Little Dinosaur

Free crochet tutorial for a Little Dinosaur by Galina Egorova @galina_knitted_toys.

With this pattern, you can crochet a little dinosaur with a scarf. Any plush yarn will work for this amigurumi: Himalaya Dolphin Baby, YarnArt Dolce, and others. The spikes are crocheted with cotton blend yarn: Alize Cotton Gold, YarnArt Jeans, or Gazzal Baby Cotton.

The finished toy is about 40 cm tall.

Materials and Tools

• Himalaya Dolphin Baby plush yarn (main toy color)
• Alize Cotton Gold yarn, shade 126 green (for the spikes)
• YarnArt Jeans yarn, shade 67 light yellow (for the scarf)
• Pekhorka Detskaya Novinka yarn, shade 02 black (for the eyes and mouth)
• 1.5 mm and 4 mm crochet hooks
• 2 small white buttons (for the pupils)
• Toy stuffing
• Needle
• Scissors

Abbreviations

• MR - magic ring
• ch - chain stitch
• sl st - slip stitch
• sc - single crochet
• dc - double crochet
• hdc - half double crochet
• inc - increase
• dec - decrease
• (...) x n - repeat n times

Crochet Amigurumi Little Dinosaur Pattern

Head

Stuff as you crochet.

Rnd 1. 8 sc in MR (8)
Rnd 2. 8 inc (16)
Rnd 3. (1 sc, inc) x 8 times (24)
Rnd 4. (1 sc, inc, 1 sc) x 8 times (32)
Rnd 5. (3 sc, inc) x 8 times (40)
Rnd 6. (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 8 times (48)
Rnd 7. (7 sc, inc) x 6 times (54)
Rnd 8. (4 sc, inc, 4 sc) x 6 times (60)
Rnd 9. (9 sc, inc) x 6 times (66)
Rnds 10-19. 66 sc - 10 rounds
Rnd 20. (10 sc, dec, 10 sc) x 3 times (63)
Rnd 21. (19 sc, dec) x 3 times (60)
Rnd 22. (9 sc, dec, 9 sc) x 3 times (57)
Rnd 23. (17 sc, dec) x 3 times (54)
Rnd 24. (7 sc, dec) x 6 times (48)
Rnd 25. (3 sc, dec, 3 sc) x 6 times (42)
Rnd 26. (5 sc, dec) x 6 times (36)
Rnd 27. (2 sc, dec, 2 sc) x 6 times (30)
Rnd 28. (3 sc, dec) x 6 times (24)
Rnd 29. (1 sc, dec, 1 sc) x 6 times (18)
Rnd 30. (1 sc, dec) x 6 times (12)
Rnd 31. 6 dec (6)

If you are using a piece of yarn as a marker, do not remove it yet. Cut the yarn, close the opening, and hide the tail inside the head. The place where you finished crocheting the head is the back of the head.

Body

Stuff as you crochet.

Rnd 1. 9 ch, starting from the 2nd chain from the hook: inc, 6 sc, 4 sc in 1 stitch, 6 sc, inc (20)
Rnd 2. 2 inc, 6 sc, 4 inc, 6 sc, 2 inc (28)
Rnd 3. (1 sc, inc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (1 sc, inc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (1 sc, inc) x 2 times
Rnd 4. (1 sc, inc, 1 sc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (1 sc, inc, 1 sc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (1 sc, inc, 1 sc) x 2 times (44)
Rnd 5. (3 sc, inc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (3 sc, inc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (3 sc, inc) x 2 times (52)
Rnd 6. (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 2 times (60)
Rnd 7. (5 sc, inc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (5 sc, inc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (5 sc, inc) x 2 times (68)
Rnd 8. (3 sc, inc, 3 sc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (3 sc, inc, 3 sc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (3 sc, inc, 3 sc) x 2 times (76)
Rnd 9. (7 sc, inc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (7 sc, inc) x 4 times, 6 sc, (7 sc, inc) x 2 times (84)
Rnds 10-19. 84 sc - 10 rounds
Rnd 20. (7 sc, dec, 7 sc) x 2 times, (4 sc, dec, 4 sc) x 2 times, (7 sc, dec, 7 sc) x 2 times (78)
Rnd 21. (11 sc, dec) x 6 times (72)
Rnd 22. (4 sc, dec, 4 sc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (4 sc, dec, 4 sc) x 2 times, 6 sc, (4 sc, dec, 4 sc) x 2 times (66)
Rnd 23. (1 sc, dec, 1 sc) x 6 times, 18 sc, (1 sc, dec, 1 sc) x 6 times (54)
Rnd 24. (1 sc, dec) x 6 times, 18 sc, (1 sc, dec) x 6 times (42)
Rnd 25. (2 sc, dec, 2 sc) x 2 times, (7 sc, dec) x 2 times, (2 sc, dec, 2 sc) x 2 times (36)
Rnd 26. (1 sc, dec) x 3 times, 18 sl st, (1 sc, dec) x 3 times (30)
Rnd 27. 6 sc, 18 sl st, 6 sc (30)
Rnds 28-44. 30 sc - 17 rounds

Cut and fasten off the yarn.

