Hi Readers and Crocheters!! Just a few more patterns to go!!! When I set out on this project, I didn’t intend on doing a cow, but this is such an easy modification to the basic body pattern that I just had to get these guys finished. BUT A NOTE: This free pattern is NOT a tutorial on how to change colors in the middle of crocheting. You will already need to know how to do this. I suggest working with small balls of yarn for your color changes and carrying the yarn under the working loop.
Check out the ORIGINAL POST to see what this whole thing is all about!!
For the first time on my blog, I am giving you this FREE PATTERN!!
Hop over and see THIS POST FOR MORE of the Sweet Snuggles Summer Animals.
The sweet snuggles animals range from 12-16″ tall with this yarn. This Summer Series is ALL SWEET SNUGGLES LITE YARN, but my original BASIC BODY pattern uses a variety of stash yarn so you can make these guys in so many different types of yarn.
This post does contain affiliate links. I will get a small percentage from any purchase made through my page here, but your price remains the same. I appreciate any purchase made through my page as I can continue to offer free patterns here on my blog.
I am working on a giant basket of plush animals that will be for sale in my local spot for the Holidays and I think this basket is absolutely perfect to display them in!! I want to grab a few more for beanies and scarves!!
To get started read the post linked above and grab that yarn and your size J/6mm hook and your Sweet Snuggles Lite Yarn.
I have used 20mm safety eyes for these pals. With this type of yarn, if you are using safety eyes you need to make sure they have very large backs. The ones I have did come with large metal backs, but I know some do not. If yours do not or are like the ones below with smaller plastic backs, one thing I do is cut a piece of plastic mesh and put it on before the back like below. Just make sure to cut off any jagged edges.
You will also need a yarn needle with an eye large enough for this size of yarn.
This is part of my Sweet Snuggles Series for Summer and as such I am using Sweet Snuggles Lite yarn exclusively. This pattern should work with any other type of yarn that you would use for Amigurumi.
*For this type of yarn SHEDDING WHEN THE YARN IS CUT DOES HAPPEN. For that reason, I do choose to cut longer tails than when I use worsted weight type yarn. Also, with the shedding this is probably not the type of yarn to take “as you go” places. It does shed when CUT (not when you are finished working up the animals, but just where you make your cuts).
Also, do NOT PULL TOO HARD when making your knots. This yarn can break. But, even with those two drawbacks, the final result is just too adorable not to use this yarn. In every other way this yarn works up like a dream.
I have used my size J/6mm hook. For me, it is the one with this yarn that creates a nice gauge for stuffed animals. If you find that your piece is too “holey” you need to go down a hook size.
And that is it!! You can make up a big handful in a single day once you get the hang of it. This pattern and yarn take me about 2-3 hours per cow stuffie depending on distractions around me.
I check my Instagram daily so find me over there @theburgundybasket
Okay, let’s get to it!!
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First the boring bits:
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 these patterns, 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, 2023. 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.
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS PATTERN. YOU CAN READ MORE ON THIS POST WITH THE FURRY FRIENDS.
Again, for these updates, I have used my size J hook and Sweet Snuggles Lite super bulky yarn.
Most all of my patterns are worked in the CONTINUOUS Round: I do not join and chain but continue to work in the next stitch. Use a stitch marker for this so you don’t lose your place. I will always note if this is not the case.
You can assume that I have used my H/5mm for all of these patterns unless it is stated otherwise.
**AGAIN – FOR THE SWEET SNUGGLES YARN I HAVE USED MY SIZE J/6MM CROCHET HOOK.
Most of my toy patterns are made with 4-ply worsted weight yarn scraps like Red Heart Super Saver, Caron One Pound and Impeccable Yarn. I will note any differences.
