My little Pony Amiguumi
Yarn
Schachenmayr Catania cotton in the colors of your choice · Approximately 1 skein (125m/137yds) for the full body · Approximately 14 - 12 skein for mane and tail, depending on style · Scraps of a color slightly darker than the body for embroidering the snout
Other
2.5 mm hook Polyfill Yarn needle Iron-on fabric or felt Acrylic paint or colored markers (for eyes and cutie mark) Scizzors Fabric glue
gange
These instructions are written with Catania cotton in mind, which is a sports weight yarn. With this yarn and a 2.5mm hook, the pony will be about 20 cm tall. As always with amigurumi, gauge isn't really important and you can easily replace the yarn with the brand of your choice as long as you use the appropriate hook to get a nice tight fabric. If you use a thicker yarn (DK, worsted), yardage needed may be different than what's listed and the pony will turn out a lot bigger. ch: chain stitch sl st: slip stitch sc: single crochet hdc: half-double crochet dc: double crochet inc: single crochet increase dec: invisible decrease (tutorial) flo: front loop only blo: back loop only magic ring (tutorial)
Jnstrmctions
· Rounds are worked in spirals without joining. Place a marker at the start of every round to indicate the beginning of the round. · If the pattern calls for "make x extra stitches, move marker" remove the marker and make the amount of sc stiches indicated (1 sc in each stitch). The last extra sc you made is now the new end of the round. Start with the instructions for the next round and re-place the marker in the first stitch. · All stitches are worked through both loops unless otherwise indiciated. · Instructions between \*\* are to be repeated until the end of the round. Instructions between [] are to be repeated as many times as noted after the closing bracket. Numbers between O indicate the total amount of stitches in that round. r1: 6sc in magic ring (6) r2:\*inc\*(12) r3: [1sc, inc]x3, [inc, 1sc]x3 (18) r4: [2sc, inc]x3, [inc, 2sc]x3 (24) r5: [3sc, inc]x3, [inc, 3sc]x3 (30) r6: [4sc, inc]x3, [inc, 4sc]x3 (36) r7: sc around r8:[5sc, inc]x3, [inc, 5sc]x3 (42) r9-14: sc around (42) r15: 22sc, 3x inc flo, 17sc (45) r16: 23sc, 4x inc, 18sc (49) r17: sc around (49) Make 4 extra sc1, move marker r18: dec, 21sc, dec, 22sc, dec (46) r19: 19sc, 4x dec, 19sc (42) r20: sc around (42) r21: dec, 13sc, 6x dec, 13sc, dec (34) r22: sc around (34) Make 1 extra sc, move marker r23: dec, 9sc, 6x dec, 9sc, dec (26) r24: sc around (26) r25: 7sc, 6x dec, 7sc (20) r26: 7sc, 7hdc, 6sc (20) r27: 7sc, 7hdc, 6sc (20) r28: 8sc, 7hdc, 5sc (20) r29: 8sc, 7hdc, 5sc (20) r30: 9sc, 7hdc, 4sc (20) Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a ta
Front Cegs (make 2)
r1: 6sc in magic ring (6) r2:\*inc\*(12) r3: \*1sc, inc\* (18) r4: \*2sc, inc\* (24) r5: sc around blo (24) r6: 10sc, 2x dec, 10sc (22) r7: sc around (22) r8: 9sc, 2x dec, 9sc (20) r9: sc around (20) r10: 8sc, 2x dec, 8sc (18) Start stuffing; keep stuffing as you go. r11-12: sc around (18) r13:\*7sc, dec\* (16) r14-16: sc around (16) r17: \*6sc, dec\* (14) r18-30: sc around (14) r31: \*5sc, dec\* (12) r32: \*2sc, dec\* (9) Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a tail for sewing.
r1: 6sc in magic ring (6) Fold the ear flat and sc both sides of the opening together. Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a tail for sewing.