Tail

Rnd 1. 6 sc in MR (6)
Rnd 2. 6 inc (12)
Rnd 3. 12 sc
Rnd 4. (3 sc, inc) x 3 times (15)
Rnds 5-6. 15 sc
Rnd 7. (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 3 times (18)
Rnds 8-10. 18 sc
Rnd 11. (5 sc, inc) x 3 times (21)
Rnds 12-13. 21 sc

Cut and fasten off the yarn, then stuff the piece.

Legs (make 4)

Rnd 1. 8 sc in MR (8)
Rnd 2. 8 inc (16)
Rnd 3. (1 sc, inc) x 8 times (24)
Rnds 4-8. 24 sc

Cut and fasten off the yarn, then stuff the piece.

Eyes (make 2)

Detskaya Novinka yarn, 1.5 mm hook.

Rnd 1. 6 sc in MR (6)
Rnd 2. 6 inc (12)
Rnd 3. 1 sc, (hdc inc, 1 hdc) x 2 times, hdc inc, (1 sc, inc) x 3 times (18)

Leave a yarn tail for sewing, cut the yarn, and fasten off.

Spikes (make 9)

Alize Cotton Gold yarn, 1.5 mm hook.

Rnd 1. 6 sc in MR (6)
Rnd 2. (1 sc, inc) x 3 times (9)
Rnd 3. (1 sc, inc, 1 sc) x 3 times (12)
Rnd 4. 12 sc
Rnd 5. (3 sc, inc) x 3 times (15)
Rnd 6. 15 sc
Rnd 7. (2 sc, inc, 2 sc) x 3 times (18)
Rnd 8. 18 sc
Rnd 9. (5 sc, inc) x 3 times (21)
Rnd 10. 21 sc
Rnd 11. (3 sc, inc, 3 sc) x 3 times (24)
Rnd 12. 24 sc

Leave a yarn tail for sewing, cut the yarn, fasten off, and lightly stuff the pieces.

Scarf

YarnArt Jeans yarn, 1.5 mm hook.

202 ch, starting from the 4th chain from the hook, crochet hdc in each stitch.

Assembling and Finishing the Toy

Sew the legs to the body. Pin the legs to the body one at a time, then sew them on. Add stuffing to the legs as you sew. Then sew on the tail.

Next, sew the spikes to the body. I ended up with 2 spikes on the tail, 1 on the back (between the tail and the neck), and 2 on the neck. You may find that two spikes fit between the tail and the neck; if so, you can sew on two (this depends on where the tail is attached). Leave a little room at the top of the neck for the scarf (if your little dinosaur will wear one).

Now try the head on the neck. If you want the little dinosaur's head to tilt slightly downward (like mine), crochet additional rows on the neck. To do this, mark 14 stitches from one side of the neck to the other along the back.

Crochet: 1 sl st, 12 sc, sl st, cut the yarn, and fasten off. Crochet one more row: return to the place where you started the previous row, and move one stitch to the right:

Crochet: sl st, 14 sc, sl st, cut the yarn, and fasten off.

Now mark 2 points on the head that you will use to sew it to the body. The first point will be sewn to the center front of the neck, and the second to the center back of the neck. First, determine the bottom of the head (if you used a strand of yarn as a marker, this marker line is exactly what you need now). Place 2 pins: one after round 12 and the second after round 21:

Now sew on the eyes and the button pupils. You will need a large needle for this. Insert the needle with white thread between the two pins that mark where the head will be sewn to the neck. Leave one end sticking out, and bring the other end out through one of the eyes.

Now mark the mouth with two pins (the beginning and the end). This is how one of the mouth pins is positioned relative to the eye.

Insert the needle with black Detskaya Novinka yarn at the bottom of the neck (the same place where you inserted the white thread for the pupils). Leave one end of the yarn sticking out, and bring the other end out near one of the pins marking the mouth. Embroider the mouth with a chain stitch along the round from one pin to the other. Use the same yarn to embroider the nostrils. At the end, bring the needle out at the place where the second yarn end is sticking out. Remove the needle, tie a knot, and hide the yarn ends inside the head. See the photo for more detail:

• Now sew the spikes to the head.
• If desired, tint the cheeks with a pink or red pastel pencil.
• All that is left is to sew the head to the neck.