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Penguin Amigurumi Pattern

Penguin Amigurumi Pattern
4.3★ Rating
5-7 Hours Time Needed
1.3K Made This
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Intermediate Level

Ideal for those with basic crochet experience, featuring slightly more advanced stitches and techniques to expand your skills.

⏱️

Weekend Treat

Takes 5-7 hours, making it an enjoyable project to finish over a couple of days.

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Cute Companion

An adorable friend to cherish, handcrafted with love to bring comfort and joy for years to come.

About This Penguin Amigurumi Pattern

This pattern creates a charming holiday penguin amigurumi that holds a clear fillable ornament ball. You will crochet a hemispherical black body to insert the ornament and make separate head, wings, feet, beak, headphones, and a striped scarf. The instructions include round-by-round details and assembly steps so you can sew everything together neatly.

Penguin Amigurumi Pattern crochet pattern - detailed view of completed project

Perfect for intermediate crocheters who enjoy shaping and finishing, with options to swap colors and add bells or pompons. The finished penguin measures about 14 cm using the recommended yarn and hook.

Why You'll Love This Penguin Amigurumi Pattern

I absolutely love this pattern because it combines classic amigurumi shaping with a playful transparent ornament body that makes each piece unique. I enjoy the mix of rounds and small sewn elements — the headphones and scarf add delightful finishing touches. Sewing the two head elements together creates such a satisfying, clean edge that really lifts the design. This project is perfect for holiday crafting and I always enjoy making a few as gifts.

Penguin Amigurumi Pattern step 1 - construction progress Penguin Amigurumi Pattern step 2 - assembly progress Penguin Amigurumi Pattern step 3 - details and accessories Penguin Amigurumi Pattern step 4 - final assembly and finishing

Switch Things Up

I love changing colors to create different looks for this penguin; try pastel shades for a soft nursery decoration or bright primary colors for a playful holiday set.

I often swap the recommended 8/4 cotton for a slightly thicker DK weight and use a 2.5–3.0 mm hook to make a larger, cuddlier version.

I sometimes omit the clear ball and fully stuff the body for a solid amigurumi that is easier to mail as a gift.

I add tiny embroidered eyebrows, freckles, or switch the closed-eye embroidery to small French knots for open eyes to change expression.

I like to replace bells on the scarf with little pompons or tiny wooden beads for a quieter, rustic look.

For a posable variant, I insert craft wire into the wings or legs before stuffing so the penguin can hold small props.

If you want a mini keychain version, use fingering weight yarn and a 1.5–1.75 mm hook, and attach a metal keyring to the top.

I also experiment with metallic yarn or a strand of glitter thread in the scarf for extra holiday sparkle.

To make a family set, vary yarn combinations and stitch counts to create baby, parent and grandparent sizes that look cohesive together.

Don't be afraid to mix yarn textures — a boucle or faux-fur trim on the scarf looks delightful and adds tactile interest.

Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them

✗ Not checking gauge before starting can make the ornament not fit correctly; crochet a sample and adjust hook size to match the stated density. ✗ Forgetting to leave long tails when finishing rounds causes difficulty attaching parts later; always leave a long tip for sewing each element securely. ✗ Stuffing too firmly inside small elements creates distortion and bulk; stuff lightly and gradually to keep smooth shapes and avoid lumps. ✗ Skipping stitch counts during increase/decrease rounds leads to uneven shaping; count your stitches after each round, especially when increases are grouped. ✗ Sewing parts without pinning may cause misaligned placement; use pins to mark positions for wings, legs and head before stitching them permanently.

Penguin Amigurumi Pattern

Create a festive penguin amigurumi that wraps a clear fillable ornament in cozy crochet charm. This pattern guides you through crocheting the body, head, wings, feet, beak, headphones and a striped scarf with clear step-by-step rounds. Perfect for holiday gifting or seasonal decor, you will enjoy assembling this cute companion and adding fun details like bells and tinsel.