The Furry Friends patterns were born because through the years I had obtained a giant storage bin full of “fur” type yarns that I wanted to de-stash. My stash included almost every brand of eyelash/fun fur yarns like Lion Brand Fun Fur, Red Heart Fun Fur, Eyelash Ice Yarn, Bernat Bling Bling, Patons Cha Cha, an unmarked furry ribbon yarn and more. A lot of these were unmarked and I am sure discontinued, but I also worked some of these up with Scrubby Yarn that you can purchase as I write this. You can also use these patterns with some newer yarns currently on the market. This pattern is very adaptable to many yarn types, andI cover those with each animal in the PDF of the Furry Friends pattern.
Here is a snapshot of all the Friends:
It is also my hope, that by giving you a wide variety of shapes, you are able to mix and match and change colors to use this pattern to make other animals. For example, you could easily use this pattern to make a zebra by doing black and white stripes.
Pattern Note: If I write, “sc 3” it means single crochet in the next 3 stitches – whereas “3sc” means to make 3 single crochet in one stitch.
Pattern Note: (sc, 2sc) repeat around – this is read as you make a single crochet in the next stitch and then 2 sc in the next stitch and repeat this sequence around the entire round.
Another example, (sc 2, inv dec) repeat around. This is read as you make a single crochet in the next two stitches and then you do an invisible decrease and then you repeat this sequence all the way around.
More complicated example: sc 12, (inc, sc) 6, sc 6 – This is read as you do 12 single crochet, then you do an increase sc, then single crochet, but what is in parenthesis gets done as many times as the number after says – so, you would do increase sc then sc 6 times total and then do the single crochet 6.
Stitches Guide: *US Terms apply.
Chain: Ch
Stitch: St
Single Crochet: Sc
Inc Sc or Inc or 2sc: make two single crochet stitches in the same stitch as indicated.
Inv dec: invisible decrease or decrease (I use invisible decrease in amigurumi, and it is one of the best things I have ever learned for amigurumi. If you are unsure how to do this, there are many great online/video tutorials.)
hdc: half double crochet
hdc inc or inc hdc: increase hdc
Decrease: Dec or Sc2tog
BLO: back loop only/ FLO: front loop only
Dc: double crochet
Tr: treble crochet
Hints and Tips for Stuffies, Ragdolls, Amigurumi etc.
Spiral Crochet:
I crochet in the “spiral” for this project and for most of my work. This prevents the joining seam that can occur with crochet. What that means is that you don’t join each round with a slip stitch and then chain 1, but rather keep on working the next stitch – the first one from the previous row. It may help to use a stitch marker to designate the beginning of the previous round. For example, if your round calls for 30 sc stitches, then sc 30 around, but instead of slip stitching to the first stitch and then chaining one, sc in the first stitch and keep on going for your next round.
TIP Counting:
I also tend to open the calculator on my phone and keep track of “rounds” and stitches by my calculator. For example: if I need to do 4 rounds of 36 stitches I will do “4×36=144” on my calculator and then subtract as I go. So, I might do 30 sc and stop (144-30) get up and do something and come back and so forth until I get done. This keeps me on track and keeps me from having to use and move stitch markers. I only advise this if you are good with counting and have no distractions.
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.
Materials in my Original pattern:
Yarn: As mentioned earlier, the original pattern uses a wide variety of yarns and types of yarns. Many of my fur yarns were unlabeled and therefore I have no idea how much I had, but for the bunny pattern I used 142 yds of fur. The bunny probably is the most yarn heavy pattern in this series, so I would suggest having at least 142 yds and to be safe 150 yds per animal. Many patterns here won’t take that much. For example, the chick and duck won’t take that much since they don’t have ears to make. On the chick, I didn’t have a whole skein of Red Heart Scrubby Cotton (145yds) and used all of what I had left.
Another note that might help if you run short on your furry yarn: When I started the pig, I knew I would be short on furry yarn. I started with only 64yds of the light pink eyelash yarn. So, when I got to the top of the head and was running short, I just dropped the fur and didn’t use it when I did my decrease rounds on round 35 and 37 of the head. The furry yarn is very forgiving and covers up the fact that I skipped these rounds with the furry yarn. To do this, just drop the yarn on those rounds and pick it back up when you come around. I also skipped doing the fur on the arms of the pig since I was out.