Torso r1: 6sc in magic ring (6) r2:\*inc\*(12) r3: \*1sc, inc\* (18) r4: \*2sc, inc\* (24) r5: \*3sc, inc\*(30) r6-13: sc around (30) r14: \*3sc, dec\* (24) r16: \*3sc, inc\* (30) 15:s carouna(24) r17: sc around (30) Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a tail for sewing. Start stuffing; keep stuffing as you go. r11-12: sc around (18) r13: \*7sc, dec\* (16) r14-15: sc around (16) r16: \*6sc, dec\* (14) r17-19: sc around (14) r20: 2sc, 2x dec blo, 4sc, inc, 3sc (13) r21: 2sc, dec, 5sc, inc, 3sc (13) r22: 2sc, inc flo, 5sc, dec, 3sc (13) r23: 2sc, 2x inc, 4sc, dec, 3sc (14) r24: 4sc, 2x inc, 5sc, 2x inc, 1sc (18) r25: 4sc, inc, 2sc, inc, 5sc, inc, 2sc, inc, 1sc (22) r26: 4sc, inc, 4sc, inc, 5sc, inc, 4sc, inc, 1sc (26) r27-28: sc around (26) Join with a sl st and bind off.
Hind Cegs (make 2)
r1: 6sc in magic ring r2:\*inc\*(12) r3: \*1sc, inc\*(18) r4: \*2sc, inc\* (24) r5: sc around blo (24) r6: 10sc, 2x dec, 10sc (22) r7: sc around (22) r8: 9sc, 2x dec, 9sc (20) r9: sc around (20) r10: 8sc, 2x dec, 8sc (18)
Line up the two hind legs next to eachother with the toes pointing the same way. I usually stick a needle through both legs to keep them together while I work the join. Join a new yarn and sc the 5 middle stitches where the legs touch eachother together, starting at the front of the legs and ending at the back. Start the first row for the hindquarters using the 21 unworked stitches of each leg, making one round of 42 sc together. Ignore the 5 middle stitches from now on and treat the two legs joined together as one round.
Sample join done in contrasting color for clarity's sake; on the real amigurumi you should do this in the same color as the rest of the pony. r29: sc around (42) r30:\*5sc, dec\* (36) r31: \*4sc, dec\* (30) Continue to stuff the upper legs and hindquarters as you go. Make sure to stuff the knees firmly so the shaping pops out nicely. r32:\*3sc, dec\* (24) r33: \*2sc, dec\* (18) r34:\*1sc, dec\* (12) r35: \*dec\* (6) Join with a sl st and bind off. Sew the remaining hole closed and weave the thread through the piece to hide it.
PegasnsFoeded wings(make 2)
r1: 6sc in magic ring (6) r2: \*1sc, inc\* (9) r3: sc around (9) r4: \*2sc, inc\*(12) r5: sc around (12) r6: \*3sc, inc\* (15) r7-9: sc around (15) r10: \*3sc, dec\* (12) r11: sc around (12) r12: \*1sc, dec\* (8) Fold the wing flat and sc both sides of the opening together. Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a tail for sewing.
r1: 4sc in magic ring (4) r2: \*1sc, inc\* (6) r3-5: sc around (6) r6: \*2sc, inc\* (8) r7-9: sc around (8) r10:\*3sc, inc\* (10) r11-13: sc around (10) Join with a sl st and bind off. Leave a tail for sewing. Stuff the horn.
1) Stuff the torso and sew it onto the hind legs. 2) Sew the front legs to the torso. Place them to the sides of the torso, not under it. Pin them down before sewing to check the exact position; your pony should be able to stand on all four legs with minimal wobbling. 3) Sew the head onto the torso. When you've got about 3/4 of the neck sewn down, squeeze in some more stuffing so the neck will stay firm and upright. The lowest point of the neck should align roughly with the second round of the torso.