Intermediate 5-7 Hours

Materials Needed for Penguin Amigurumi Pattern

— Main Fabric

  • 01
    Friends Cotton 8/4 - 100% cotton, 50g/160m: red (color 41) - 1 pc
  • 02
    Friends Cotton 8/4 - 100% cotton, 50g/160m: black (color 124) - 1 pc
  • 03
    Cotton King 8/4 - 100% cotton, 50g/170m: green (color 25) - 1 pc
  • 04
    Cotton King 8/4 - 100% cotton, 50g/170m: white (color 01) - 1 pc
  • 05
    Cotton King 8/4 - 100% cotton, 50g/170m: orange (color 14) - 1 pc
  • 06
    Clear plastic fillable ornament ball 80 mm (1 pc)
  • 07
    Small amount of sequins, tinsel or other Christmas fillers for the ball

— Tools Required

  • 01
    Crochet hook size 2.0 mm
  • 02
    Stitching needle
  • 03
    Yarn needle for sewing
  • 04
    Scissors
  • 05
    Polyester stuffing / fiberfill
  • 06
    Clear plastic fillable ornament ball 80 mm
  • 07
    Any sequins and other Christmas fillers to your liking
  • 08
    Stitch markers and pins for sewing (for temporary fixation of parts)
  • 09
    Thread floss black for embroidery eyes
  • 10
    Bells for scarf (optional)

Progress Tracker

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— Pattern Information :

Infos :

When using the original yarn and hook number, the Penguin size is 14cm. Crocheting density of 5 cm - 16 sc for 18 rows. It is important to crochet a sample before you start crocheting a toy because it affects the density of the fit of the crocheted detail to the ball. If your density differs, try changing the hook number or choosing a different yarn.

Infos :

Original materials: 1) Yarn: Friends Cotton 8/4 – 100% cotton, 50g/160m: red (color 41) – 1 pc, black (color 124) – 1 pc. Cotton King 8/4 – 100% cotton, 50g/170m: green (color 25) – 1 pc, white (color 01) – 1pc, orange (color 14) – 1pc. 2) Hook 2.0 mm. 3) Stitching needle. 4) Fiberfill / toy stuffing. 5) Clear plastic fillable ornament ball 80 mm. 6) Any sequins and other Christmas fillers to your liking. 7) Stitch markers and pins for sewing (for temporary fixation of parts). 8) Thread floss black for embroidery eyes. 9) Bells for scarf (optional).

Infos :

Recommendations: If you do not have the opportunity to tie a toy from the yarn indicated in the description, do not be upset and do not stop, because there is almost a small number of alternatives. Here are several types of yarn, with which you will undoubtedly get a good result and the most beautiful toys: Gazzal baby cotton, Yarn Art cotton baby, DMC Natura Just Cotton. Also, feel free to use and combine colors that you have available and to your liking.

— Body :

Info :

The yarn is black. We crochet the shape of a hemisphere, into which we will later insert the Christmas tree plastic ball.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

6 inc (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, (inc, 2 sc) x 5, inc, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, (inc, 4 sc) x 5, inc, 2 sc (36)

Round 7 :

(5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)

Round 8 :

3 sc, (inc, 6 sc) x 5, inc, 3 sc (48)

Round 9 :

(7 sc, inc) x 6 (54)

Round 10 :

4 sc, (inc, 8 sc) x 5, inc, 4 sc (60)

Round 11 :

60 sc

Round 12 :

(9 sc, inc) x 6 (66)

Round 13 :

5 sc, (inc, 10 sc) x 5, inc, 5 sc (72)

Round 14-23 :

(10 rounds) 72 sc (picture 1)

Round 24 :

crocheting a chain of 5 ch and attach it to the main fabric, skipping 3 sc, we crochet another 69 sc to the end of the round (74) (pictures 2-3)

Round 25 :

74 sc

Info :

Change the color to white, cut the black yarn (picture 4-5)

Round 26-28 :

74 sc

Info :

We finish crocheting sl st, fix the thread, and cut it, leaving a long tip for sewing the head to the body (picture 6).

— Wings (make 2) :

Info :

The yarn is black.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

6 inc (12)

Round 3-5 :

12 sc

Round 6 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 7-9 :

18 sc

Round 10 :

(2 sc, inc) x 6 (24)

Round 11-13 :

24 sc

Round 14 :

(2 sc, dec) x 6 (18)

Round 15-21 :

(7 rounds) 18 sc

Round 22 :

(1 sc, dec) x 6 (12)

Round 23-24 :

12 sc

Info :

Fold the wing in half and close the hole with a string of 6 sc (pictures 2-4). Fix the thread and cut it, leaving a long tip for sewing the wings to the body.

