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New Mini Dragon Design

I present this FREE pattern to you in honor of the 2024 Lunar New Year and also because it seems like there are dragons everywhere I look! They’re popping up in my books (Fourth Wing – just finished it and haven’t tackled the sequel yet), in movies (Damsel), in shows, (huge Game of Thrones fan here! I still enjoy re-watching the series).. just everywhere! Yes, I admit to being a proud sci-fi/fantasy nerd! And of all the animals of the zodiac, I think the dragon is by far the coolest..funny that I don’t actually know anyone born under this sign! Here’s a photo of both of the dragon designs I’ve come up with to date!

You can see that my mini dragon pattern is based off of my larger Spike the Dragon design, which you can find on ETSY. Spike sits at approximately 8.5 inches tall (worsted weight yarn) while my new smaller version is palm sized at about 4.5 inches tall! This small version makes a great little desk or shelf decoration and can be even be used as a keychain! We all know handmade gifts are the most special of all and an adorable little lucky dragon would make an amazing gift for just about anyone! I recommend using a Light/DK or a Fine weight yarn to make this doll. In my examples, I used Hobbii Rainbow 8/4 cotton yarn as well as Patons Grace, which is a mercerized cotton yarn.

I consider this pattern to be of a BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE level. Single crochet stitches are worked in spirals for all body parts. To make this dragon, you need to be familiar with working in Front Loops Only, Back Loops only, the invisible color change technique, double crochet stitches, and making French Knots. This doll is relatively small – Some may find it difficult to work with such small, tight stitches.

As with all of the patterns I offer for free, I’d truly appreciate if nobody claim my pattern or my photos as their own and/or attempt to sell my instructions for profit. You may sell your own homemade dolls made from this pattern. (no mass production, please) I kindly ask that you credit the design to Little Muggles. Please be respectful to all designers who spend many, many hours coming up with and sharing creations with the world! We love what we do and are happy to spread the love of crocheting but it’s terribly discouraging and disheartening when we discover pattern thieves.

The making of Benjamin the Bunny

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Do most of you get your yarn in person at a store or from online orders? I usually go in person but as you’ve probably experienced, stores can have quite a limited selection in terms of brands and colors. So I’ve been slowly getting my feet wet with ordering online! I was so excited to receive this particular yarn in the mail a few weeks ago! If you’ve followed my creations, you might know that I’ve been dabbling with cotton yarn most recently, but I’ve mainly only worked with a Category 2 weight, which is also finer than what I usually use. I’ve been really looking to try something slightly thicker and decided to test this Cotton Sprout line (DK weight) by Premier Yarns! I ended up loving the feel of this particular yarn line and I think I’m going to buy up a bunch of their other colors very soon. If you’re interested in learning more about this line, please click HERE to learn about Cotton Sprout and see all the available colors!

So what was I going to do with this new yarn? Since this happened right before the Lunar New Year, of course I had to attempt a new bunny! 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit after all!

I selected Beige as the main color of my new bunny and I love, love, love this shade! It’s slightly darker than what I expected “beige” to be but it’s beautiful and I know it will pair wonderfully with any accessory color out there.

I quickly made up this little bunny but had the most trouble with the ears. I wanted a one-piece ear design that incorporated an inner white patch. It’s always tricky getting edges to line up when it comes to color patches… don’t even ask how many ears I had to make to come up with the final look. Not only was I working on the color changes but also the length of the ears and the attachment to the head. Thank you to the many individuals that gave me constructive feedback via Facebook and Instagram! I always love reading everyone’s comments and I like to take it all into consideration!

And though I don’t have a lot of experience making clothes for dolls, I decided to give it a shot and attempt a jacket for this little guy. I had a lot of fun testing out different things here… I’ve included the instructions how to make the jacket in my pattern. You can also leave off the sleeves and make a vest instead – I think this is a super cute look too! So again, with a seemingly simple design, I actually learned quite a bit while making this doll! 👍

My Benjamin Bunny pattern can be found in my usual shops – ETSY and Amigurumi.com Please pop over to take a look!

I toyed with creating a girl bunny as well but haven’t decided whether I’ll make an official pattern for it.