4) Grab a piece of leftover yarn in the same color as your pony and thread it onto a needle. Insert it above the snout, in the rightmost front loop inc you did in round 15 of the head (identifiable by a small bar behind the stitch), and pull the needle through to the back of the neck. Thread the needle on the other end of the yarn and pull that one through the leftmost frontloop inc stitch all the way to the back, coming out one stitch apart from the previous thread. Now push the crease where the snout forms inward with your finger so it gets more sharply defined. With your finger still keeping the snout in position, firmly pull the two threads at the back and knot them together to secure this shaping.
5) Sew the ears onto the head. Mind the placing, they're a lot further to the back than you'd think.
6) If required for your pony, sew the wings onto the back just behind the neck or unicorn horn onto the forehead.
Finishing
So, now that all the crocheting and sewing is done and you have your base pony, it's time to give it some personality. It's pretty undoable to make a step-by-step guide for this part since every pony has a different hairstyle, cutie mark and eyes, so instead I'll give an overview on how to apply some common amigurumi embelishment techniques to your pony.
Eyes and cutie mark
My preferred method for very stylized eyes like those of the ponies is to paint them onto this stuff:
It's commonly referred to as ^iron-on fabric', the stuff that you use to fix holes in clothing. It should be available in any store that sells sewing supplies, maybe even some local craft stores. The surface has a nice structure to draw or paint on, and the hot-glue layer on the back keeps the fabric together so you can cut out tiny pieces without any fear of fraying. Paint the eyes and cutie mark (some creativity required here, but there's plenty of big vector images on the internet you can use as examples) and cut them out when done.
Tack them into place with some glue first before ironing, so you're sure you have them in the right place. If you're planning to secure them further by ironing them, make a test piece first. Different kinds of paint can interact differently with heat; you don't want your paint to crack or smudge onto the crocheted fabric. Paint a little test piece and iron it onto a crocheted swatch to see if you're okay. You may have to put a piece of cotton like a handkerchief or tea towel over the painted parts so the hot iron doesnt come directly into contact with them. After this, embroider the nostrils and mouth with a color slightly darker than the pony's base color and your face is done. This is the method I use, but if you have another one yourself, go ahead! Some people prefer to make eyes with felt, or print out the eyes on printable fabric (which sadly I can't find so I can't try it out), or use fabric markers instead of paint. So go ahead and experiment, the sky's the limit!
Maneandtaie
For the tail, cut the yarn into a large amount of small strings of the same size (each string twice the length of the tail), tie them together in the middle with a tight knot and sew this bundle onto the hindquarters of the pony. If you're unsure about the length, always overestimate! It's easier to cut off a bit than to make it longer once it's cut.
For manes, I use a combination of two techniques. First one is the fringe method. This one is useful if you need a large stretch of hair in a single color without any funky styling. For example, I use this method for Fluttershy's mane, which is pretty straightforward. Once you have all the strands hooked together as explained in the linked tutorial, sew the hair onto the pony in a straight line from the top of the head to about halfway down the neck. If you need more control over individual strand placement, I recommend the latch hook method. Cut some yarn into same-length pieces and attach them one by one with your crochet hook. This one is useful for small stretches of hair like bangs, or multicolored manes like the Rainbow Dash I'm making here:
A last method I use for ponies with incredibly curly hair, like Pinkie Pie for example, is to make a bunch of little curly 'tentacles' instead of using single yarn strands. You make these by crocheting a chain of 60-70 ch stitches (you can experiment with length, since it's dependant on yarn weight) and crochet back along the chain, making 3 sc in each ch st. Make a bunch of these chains and sew them onto the head for curly manes.
And that's all I know about ponies. I wish you good luck and lots of fun with making your own! Design, text and photos @ Leyla Stormrage / Critical Knits. Do not reprint, repost or sell this pattern. For info on selling finished items made from this pattern, please see my FAQ. This is a donationware pattern. The pattern is available free of charge, but if you would like to support my designs, you can send me a donation here. Thank you! :)
