Liza the Hedgehog

Free crochet tutorial for Liza the Hedgehog by Natalya Bruckaya @mishkindom1.

With this pattern, you can crochet a hedgehog. Any fluffy yarn will work for this amigurumi toy. The hedgehog's quills are crocheted with eyelash yarn. If you like, you can make the toy with cotter pin joints or thread joints. You can decorate the hedgehog however you like.

The finished toy is about 17 cm tall.

Materials and Tools

• Main yarn for the body, head, muzzle, arms, and ears
• Eyelash yarn for the quills
• Yarn for the slippers and socks
• Crochet hook
• Safety eyes
• Doll eyelashes
• Toy stuffing
• Wire
• Glue
• Optional decorations
• Needle
• Scissors

You can buy everything you need here.

Abbreviations

• MR — magic ring
• ch — chain stitch
• sc — single crochet
• inc — increase
• dec — decrease
• (...) x n — repeat n times

Amigurumi Liza the Hedgehog Crochet Pattern

Head

Crochet with the main yarn from the neck upward to the crown.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: inc x 6 = 12 sts
Rnd 3: inc x 12 = 24 sts
Rnd 4: (1 sc, inc) x 12 = 36 sts
Rnd 5: (2 sc, inc) x 12 = 48 sts
The piece will bend a little; do not worry, it will straighten out later!
Rnd 6-13: 48 sc (8 rounds)

Insert the cotter pin joint.

Rnd 14: 16 sc, 8 dec, 16 sc = 40 sts
Place a marker in the center of the decreases; this is the center of the muzzle. Use this marker as a guide when shaping the face.
Rnd 15: 12 sc, 8 dec, 12 sc = 32 sts
Rnd 16: dec, 28 sc, dec = 30 sts
Rnd 17-20: 30 sc (4 rounds)
Rnd 21: 15 dec = 15 sts

Stuff the head with small portions of filling so the whole space is filled evenly, paying special attention to the cheeks.

Rnd 22: (1 sc, dec) x 5 = 10 sts
Rnd 23: dec x 5

Nose and Muzzle

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: 6 sc
Rnd 3: (1 sc, inc) x 3 = 9 sts
Rnd 4: 9 sc
Rnd 5: (2 sc, inc) x 3 = 12 sts
Rnd 6: 12 sc

Stuff the nose.

Ears (Make 2)

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: 6 inc = 12 sts
Rnd 3: 12 sc

Sew the ears above the cheeks, between the wig and the muzzle. Visually, you will see a narrow spot on both sides of the head where the ears will sit very comfortably. Just do not move them too far onto the hedgehog's face, so the eyes, the windows to the soul, stay visible!

Face Shaping

• The center of the muzzle is marked with a stitch marker. Sew on the pointed nose.
• Shape the cheeks. Insert the needle at the very bottom center of the sewn-on nose, where you want to make the mouth. Bring the needle out at the right eye, exactly where the decreases were made on the muzzle. Take a small step to the side and return to the mouth, pull tight, and secure. Repeat the same process for the left eye. The cheeks will immediately become rounded, and eye sockets will appear. You can also use tweezers through the small holes on the surface to gently nudge the stuffing forward toward the cheeks, since after shaping, the filling may have compressed or shifted in different directions. Secure and cut the thread inside the mouth.
• Now secure the needle at the very tip of the nose, pass it through the sewn-on nose and bring it out at the mouth. Pull slightly so the pointed nose does not stick up too much; we are not making a mouse, we are making a hedgehog girl! Then make a stitch straight along the top of the nose, from the mouth to the tip. This creates an embroidered stitch that visually divides the nose in half. Secure and cut the thread at the tip. To hide the knot, glue a ready-made plastic nose on top of the very small tip.
• The mouth will have a little indentation. You can leave it as is, but it will be more interesting if you glue a tongue into it. The tongue is easy to sculpt from polymer clay. The simplest option is to cut it from red felt, or crochet it with red yarn over 5-6 sc. The tongue should not be long or large. It is better as a tiny, playful little spot inside the mouth.

Wig Quills

Crochet with eyelash yarn or another yarn suitable for quills. You can even try Techno yarn; it brushes out well and will become very long-pile and fluffy, although the yarn is soft, so the fibers probably will not stand up. Still, it is an option to try!

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: 6 inc = 12 sts
Rnd 3: (1 sc, inc) x 6 = 18 sts
Rnd 4: (2 sc, inc) x 6 = 24 sts
Rnd 5: (3 sc, inc) x 6 = 30 sts
Rnd 6: (4 sc, inc) x 6 = 36 sts

Keep placing the wig against the head like a hat, but a deep hat, not like a little beret perched on the crown!