Again, for those interested, the yarn used to make this main doll is Cotton Sprout Yarn by Premier. Colors used include Beige, White, “Bark” for the trousers, and for the blue jacket, I used “Cornflower” and “Gloaming” for the edging. For the green jacket, I used “Leaf”.

I hope to see lots of Benjamin Bunnies pop up, especially since Easter isn’t that far away! Looking forward to seeing all the customized colors and personalized touches that make each doll unique! Have fun, everyone!

Free Small Kitty pattern available now!

Hooray!! I am so thrilled that Spring is finally here! I know I can’t really complain too much because I live in California where the winters are quite mild compared to many other places in the world. No snow, no blizzards, no freezing temps… but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve also become more sensitive to the cold around here so I’m still looking forward to warmer temperatures and all things Spring!

Luckily for me, my crochet workspace has a large window that looks out onto my front yard and currently I have an amazing view of abundant blossoms on our cherry trees! My beautiful Springtime view has really uplifted my whole mood lately and has inspired me to be generous with my crochet. 🙂

On that note, here’s another freebie for you to enjoy! 🙂 Click HERE to go to the free pattern!

In honor of the season, I’ve used these soft pastel shades to make this bunch of buddies. These are some of the smallest amigurumi that I’ve created to date. They’re super cute and can be used in many different ways, from ornaments, to desktop decor, to key chains! The pattern is easily adjustable for you to create other characters as well.

Free Panda Pattern available now!

I’m about 85% done with my tiger pattern and I’m still working hard on it but I thought I’d take a little detour and present this little cutie to you! It’s something I made a little while ago but never wrote up so I’m proud to say that I finally took the time to finish it and here it is, my gift to you all – a FREE pattern! There’s nothing like a fresh Free pattern to start the year!

Who doesn’t love a cute little panda, right? I have to admit that I’ve googled “baby panda videos” before…now that I’ve given you the idea, you’re going to do it too, right? lol If you do, get ready for some major cuteness overload!

Wouldn’t this doll make a fantastic gift for your friends/family? Because of its relatively small size, it works up pretty quickly so you can make lots and lots of pandas. You can make an embarrassment of pandas!! Yes, I’m not joking, that is a technical term for a group of pandas! Consider making them in different colors and you can have a rainbow embarrassment of pandas! (Wow that sentence sounds so bizarre!)

My doll here is partially filled with polyester pellets because I like the extra weight and stability it gives. You can use regular fiber fill for the stuffing if you prefer.

Access this pattern by clicking on the Free Patterns tab at the top of this page. You can also click HERE to get there quicker!

Please enjoy and I look forward to seeing your creations with all your personal touches! #littlemuggles

Another new Year?

Every new year, I get re-inspired to crochet more and to try to keep up my social media feeds with plenty of pictures of my new works in progress…but eventually life gets too busy and my time and energy get used up on things like the kids, the house, caring for elderly parents, and the million other things that pop up in daily life. I truly admire all the creative individuals out there that are killing it with their awesome social media posts, with their amazing photos that are shared daily (!) or at least several times a week! But this year, I am publicly proclaiming that one of my resolutions is to be more present on social media and to learn new crochet techniques that will help me come up with more creations to share with everyone. I’m hoping that by writing this resolution out for anyone to see, I’ll feel more accountable and will actually stick to it this year! Stay tuned to see what I hope to be a year long adventure of lots of new amigurumi-making!

The upcoming Lunar New Year 2022 is the Year of the Tiger! Undoubtedly you’ve been seeing a mess of amigurumi tigers inundating your social media feeds. I definitely have, so of course I had to take a closer look at my own Cubby Tiger pattern which I discovered was created by me 9 (!) years ago! Whhaaat? Time is just flying by! I thought it would be fun to make another Cubby but while I started crocheting his head, I realized that I wanted to make some changes. Instead of embroidering his stripes, I wanted to incorporate them into the pattern, similar to how they are on his arms and legs. So with a lot of trial and error, I’m currently working up a new tiger pattern! This one is smaller than the original Cubby and there are some changes here and there, so for now, I’m calling it “son of Cubby”, or Baby Cubby. Or Cubby’s cub. lol

I have to say that working with acrylic worsted weight yarn again is quite pleasant. Last year, I discovered a finer weight cotton yarn which seems to be the trend these days and although I love that type of yarn as well, I realize that I really enjoy working with worsted weight too! It’s good to change things up from time to time.

