Have you crocheted any of these giant bits of fun? I have all of my Farm Series now complete and you can get a special LOW price with FREEBIES in my BUNDLE. Check out THIS POST for all my links to Etsy and Ravelry.
All of my Farm Animals are also now FREE here on my blog and available as a PDF Bundle in my Etsy.
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I just realized- as I was going back through all my Farm Series patterns to check my links and whatnot- that my pattern for Digger the Donkey never got posted FREE on my blog. I finished this pattern second in the series, but never got my free version posted. So, here you go. One more freebie! Enjoy!
This pattern is intended for personal use only. This pattern -and all my patterns- are offered for free or a small fee to help support my family so please do not redistribute, sell, copy or use them in any way not in accordance with fairness.
You may sell products made from this pattern, but please give me credit as the designer. Please do not use my photos as your own work, but you may use my photos to reference back to my blog, Etsy, Pinterest, IG or FB, but please link back to me.
If you find any problems with this pattern please let me know and if you have any problems with any of it feel free to message me and ask for support.
Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to me, Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Materials:
This donkey uses mostly Caron One Pound in Espresso, Off-white, and Lace. I prefer to use Caron One-Pounder yarns for my toys and that is mostly what this is. I chose to make a brown donkey, but gray is also another great choice. My black for the hair and feet is Red Heart Super Saver in Black.
-Hook : I used a G hook for this pattern except for the ears. I used my I hook for them.
-Safety Eyes or buttons (or yarn to embroider if you choose) and needle to embroider face. I crocheted the teeth and mouth with a small bit of white and black, but you can also just embroider a regular mouth or leave as you wish.
-Stuffing. I have used Poly-Fill brand stuffing, but feel free to use what you prefer.
– I don’t use Stitch markers, but if you do you will want those to keep track of your rounds. As a “free” stitch marker you can loop a bright colored piece of scrap yarn through your stitch to act as a marker – then just pull it out when you get back around to it and move it up one row. Easy marker!
My Free Patterns do NOT contain all my hints, tips, photos etc, but my Etsy patterns do and are convenient and I keep them at a low cost. Thank you for any and all support on my patterns. Find Digger HERE on Etsy or HERE on Ravelry.
My Paid for patterns also contain a FREE Cheat Sheet that help you with the increases and decreases for the numbers in my chart.
Invisible Decrease:
Doing an invisible single crochet decrease is one of the best things I ever learned! There are many online tutorials on this so look up doing the invisible decrease single crochet online and you will not be sorry. Essentially, you will be doing your single crochet decrease in only the front loops of the crochets being decreased.
Stitches Used:
Chain: Ch
Single Crochet: SC
Inc Sc: make two single crochet stitches in the same stitch as indicated
Invisible Decrease: inv. dec. – this is an invisible single crochet decrease
BLO – back loop only
This is a simplified pattern as stated – a chart with the numbers – you need to have knowledge of crochet amigurumi and how to do rounds and increases to read. If you do it will be pretty straight forward.
I start my work with a chain 2 and then sc in second chain from hook, but you can also start with a magic ring if you prefer that start.
This pattern starts with nose and then changes color to head and then the body is worked. I will make notes along the way to assist with this. I sometimes make my various body parts first if I am going to be sewing them on before I stuff and close. That is the case with this one. For this donkey, I made all the legs first so I could stuff them and sew them on before I stuffed and closed the body. How you do this is personal preference, but I like to sew and hide all my ends inside the body.
Nose/Head: ( I used a Cream color. I used Caron One Pounder in off white.)