To give examples with newer yarns currently on the market, I used Bernat Forever Fleece (9.9 oz/280g/194yds/177m) and Red Heart hygge (hoo-gah) (8oz/227g/212yds/194m) and had plenty of both of those left. You can probably get almost 2 animals from one skein of the RH hygge yarn.
To use the furry yarns, I always held a second strand of yarn at the same time. So, you will be holding two strands of yarn together for most of these examples if using a furry yarn. These yarns are almost impossible to crochet with alone. In my local area, the only store I can find furry yarns presently is Hobby Lobby.
Hooks: The hooks you will use will vary slightly depending on your yarn. You want to use a hook that will work for your yarn and give a nice animal with no holes when finished. I found that with my tension, I used my size H/5mm for most of the animals. I held one strand of 4-ply worsted weight yarn mentioned above and one strand of whatever novelty yarn that I had for most of this collection. I also used my H/5mm hook for the elephant which is the Red Heart hygge yarn and the hippo which is the Fleece yarn. These two yarns are labeled bulky and super bulky, so if you struggle with that hook and yarn, you may need to bump up one size. I will give more details on the sizes and materials for each animal below.
Additional Materials: You will also need a yarn needle big enough for your yarn, stuffing, and safety eyes if you are using those. The safety eyes that I have used are 14-20mm.
I am going to give you the BASIC BODY PATTERN and then note the changes and extras for the chick, duck and rooster baby.
The ORIGINAL PDF contains instructions for all the friends.
They are also listed individually in my Etsy Shop.
There is a FULL PHOTO TUTORIAL in the PDF for the basic body shape.
I have written this as a mostly NO SEW pattern. The feet are work and then joined together as you crochet the body and then the head. Only the smaller parts are sewed at the end: arms, ears, muzzle etc.
You will make each of these guys with this basic pattern. You will find the nose, ears, tail and horns below this basic body pattern. I encourage you to read over the basic body pattern and then skip below to read the modifications before you get started.
A note on the color changes: I recommend doing the first leg in your body color and then if you will be adding spots on your cow as you crochet the second leg is the best place to add in the spot color because you can carry the color up the rounds as you join the legs and work the body.
First leg: Chain 2. Sc 6 in the second chain from the hook and work over your starting tail.
Starting in the first sc make 2 sc in that stitch and in each stitch around. (12) *Still work over the starting tail.
After getting done with all 12 sc for that round, pull the starting tail to cinch up the opening. You can now trim that tail or weave it in or just leave it if it will be on the inside of your work.
You may want to move your stitch marker to the last stitch of each round so you know when you get to the end.
Round 3: (1 sc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (15)
Rounds 4-7: sc in each stitch around (15)(15)(15)(15) – finish off the FIRST LEG with a slip stitch and a tail long enough to sew a small hole closed. I usually leave about 6 inches of tail.
Second leg: Repeat as for first leg above, but DO NOT FINISH OFF YOUR YARN. You will be continuing the crochet around both legs. I suggest using some sort of marker in the last stitch of the 2nd leg. This will help you in your joining.
This will be Round 8:
Holding both legs together: sc in each stitch around the FIRST LEG you made and continue around the SECOND LEG. You should have 30 stitches at the end of Round 8.
Round 9: sc in each stitch around (30)
*Pause and sew up that little hole between the two legs. It will be harder to see with furry yarn, but it is there.
Round 10: (1 sc in next 8 stitches, dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (27) **note here: When using furry yarns, I find that making an invisible decrease is not necessary since you cannot see it anyway, but if you are using this pattern and using a yarn like the Forever Fleece or something less furry, you will want to make these decreases invisible decreases.