I hope to finish my tiger doll up within the week and then I’ll work on the pattern, post pictures and add it to my shops! Busy, busy! Have a great month and see ya soon!

A Cow/Pig Bundle!

For the first time, I’m offering a bundle of 2 patterns together! Cody the Cow and Hamilton the Pig are good friends in the farmyard so why not offer them together? You can crochet the pair so they’ll always have each other’s companionship! 🙂 Better yet, make Charlie the Chick to complete the gang! The patterns can be found in my Etsy shop as well as at Amigurumi.com!

I intended for these dolls to be the exact same size but it’s funny how there can be noticeable size differences depending on how tightly you might be crocheting from one doll to another, whether you use the same brand of yarn from doll to doll (even if it’s the same category), or even what color yarn you are using within the same brand!

You might be surprised to know that these were done with the same pattern, same hook size, & same yarn! I guess I was using a tighter stitch on the day I made the little one…:)

Regardless, I think these little dolls would make super cute toys/decor for any room! They work up fairly quickly because they aren’t very big. They’re approximately 7 inches/18cm tall when made with worsted weight yarn. Perfect for gifting! Who wouldn’t want to have an adorable little handmade cow or pig (or chick!) to love and treasure forever?

The first day of the Lunar New Year of the Ox was Feb 12 so the Cody Cow pattern would be awesome for all the little ox babies born this year! 🙂 I personally know a couple that will be arriving soon so I better get a move on making a few for shower presents! 🙂 Best wishes for much good fortune and prosperity to all! XOXO

2021 – Happy New Year!

May this coming year bring us all some peace and serenity and of course good health! I hope you are all keeping safe out there! I wanted to share a few of the projects that I’ve been working on… My most recent completed one is Charlie the Chick!

I realized that I don’t have a chicken doll in my shop inventory, so I set about re-working the Chinese New Year chicken that I made a few years back. I never did write up the pattern for it, so I took it out for inspiration as I made Charlie!

The Year of the Rooster, that was back in 2017! Seems like eons ago now. Looking at the original doll, I knew I wanted to make some changes – I headed towards a more “kawaii” path and changed the proportions. The final design is quite simple – the most difficult part was figuring out how to do the feet and how to write it down properly in a way so people can follow along with my pattern! A cute striped jumper and an extra big head finishes his look. 🙂 Charlie’s pattens has been added to Etsy! Click HERE to visit my shop!

Now you might be aware that the Lunar New Year is once again fast approaching. This year it falls on February 12 and it’s going to be the Year of the Ox/Cow! It’s special for me since I was born under this zodiac sign. 🙂 So I came up with a cow as a buddy for Charlie! I plan to name it soon and release its pattern as well. I’m putting the finishing touches to it and it’ll definitely be up before the Lunar New Year! I’m also working on other farmyard friends so keep an eye out for those patterns in the future as well!

Bucky the Beaver joins the shop!

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I started making this doll about a year ago but for some reason never did get around to finishing it up. I think I wasn’t happy with the overall proportion of the body and I ended up shelving it away. I was delighted to discover him the other week. I pulled him out, dusted him off, and after a bit of re-working, I’m happy to present Bucky to you all! 🙂 The pattern can be found HERE.

Somehow it makes me smile every time I see his little face… it must be that big tooth poking out! Did you know that beaver teeth grow forever? They have to gnaw on wood to control the length, otherwise their teeth can grow up to 4 feet a year!!

