Crochet Penguin Amigurumi – Playful the Baby Penguin

Playful the Baby Penguin has arrived just in time for the holidays! She’s an emperor penguin chick, so she loves the cold weather and playing in the snow with her friends. This crochet penguin amigurumi pattern is fast to make, so you can make the whole set.

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80 Days of PolyFil

I designed this crochet amigurumi penguin pattern for the 80 Days of PolyFil celebration. This event is sponsored by Fairfield, in celebration of their 80th anniversary!

Poly Fil Premium Fiber Fill

Fairfield World generously sent me lots of Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber Filling for these softie designs. This is my go to stuffing material for all my crochet amigurumi patterns because it’s so soft and squishy and easy to use. It also makes great fake snow for pictures!

My favorite stuffing tip is to tear the stuffing into small bits and stuff just a little at a time, rather than trying to put a whole handful in all at once. This creates a smoother finish and avoids clumps and lumps.

Baby Buddies

Playful is similar in style and design to her friends, Awesome the Baby Elephant, Noble the Lion Cub, Bravo the Bear Cub, Sunny the Baby Bunny, and Breezy the Baby Bat. Make them all!

Playful the Baby Penguin

Add this to your Ravelry queue

Materials

• Yarn: Worsted weight yarn
  • 60 yds body color (A – shown in grey)
  • 20 yds head color (B – shown in white)
  • 20 yds hood color (C – shown in black)
• Hook: Size H/ 5 mm crochet hook or size needed to match gauge.
• Notions:
  • Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber Filling
  • Yarn Needle
  • Stitch Marker or scrap of yarn to use as marker.

Project Level

Intermediate: Mostly single crochet in the round, with some increases and decreases.

Size

7 inches tall

Gauge

14 sc x 14 rows = 4 inches. Use pattern as gauge swatch – Rounds 1 – 4 should measure 2.25 inches in diameter. Exact gauge is not critical.

Abbreviations used

(Pattern is written in US terms)
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
inc = increase (see Special Stitches)
dec = decrease (see Special Stitches)
sk = skip
st(s) = stitch(es)
sl st = slip stitch
sp = space
ch-sp = chain space
rnd = round
RS = right side

Recommended Resources

• Continuous rounds and running stitch markers
• Why continuous rounds shift
• Almost invisible increase
• How to do the backstitch from Sarah’s Hand Embroidery Tutorials

Special Stitches

Increase (inc): Sc in back loop only of next st, then sc in both loops of the same st. See full tutorial here.

Body

Everything except the hood is worked in continuous rounds. Do not join or turn unless indicated. Mark first stitch of each round.

With A, ch 2

Rnd 1 (RS): 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook. (6 sc)

Rnd 2: Inc around. (12 sc)

Rnd 3: (Inc in next st, sc in next st) around. (18 sc)

Rnd 4: (Inc in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts) around. (24 sc)

Rnd 5: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 6: (Inc in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts) around. (30 sc)

Rnds 7-10: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 11: (Dec, sc in each of next 3 sts) around. (24 sts)

Rnds 12-15: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 16: (Dec, sc in each of next 2 sts) around. (18 sts)

Rnds 17-18: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 19: (Dec, sc in next st) around, changing to B at the end of the rnd. (12 sts)

Stuff body most of the way full and continue stuffing as you go.

Head

Rnds 20-22: Repeat rnds 3-5

Rnd 23: Sc in next 9 sts, ch 3, sk next 3 sts, sc in last 12 sts. (21 sc and ch-3 sp for beak)

Rnd 24: Sc in each st and each ch around. (24 sc)

Rnd 25: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 26: (Dec, sc in next 2 sts) around. (18 sc)

Rnd 27: (Dec, sc in next st) around. (12 sc)

Rnd 28: Dec around, fasten off. (6 sc)

Using tails, sew top of head and bottom of body closed, then weave in all ends.

Finish stuffing head through beak opening.

Hood

With C, Ch 13, leaving a 30 inch tail for sewing.

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. (12 sts)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across.

Rows 3-4: Ch 1, turn, sc in first st, dec, sc across to last 3 sts, dec, sc in last st. (8 sts)

Rows 5-7: Repeat row 2.

Row 8: Repeat row 3. (6 sts)

Rows 9-10: Repeat row 2.

Row 11: Ch 1, turn, sc in first st, dec twice, sc in last st. (4 sts)

Rows 12-13: Repeat row 2.

Row 14: Ch 1, turn, dec, sc in last st. (3 sts)

Row 15: Repeat row 2.

Beak

The beak starts by joining the hood to the beak opening.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, turn, with body and head upside down, hold the 3 stitches of the last row of the hood against the 3 stitches at the top of the beak opening.

Working through both layers, sc in next 3 sts. Continuing around the beak opening only, sc in the next 3 stitches at the bottom of the beak opening.

Rnd 2: (Dec, sc in next st) twice. Fasten off. (4 sts)

Wings (Make 2)

With A, ch 7, leaving a 12 inch tail for joining.

Rnd 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, working in bottom of chains, sc in each ch across. (12 sts)

Rnds 2-4: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 5: (Dec, sc in next 4 sts) twice. (10 sts)

Rnds 6-7: Sc in each st around.

Rnd 8: (Dec, sc in next 3 sts) twice. (8 sts)

Rnd 9: Sc in each st around

Rnd 10: (Dec, sc in next 2 sts) twice. (6 sts)

Rnd 11: (Dec, sc in next st) twice. Fasten off. (4 sts)

Assembly

Using tails, sew wings in place at the neckline, where head meets body.

Fold hood down so that the bottom of it wraps around the back of the neck.

With the long tail, sew hood in place around the edge – all around the face and across the back of the neck.

Embroider the eyes.

Backstitch across front of neck, to hide color change.

Weave in all ends.

I hope you enjoyed this crochet penguin amigurumi pattern. A downloadable pdf of this pattern is available on Ravelry for a small fee. The fee for the pdf format is to offset the advertising revenue lost when you print or download the pattern rather than viewing it online.

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