— Feet (make 2) :

Info :

The yarn is orange. In the course of crocheting, slightly fill with fiberfill. We crochet in a circle around the chain with ch.

Round 1 :

double chain 3 7 ch

Round 2 :

starting with the second loop from the hook, 5 sc, inc of 3 sc, 5 sc, inc of 3 sc (16) (picture 5)

Round 3-6 :

(4 rounds) 16 sc

Round 7 :

(6 sc, dec) x 2 (14)

Round 8-10 :

14 sc

Round 11 :

(5 sc, dec) x 2 (12)

Round 12 :

12 sc

Round 13 :

6 dec

Info :

We tighten the hole and hide the thread.

— Tail :

Info :

Black yarn.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

(1 sc, inc) x 3 (9)

Round 3 :

(2 sc, inc) x 3 (12)

Round 4 :

12 sc

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 3 (15)

Info :

We crochet another sl st, fix the thread, and cut it, leaving a long tip for sewing.

— Head :

Info :

It will consist of two elements, white and black.

— First element :

Info :

The yarn is white. In the course of crocheting, fill with fiberfill.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

6 inc (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, (inc, 2 sc) x 5, inc, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, (inc, 4 sc) x 5, inc, 2 sc (36)

Round 7 :

(5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)

Round 8 :

3 sc, (inc, 6 sc) x 5, inc, 3 sc (48)

Round 9 :

(7 sc, inc) x 6 (54)

Round 10-19 :

(10 rounds) 54 sc

Round 20 :

(7 sc, dec) x 6 (48)

Round 21 :

3 sc, (dec, 6 sc) x 5, dec, 3 sc (42)

Round 22 :

(5 sc, dec) x 6 (36)

Round 23 :

2 sc, (dec, 4 sc) x 5, dec, 2 sc (30)

Round 24 :

(3 sc, dec) x 6 (24)

Round 25 :

1 sc, (dec, 2 sc) x 5, dec, 1 sc (18)

Round 26 :

(1 sc, dec) x 6 (12)

Round 27-28 :

12 sc

Round 29 :

6 dec

Info :

We tighten the hole and close it (picture 1). Pass the thread through the closed loops through the entire head and bring it opposite, in the amigurumi ring (pictures 2-5). Thus, we will get a small depression (picture 5) that will allow us to correctly attach the head to the body. Having twisted the thread on the top of the head, fix it and cut it.

— Second Element :

Info :

The yarn is black.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

6 inc (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, (inc, 2 sc) x 5, inc, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, (inc, 4 sc) x 5, inc, 2 sc (36)

Round 7 :

(5 sc, inc) x 6 (42)

Round 8 :

3 sc, (inc, 6 sc) x 5, inc, 3 sc (48)

Round 9 :

(7 sc, inc) x 6 (54)

Round 10-18 :

(9 rounds) 54 sc

Round 19 :

13 sc, 5 hdc, 7 dc, 1 tr, 1 dtr, 1 tr, 7 dc, 5 hdc, 14 sc (54)

Round 20 :

20 sc, 5 hdc, 1 dc, 1 tr, 1 dc, 5 hdc, 21 sc (54)

Info :

Crochet another sl st, fix the thread, and cut it. Now we put the second element on top of the first and sew it in a circle with ordinary black sewing thread. (pictures 10-12).

— Beak :

Info :

The yarn is orange.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

(1 sc, inc) x 3 (9)

Round 3 :

(2 sc, inc) x 3 (12)

Round 4 :

12 sc

Info :

We crochet another sl st, fix the thread, and cut it off, leaving a long tip for sewing the nose to the head.

— Headphones (make 2) :

Info :

The yarn is red.

Round 1 :

6 sc in the amigurumi ring

Round 2 :

6 inc (12)

Round 3 :

(1 sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4 :

1 sc, (inc, 2 sc) x 5, inc, 1 sc (24)

Round 5 :

(3 sc, inc) x 6 (30)

Round 6 :

2 sc, (inc, 4 sc) x 5, inc, 2 sc (36)

Round 7-9 :

36 sc

Info :

We crochet another sl st, fix the thread, and cut it, leaving a long tip for sewing to the head. Additionally, we crochet a connecting element.