Rounds 11-12: sc in each stitch around (27)(27)
Round 13: (1 sc in next 7 stitches, dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (24)
Rounds 14-15: sc in each stitch around (24)(24)
You may want to start stuffing those feet.
Round 16: (1 sc in next 6 stitches, dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (21)
Rounds 17-18: sc in each stitch around (21)(21)
Continue to Stuff.
Round 19: (1 sc in next 5 stitches, dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (18)
Rounds 20-21: sc in each stitch around (18)(18)
*Head shaping starts now
Round 22: (1 sc in next 2 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (24)
Round 23: (1 sc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (30)
Round 24: (1 sc in next 4 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (36)
Round 25: (1 sc in next 5 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (42)
Rounds 26-33: sc in each stitch around (this is 336 stitches if you are working in the continuous round)
(42)(42)(42)(42)(42)(42)(42)(42)
Stuff the body.
At this point, I placed my safety eyes between rounds 28-29 with 5 holes between the eyes.
If you are going to embroider a mouth/nose/eyelashes/eyebrows do that here as well. The next rounds are decreasing.
**Again, if you are using furry yarns, feel free to do a regular decrease and not an invisible one on these next rounds**
Round 34: (1 sc in next 5 stitches, inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (36)
Round 35: (1 sc in next 4 stitches, inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (30)
Stuff and continue to stuff as needed.
Round 36: (1 sc in next 3 stitches, inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (24)
Round 37: (1 sc in next 2 stitches, inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (18)
Stuff the head really good at this point.
Round 38: (1 sc in next stitch, inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (12)
Push more stuffing in before you close to make sure it is stuffed well!
Round 39: (inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (6)
Finish off with a length of tail to sew the opening closed and weave the tail inside the head to hide.
Arms: The arms are NOT stuffed.
Chain 2. Sc 6 in the second chain from the hook and work over your starting tail.
Starting in the first sc make 2 sc in that stitch and in each stitch around. (12) *Still work over the starting tail.
After getting done with all 12 sc for that round, pull the starting tail to cinch up the opening. You can now trim that tail or weave it in or just leave it if it will be on the inside of your work.
You may want to move your stitch marker to the last stitch of each round so you know when you get to the end.
Rounds 3-7: sc in each stitch around (12)(12)(12)(12)(12)
Round 8: (1 sc in next 2 stitches, inv dec/dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (9)
Round 9: sc in each stitch around (9)
Finish with a length of tail to sew the arms to the body.
MODIFICATIONS:
The Cow NOSE starts with a Chain 5. Place 2sc in the second chain from the hook and then sc in the next 2 chains. 3sc in the last chain and then work on the other side of the chain. Put a sc in the next two chains and then one more sc in the space that you began with the first 2 sc. That gives you 10 sc around the oval.
Round 2: (continuous spiral with no join and chain up): Place 3sc in the first sc from Round 1 (this is the stitch just after your last stitch from round 1) then sc 4, 3sc, sc 4 (You will have 14 sc after round 2)
Rounds 3-4: sc in each stitch around and leave a long tail to sew onto the face. Embroider nostrils if you are doing that before you sew. Only lightly stuff to keep the shape.
The EARS are the same pattern as the Arms in the pattern above. Use my photo and play with your placement and slightly crimp the ears before sewing. Ear placement makes all the difference and I encourage you to pin them in place with the horns before sewing it all down.
For the TAIL I did a chain 9 and then 3hdc in the second chain from the hook and then slip stitched in each remaining chain leaving another second long tail to tie onto the back end before weaving the tails inside. I tied the tail on a few rounds above the joining of the legs and then hid the tails inside the body.
The HORNS start with a chain 2. Make 5sc in the second chain from the hook and then do 3 more rounds with a sc in each stitch around. Again, leave a tail longer than normal since this yarn does shed.
This is a quick free blog pattern so please let me know if you have any questions.
Peace, love and cows,
Kristi
