the second one (obviously so they could be the same!). Everything matched up, but if something doesn’t make sense or you have a better suggestion, please let me know! Note: I have used the US crochet stitch terminology.

L33T Skillz Needed

That was a bit of game talk for ya To make these Tentacles you need to crochet in the round, which involves being able to: start amigurumi using the chain and magic circle starts, do single crochets (US version; UK/Aus equivalent is the double crochet), be able to increase, do slip stitches, sew crochet items together with yarn, fill your crochet, and cut out felt! Easy peasy basic amigurumi crochet skills. If you don’t know how, check out my resource links here.

Materials

The following materials are what I used to make my Tentacles. Feel free to substitute as you wish – but keep the colours the same to stay true to the tentacles!

* Green Yarn
* Yellow Yarn
* Purple Yarn
* Scrap amount of Black Yarn or Black Felt (if use felt, you need craft glue)
* Stuffing/Filler (I used polyfill, but you could use pellets in the base and/or arms to add weight if you like)
* 3.5mm Crochet Hook
* Yarn Needle (needle with hole big enough to thread yarn through)

Yarn shops have closed around me, so I was stuck with yarn choices in Spotlight My 25g balls of 8ply wool yarn were just right.

Pattern

To make the two tentacles you will need to make the following:

Green Tentacle:
1 x Green Body
1 x Small Yellow Sucker
1 x Medium Yellow Sucker
1 x Large Yellow Sucker
1 x Yellow Base

Purple Tentacle:
1 x Purple Body
1 x Small Green Sucker
1 x Medium Green Sucker
1 x Large Green Sucker
1 x Green Base
2 x Purple Arms
1 x Black Felt or Crocheted Monobrow

Tentacle: Body

Don’t start body with a magic circle – I tried it and it makes the cone far too tight for the top of the tentacle.
Note: ch=chain, sc=single crochet (US).

Start: ch 2
RND1:  5sc into 1st chain [5]
RND2:  2sc in first sc, 4 sc around [6]
RND3:  2sc in first sc, 2 sc around. Repeat. [8]
RND4:  8 sc around [8]
RND5:  2sc in first sc, 3 sc around. Repeat. [10]
RND6:  10 sc around [10]
RND7:  2sc in first sc, 4 sc around. Repeat. [12]
RND8:  12 sc around [12]
RND9:  2sc in first sc, 5 sc around. Repeat. [14]
RND10: 14 sc around [14]
RND11: 2sc in first sc, 6 sc around. Repeat. [16]
RND12: 16 sc around[16]
RND13: 2sc in first sc, 3 sc around. Repeat 3 more times. [20]
RND14: 20 sc around [20]
RND15: 2sc in first sc, 4 sc around. Repeat 3 more times. [24]
RND16: 24 sc around [24]
RND17: 24 sc around [24]
RND18: 24 sc around [24]
RND19: 2sc in first sc, 11 sc around. Repeat. [26]
RND20: 26 sc around [26]
RND21: 2sc in first sc, 12 sc around. Repeat. [28]
RND22: 28 sc around [28]
RND23: 2sc in first sc, 13 sc around. Repeat. [30]
RND24-33: 30 sc around [30] for 10 rounds.

Do not finish off at this point. Wait until you have attached your suckers, because you may find you want to add an extra row or two on the bottom to balance the sucker arrangement.

Tentacle: Suckers

When making suckers allow plenty of spare thread at start or end to allow you to sew the sucker onto tentacle body later.

Small Sucker:
RND1:  6sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc into each sc around [12]  [slip st to 1st]
RND3:  12 sc around [12]  [slip st to 1st] Finish off.

Medium Sucker:
RND1:  7sc magic circle [7]
RND2:  2sc into each sc around [14]  [slip st to 1st]
RND3:  14 sc around [14]  [slip st to 1st] Finish off.

Large Sucker:
RND1:  6sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc into each sc around [12]  [slip st to 1st]
RND3:  12 sc around [12]  [slip st to 1st]
RND4:  2sc into first, 1 sc into next. Repeat 5 more times. [18]  [slip st to 1st]
RND5:  18 sc around [18]  [slip st to 1st] Finish off.

Assembly: Suckers to Tentacle Body

1)  Use yarn needle, sew suckers to tentacle in a vertical arrangement. Small sucker near top (narrowest part of cone), then medium, and then large near bottom. Approx 2-3 row gap visible between each sucker once sewn on. See my photos for examples.

2)  Crochet an extra row or two (of 30 sc each) onto the bottom of the  tentacle body if you need to so that your suckers are more evenly spaced. You want a bit of a gap between the bottom of the last sucker and the bottom of the body.

3)  Slip stitch and finish off tentacle body. You don’t need to leave a long length of yarn at the end.

4)  Stuff body (I used polyfill/polyester fibre, but you might want to use plastic pellets in the base to add weight). Push the spare yarn into the body once you have stuffed it.