| Row/Round | Stitch Count/Number |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 18 |
| 4 | 24 |
| 5 | 30 |
| 6 | 36 |
| 7 | 42 |
| 8 | 48 |
| 9 | 54 |
| 10 | 60*my nostrils are positioned between this round and round 15. They are a simple circle of 6, 12, 12. I sew them on after round 17 because I like to tie off in the inside. There are about 10 visible stitches between the nostrils. |
| 11-17 | 60 *now – at this point if you want to embroider the mouth or do teeth/lips like I have done I recommend stopping and doing that part so you can sew it on before you start your decreases. My teeth/lips are positioned right in the center of my nose where I started round 1. See below for how I made my teeth/lips. |
| 18 | Start decreasing now: 54 |
| 19 | 54 |
| 20 | 48 |
| 21 | 48 |
| 22 | 42 |
| 23 | 42 |
| 24 | 36 |
| 25 | 36 *change color at last stitch here for head. I used espresso – a dark brown color |
| 26 | 36 |
| 27 | 30 |
| 28 | 30 |
| 29 | 30 |
| 30 | 30 |
| 31 | Start Increasing now 36 |
| 32 | 36 |
| 33 | 42 |
| 34 | 48 |
| 35 | 54 *my eyes went here between this round and the next. |
| 36-40 | 54 *I have eyebrows embroidered between rounds 38-39 *now we decrease and close. I use an invisible decrease |
| 41 | 48 |
| 42 | 42 *my ears get sewed on right about here behind eyebrows. Make sure they are even on head and between the eyes/eyebrows equally. |
| 43 | 36 |
| 44 | 30 |
| 45 | 24 |
| 46 | 18 |
| 47 | 12 |
| 48 | 6 |
Teeth/Lips:
Start with white. Chain 7. SC 6 across row. Chain 1 and turn. SC 6 across row again. Chain 1 and turn. SC 2 in first stitch, sc one in each stitch across until last sc, then sc 2 in last sc. (8). Chain 1 and turn. SC 8 across row. Finish Off (FO) – attach black. I attached on the bottom. You will sc evenly around bottom and sides putting 3 sc in each corner – on the top of teeth you will do this on the top row: sc, sc, hdc, dc, (dc, tc), (tc, dc), dc, hdc, sc. *that is 8 stitches. What is in parenthesis goes in the same stitch. Keep doing lips all the way around teeth and finish off with a long tail. After finishing off, but before you sew down do a line of black up the middle of teeth to make two teeth. Sew on.
Body: I used the same color from the back of my head for the body. I feel that you need to probably use the same color from back of head as you do the body to make your sewing blend in and be invisible. It will require good sewing for this head because it is large. You do not want to do all this work and then have visible sewing stitches. The body starts from the bottom up and we leave an opening at top for the neck. You want to pin your head in place and make sure to stuff the neck VERY well before final stitches to support the head. This large head needs lots of support. More than you think you need, but don’t pucker your stitches out. Also, when sewing on don’t be afraid to “squish” your head down and sew well to neck. I typically squish a large head down and capture several rows above and below where I am sewing and pull my yarn tight to get a good stable head – this is why your yarn needs to match on the head and body. I pull my end through the body several times before cutting.
| Row/Round | Stitch Count/Number |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 18 |
| 4 | 24 |
| 5 | 30 * my bottom legs are sewed open between this round and round 11. I usually will sew them on before I get to my decreases after round 30. Since these bottom legs get sewed on in the open position (meaning not flattened out) it is important to pin them in place to make sure they are even. |
| 6 | 36 |
| 7 | 42 |
| 8 | 48 |
| 9 | 54 |
| 10 | 60 *the tail is a big braid and I have placed it between this round and round 12. I wrapped my yarn around a book about 8” tall about 30 times and then cut. I have included photos below to show how I divided the yarn into 10 pieces for 3 sections and pulled through to make tail |
| 11 | 66 |
| 12-21 (10 rows) | 66 decrease starts now |
| 22 | 60 |
| 23-24 | 60 |
| 25 | 54 |
| 26-27 | 54 |
| 28 | 48 |
| 29-30 | 48 |
| 31 | 42 |
| 32-33 | 42 |
| 34 | 36 |
| 35-38 | 36 *start stuffing |
| 39 | 30 |
| 40 | 30 |
| 41 | 24 |
| 442 | 24 *I sew my front legs closed and sew right about here. |
| 43 | 18 |
| 44-46 | 18 *leave super long tail to sew on the head. |
Feet/Legs (make four):
I used black first and then changed to my Lace color. Stuff feet well and legs good. Don’t make the legs too stiff – especially at the top if you want your donkey to be able to sit.
| Row/Round | Stitch Count/Number |
| 1 – with black | 6 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 18 |
| 4 | 24 |
| 5 | 30 |
| 6 BLO crochet | 30 – crochet in back loop only. On the last stitch change to your next color if you are changing colors. |
| 7-12 | 30 |
| 13 | 24 |
| 14 | 18*if you are using different colors change color here for leg color – I used my espresso color |
| 15 | 18 |
| 16-34 | 18 – FO but leave a long tail to sew |
Ears (make 2): *I used my I hook for these to get them bigger and floppier.
| Row/Round | Stitch Count/Number |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4-6 | 12 |
| 7 | 18 |
| 8-16 | 18 |
| 17 | Dec 15 |
| 18 | Dec 12 |
| 19 | 12 |
| *FO leaving long tail. Gather in half at the bottom and fold up to sew |
Sew mane just behind eyebrows in between ears. I went all the way down the back part of the head to the top of the neck. Trim as you wish.
And that is it! I’d love to see all of your patterns so please tag me over on IG @theburgundybasket.com
And here are some of my favorite newest items! I am a big “amazoner” and these are things that I have ordered and used or am currently using and gift giving <3 – I use a lot of these in my local and Etsy business as well.