Info :

To do this, with green yarn, we crochet a chain of 20 ch, and starting from the second loop from the hook, we crochet one row of hdc. We fixed the thread and cut it.

— Scarf :

Info :

We will crochet back-and-forth-row and hdc. At the same time, we will crochet each row only for one wall of the chain, the one that is closest to us. We will use red and green yarn.

Row 1 :

crochet a chain with 71 ch

Row 2 :

starting from the second loop from the hook, we crochet 70 hdc

Info :

Change the color to red.

Row 3-4 :

1 ch, 70 hdc

Info :

Change the color to green.

Row 5 :

1 ch, 70 hdc

Info :

We fix all the threads and hide them. On both sides, we tighten the edges and attach bells to them. Bells can be replaced with thread pompons (video).

— Collecting the Penguin :

Info :

Making a muzzle. We outline the location of the beak and sew it to the head.

Info :

With a thread of black floss in two folds, we embroider the eyes of the Penguin.

Info :

We outline the location of the headphones and the connecting element for them. First, sew a green strip to the head. Next, having filled the sphere of the headphones with fiberfill, we also sewed them to the head.

Info :

For convenience, and for a symmetrical arrangement of parts, we immediately insert the Christmas ball into the crocheted body. With the help of pins, we outline the location of the wings, tail, and legs. We fasten the tail so that it serves as an additional support for the penguin and it can stand on its own. Sew the wings, tail, and legs to the body. Sew on the head.

Info :

Take out the ball, and fill it with tinsel. We tuck in and fix all the ends that remain after sewing on all the parts. Insert the ball into the finished penguin. Tie a scarf.

Assembly Instructions

  • Sew the two head elements together in a circle with ordinary black sewing thread, aligning the white inner element and black outer element for a clean face edge.
  • Insert the empty clear ornament ball into the crocheted black body hemispherical opening, pin parts in place, then remove the ball to add tinsel and fillers before final insertion.
  • Position wings, tail and legs symmetrically with pins around the body opening and sew them securely; fasten the tail to act as an additional support so the penguin can stand.
  • Attach the beak at the marked location on the face and embroider the eyes with black floss folded in two strands to create the closed eye look.
  • Sew the filled headphone spheres to the head after stitching and attaching the green connecting strip on top of the head so the headphones sit evenly.
  • Weave in and hide all thread ends, then insert the decorated ball into the finished penguin and tie the scarf around the neck with optional bells attached.

Important Notes

  • 💡Use stitch markers to keep track of round starts and color changes for accurate shaping and symmetry.
  • 💡Leave long thread tails when finishing small parts to make sewing and attaching simpler and more secure.
  • 💡Stuff separate elements lightly and evenly—overstuffing can change shaping and make assembly difficult.
  • 💡Pin parts in place before sewing so you can check symmetry and positioning, especially for wings and headphones.

This festive Penguin amigurumi wraps a clear ornament in adorable crochet charm and is perfect for holiday gifts. Tie a little scarf, add bells, and tuck in shiny tinsel to personalize each one. Make several for a coordinated holiday display or give as handmade presents! 🧶🎁

You ask,

we answer.

FAQs

What size will the finished piece be?

The finished amigurumi measures approximately 14 cm tall when using the recommended yarn and 2.0 mm hook.

Can I use different yarn weights for this pattern?

Yes, you can use different yarn weights, but the final size will change and the ornament may not fit if you move too far from the recommended yarn; adjust hook size accordingly.

Do I need prior crochet experience for this pattern?

This pattern is rated intermediate, so basic knowledge of amigurumi techniques, increases, decreases and working in rounds is recommended.

What should I put inside the clear ornament ball?

You can use sequins, tinsel, small pompons, beads or other Christmas fillers; leave enough room to insert the ball into the crocheted body and secure it.

How do I embroider the eyes?

Use black floss folded in two strands and follow the step-by-step photos; embroider small curved lines to create the closed-eye expression shown in the pattern.