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Beavers are woodland creatures and it just so happens that my husband and 2 of my boys actually saw one during their backpacking trip over the summer. They hiked and camped out for 5 days in the forests of Northern California (before the wildfires started) and they saw a beaver and his dam! It immediately brought up images of the kind hearted beaver character from the woods of Narnia in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Who remembers with me?? 🙂

My backpacking kiddos are both Boy Scouts (Dad is an Eagle Scout!) and they love being out in nature and learning all about the outdoors. They’re also exposed to all kinds of fascinating things while they earn their merit badges! It’s been fun for me because I’ve learned about all kinds of stuff too! I can now identify the hoot of a Great Horned Owl (it kept me up the other night!) and a variety of different birds and insects. I can (sort of) weave a basket and tie some basic knots! Therefore I thought it fitting to honor the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) by having showing Bucky as a Beaver Scout! lol 🙂

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Merit badges are so pretty, in my opinion! They’re so colorful and I love all the different images that represent the subjects! Admittedly, I was a little disappointed that “Needlecraft” isn’t one of the areas of study! I could totally be a Scout Leader for that! 🙂

Working with Velvet Yarn

I’d been seeing images of beautiful amigurumi worked up with all sorts of different yarns…Now, I’ve worked with fluffy yarn in the past, such as Bernat Pipsqueak and Red Heart Baby Clouds, but I found the look of velvet yarn so appealing and I was itching to try it out for myself! It just looked so plush and soft! I headed over to my local JoAnn’s craft store and and found Bernat Velvet yarn which I got in 2 different colors! The skeins are quite large and the recommended hook size is 6.5mm but since I’m making amigurumi, I went with a 5.0mm hook size and it the stitches worked up perfectly for me!

I decided to work up a cat and came up with my Luna Kitty design! I have to admit, it took me a bit of practice to get used to the feel of this yarn, given the extra chunkiness and the fluffiness that I’m not used to when making my usual amigurumi dolls! The stitches were a bit harder to discern and at times, I had to just go by feel and trust in my crocheting instinct to know that I was hooking into the correct stitch! But speaking of feel, it’s hard to put into words how smooth and buttery soft this yarn is! It’s amazing how it glides along – you should definitely try it out at least once if you’ve never worked with this before!

This kitty is plush and cuddly and the perfect size for a little one to hold and drag around! 🙂

In case you’re wondering, I was able to make 2 complete gray Luna kitties and one complete pink one with the 2 skeins of yarn I showed you at the beginning of this post! I still have a good amount of pink leftover too, but I used up all the gray.

Aren’t these the cutest? They would make wonderful baby shower gifts!

Here are some shots that have been shared by other crocheters! It’s so much fun to see dolls made from my patterns! I just love seeing your own individual touches, whether it’s a color change, added eyebrows, adorable embellishments…Keep sharing your pics because they really brighten my day! I’ll also try to include them in my posts from time to time!! 🙂

Ollie the Corgi

Greetings, all! I took a long break from crocheting but I’m proud to report that I’m still here and I present to you my latest doll! This pattern seriously took me many, many, many months to complete. I started it at the beginning of our Shelter in Place for the current pandemic and that was 6 months ago! I went through at least 3 different versions before coming up with this final design and I hope you guys like it!

Corgis are such adorable little dogs! Their body proportions are so unusual, with their long backs and large head and ears…the puppies are the cutest! This is definitely a corgi of sorts – I totally get that there are some glaring differences with the real thing, but hey, everyone will just have to accept that this is my unique Little Muggles rendition of a corgi! 🙂 My young son thinks it looks more like a Chihuahua and I’m ok with that too. Maybe I should just write “amigurumi doggie” instead of a specific breed… 🙂

Why is he wearing a party hat? Well, I have the great fortune of being included in the upcoming publication of Zoomigurumi 10 and this little guy is my contribution! I’ve had the honor of having patterns in almost all of the Zoomigurumis and I still remember how exciting it was to join up with the publisher for the first book all those years ago! Seems like yesterday! I’m delighted to see how huge the amigurumi community has gotten over the years! It’s changed so much from when I remember starting out! Back then, something called “Instagram” wasn’t around yet. 🙂

You might notice the yellowish lighting of these pictures. This pic was taken in the Bay Area on the day we woke up to a burnt orange sky, looking like we had somehow traveled to Mars in the middle of the night. The west coast wildfires had created enough ash and smoke to literally block out the sun. It truly resembled what you might picture Armageddon looking like. Very unsettling. Prayers to all who have been affected by the fires!

At this very moment, Ollie is en route across the Atlantic Ocean, heading to Belgium! Probably one of the few “Americans” that will be welcomed abroad during this time! He will join the other creations that will be included in Zoomigurumi 10 and will have all sorts of fun photo shoots to look forward to! Bon Voyage, Ollie!