If 36 stitches are enough to cover the head from the crown down to the neck, simply fasten off and sew the wig to the head all the way around. The more the wig covers the head, the prettier it will look, because we are crocheting a girl, and she should have a big head of hair-quills. If crocheting with eyelash yarn is difficult for you, since it is not exactly easy, one option is to knit the quills in the round. Cast on 2-3 stitches on each of 3 needles (the fourth needle will also be used when knitting in the round), and increase in every second round the same way you would when crocheting. Then bind off the stitches and sew the piece to the head.

Body

Crochet from the neck downward to the base. Use the main yarn.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: 6 inc = 12 sts
Rnd 3: (1 sc, inc) x 6 = 18 sts
Rnd 4: (2 sc, inc) x 6 = 24 sts
Rnd 5-7: 24 sc (3 rounds)
Join to the head.
Rnd 8: 9 sc, inc x 6, 9 sc = 30 sts

Mark the area where the increases are with a stitch marker or a contrasting thread. Once the head and body are joined, you can decide whether this area will become the tummy or the back.

Rnd 9-11: 30 sc (3 rounds)
Rnd 12: (4 sc, inc) x 6 = 36 sts
Rnd 13-19: 36 sc (7 rounds)
Rnd 20: (4 sc, dec) x 6 = 30 sts
Rnd 21: (3 sc, dec) x 6 = 24 sts
Rnd 22: (2 sc, dec) x 6 = 18 sts
Rnd 23: (4 sc, dec) x 6 = 12 sts
Rnd 24: dec x 6

Arms (Make 2)

Crochet with the main yarn.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR
Rnd 2: (2 sc, inc) x 2 = 8 sts
Rnd 3-17: 8 sc (15 rounds)

Insert a piece of wire wrapped with medical tape into the arm. Stuff lightly if needed. The wire should stick out of the arm by about 1-1.5 cm. Insert this end into the body where the arms should be, then sew the arm to the body all the way around.

Legs (Make 2)

Begin crocheting with the shoe-colored yarn. Here you need to watch the marker. The marker should run straight down the back of the leg. If needed, work shift stitches.

Ch 7. Start crocheting in the second chain from the hook.

Rnd 1: 5 sc, 3 sc in one base stitch, 4 sc, inc = 14 sts
Rnd 2: inc, 4 sc, (3 sc in one base stitch) x 3, 5 sc, inc = 22 sts
Rnd 3: 7 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 8 sc = 24 sts
Rnd 4: 24 sc in back loops only
Rnd 5: 24 sc + 1 shift stitch

Cut and insert insoles from a firm material. If you add a couple of drops of glue to the insoles, they will easily attach to the sole, helping the hedgehog stand more steadily. It will also keep the insole from sliding back and forth inside the slipper. Use opaque glue.

Rnd 6: 9 sc, dec x 3, 9 sc = 21 sts

Join the sock-colored yarn, but do not cut the shoe-colored thread. You will work crab stitch around the slipper through the front loops. Only after finishing that edging should you cut and secure the thread.

Rnd 7: 21 sc
Rnd 8: 6 sc, (dec, 1 sc) x 3, 6 sc = 18 sts
Rnd 9: 6 sc, dec x 3, 6 sc = 15 sts
Rnd 10: dec, 13 sc = 14 sts

Make a wire loop the length of the foot, wrap it with medical tape, insert it into the foot, and add stuffing.

Rnd 11: 5 sc, dec x 2, 5 sc = 12 sts
Rnd 12: 12 sc

Do not cut the sock yarn. Later, use this thread to crochet a little lace edging around the top of the socks. This is decorative; if you do not want to crochet such a small detail, secure and cut the thread. Join the main yarn. Crochet in the back loops only:

Rnd 13-20: 12 sc (8 rounds)

Cut off the extra wire, leaving 1.5-2 cm sticking out of the leg. This end will be inserted into the body where the legs should grow from, and then the leg will be sewn around the edge.

Lace Edging on the Socks (for a Pretty Sock Finish)

With the same thread used for the socks, continue crocheting through the front loops only.

1st stitch: 3 ch, sc into the base stitch
2nd stitch: sc into the stitch and 3 ch, then sc again into the same stitch
3rd stitch: sc into the stitch and 3 ch, then sc again into the same stitch

Continue this way around until you return to the beginning, then cut and secure the thread.

Toy Assembly

• Choose safety eyes in a suitable size. You can add shading under the eyes beforehand.
• Insert the wires from the legs into the body and sew along the outline.
• Insert the wires from the arms into the body as well, then sew them on.
• Dress and decorate your little hedgehog however you like.