Tentacle: Base

RND1:  6sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc into each sc around [12]
RND3:  12 sc around [12]
RND4:  2sc into first, 1 sc. Repeat 5 more times. [18]
RND5:  18 sc around [18]
RND6:  2sc into first, 2 sc. Repeat 5 more times. [24]
RND7:  24 sc around [24]
RND8:  2sc into first, 3 sc. Repeat 5 more times. [30]
RND9:  30 sc around [30]
RND10: 30 sc around [30]

Slip stitch, finish off. Leave plenty of yarn to allow you to stitch around the base at assembly.

Assembly: Base to Body

1)  Using spare thread from base, use a yarn needle and sew the base to the bottom of the body. The 30sc on the top of the base and the 30sc on the bottom of the body will match up to allow easy sewing (if you are unsure how to, use this website to help).

2)  Before you fully stitch up the base to the body, you may want to add a bit more stuffing.

3)  Finish attaching the base to the body.

If you were making the green tentacle, it should now be complete!
If you are making the purple tentacle, you still have to make the arms and monobrow.

Tentacle: Arms (for PURPLE tentacle only)

RND1:  4sc magic circle [4]
RND2:  2sc into first, 3 sc around [5]
RND3:  2sc into first, 4 sc around [6]
RND4:  6 sc around [6]
RND5:  6 sc around [6]
RND6:  6 sc around [6]
RND7:  6 sc around [6]

Finish off. Allow enough spare yarn at the end to allow you to attach each arm to the body.

Assembly: Arms to Body (PURPLE tentacle only)

1)  Stuff the arms with filler.

2)  The arms get attached to either side of the tentacle body, about halfway down (in line with the middle tentacle). The tentacle’s left arm (on the right hand side when looking at the tentacle) needs to be angled upwards, and the tentacle’s right arm needs to angle down (see photos).

2)  Sew each arm to the body using the spare thread on the arms (if you are unsure how to, use this other website to help).

Tentacle: Monobrow (PURPLE tentacle only)

The monobrow needs to be black.
You can either crochet this and sew it on, or cut it out of felt and glue it on.
I got frustrated with the crochet version, so I pulled out the black felt and made one in no time!
The brow needs to be furrowed so that there is a deep V that overlaps the top sucker, then angle down slightly at the ends. Look at my photos for the shape, or check the screenshots from the game.

Optional: Make a red gun for the purple tentacle out of a red pipecleaner or other material.

Hooray you have now finished your purple tentacle!

Have fun with your Tentacles! Make sure they behave If you make them, please post a comment and link because I would love to see photos of them.

Ready to TAKE ON THE WORLD...one backyard patio at a time

Note: You are free to use this pattern to make as many tentacles as you like, but please do not post this pattern anywhere else. If you follow my pattern and  blog about it I would appreciate a link back to my website (so others can make it too!). More information about pattern use here: http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/my-crochet-patterns/

Do not sell Tentacles made from this pattern – the Tentacles are copyright Lucasarts and whoever else, so trying to make money off it (and any other copyrighted characters) would be very very bad!

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My First Amigurumi: Little Birdy

Isn't he cute!

 

Well it seems quitting a PhD opens your brain up to more interests! In addition to getting into my photography hobby, I have discovered, fell in love with, and started to learn how to make Amigurumi. Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting/knitting (ami) small stuffed dolls (nuigurumi). These small dolls/toys of course should be very kawaii (cute!) and can be animals, objects with faces, cartoon characters, retro game characters, anime characters, and more.

I first discovered them on Saturday while looking through Explore on Flickr and fell in love. My grandma taught me how to crochet as a kid (she made so many blankets and toys and donated a lot to charities) and I really enjoyed it. Sadly, I hadn’t crocheted since I was a kid, and I only made a few small things back then, such as a small “scarf” for Barbie (several rows of stitches) and a rainbow scarf for a doll that I got bored with halfway through. So my skills needed to be refreshed and improved just a tad.

Luckily I discovered these fantastic video tutorials at Hooks and Needles personal blog, that teach you the basic crochet skills you need for Amigurumi. Watch them and practice if you want to learn – they are SO helpful! Don’t worry if her way of holding her hook and thread is unusual, just do a search and find a way that works for you (her hand holding the thread faces up, mine faces down).

Once I did a few practice rows of crocheting, I decided that making something would be the fun way to practice. I had already found lots and lots of free amigurumi patterns, but one of the simplest was the Little Birdy from Bittersweet.

The pattern was very easy, but the first few rows had to be restarted three times: the first time because I read the pattern wrong about how to increase, and the second time because I lost track of my counting But they were good learning experiences each time!

Here are some more shots of Mr Birdy:

Ahh my Little Birdy has found a Worm

The “worm” is just my first crochet practice – chains with one row of single crochet (the Australian/UK version of single crochet. I am not sure what the US equivalent of this stitch is, but the US version of single crochet is thicker). It came out looking like a worm so I gave it to my boyfriend and told him it was my first “amigurumi”. I failed to impress him. He was impressed with my bird though!

Stopping Mr Birdy from eating my Worm! Not really...they are actually friends. And I am actually just holding him so you have an idea of how small and cute it is.

Fortunately, making Amigurumi is a nice cheap hobby – which will counterbalance my expensive DSLR photography hobby! I have so many free patterns printed up and ready for me to make, so keep an eye out for more.

 

AmyGurumi (my new name hehe) xxxx

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