Amigurumi Crochet Doll Tutorial – Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL Week 2

It is Week 2 of our Amigurumi Advent Calender Crochet Along (CAL) and we are continuing to learn how to crochet our doll using this amigurumi crochet doll tutorial! We’ll also be learning how to crochet doll hair for Advent Amy. The written pattern and a video tutorial for this part of the project and are available.

Haven’t heard of the Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL yet? Check out the Amigurumi Advent Calender Crochet Along post that explains what we’re doing, the pattern release schedule and how you can join in all the fun!

Missed Week 1 of the CAL? Check out the amigurumi crochet doll tutorial for the legs and body.

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How Do I Join The Crochet Along?

You can join the crochet along at any point and do not need to have been with us at the beginning. The free versions of the crochet patterns released as part of the Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet along will remain available on the blog and YouTube channel permanently.

You do not need to do anything special to sign up for the crochet along although, following me on social media and/or signing up for my email newsletter will help ensure that you’re kept updated.

You can also join The Loopy Lamb Crochet Community on Facebook and share your projects there, chat with other participants and see the work that others are sharing there as well. I’ve already seen so many photos of your dolls in-progress and they have been fantastic! I can’t wait to see your progress photos of this week.

Where Can I Get a Printable Copy of this Doll Pattern?

• You can purchase an inexpensive ad-free crochet PDF pattern with all three parts of the doll together in one convenient pdf file in my Ravelry and Etsy shop OR
  
  
• Buy the Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL Bundle in my Ravelry or Etsy shops and get this pattern and all the CAL patterns in printable bundle files.

How to Crochet Doll Hair

For this week’s amigurumi crochet doll tutorial, we are learning how to crochet the head and hair for our doll. This doll design uses a hair cap to create our hair for our doll. A hair cap is essentially a wig that we will crochet separately and then place on our dolls and sew onto the doll when finished.

The hair cap for Advent Amy is crocheted in the round and in the last round of the hair cap, we add her bangs and curly pigtails. The hair cap is crocheted as a single piece so that it minimizes the amount of seaming needed.

If you didn’t match gauge from the first part of our amigurumi crochet doll tutorial, I recommend using the same line of yarn and hook throughout the entire project. This can help minimize any drastic issues with tension/getting things to fit. It isn’t a perfect solution obviously, but it can help.

If you want a different hair cap, check out the Amigurumi Advent CAL Bundle, which includes the pigtail cap, and a pattern for a hair cap with a bun.

Getting Your Hair Cap to Fit

Once you’re done crocheting your doll’s hair cap, it should slide onto the head of your doll easily. If it doesn’t, it could mean a couple of things: that your gauge/tension changed between doing the doll’s head and it’s hair or you over/understuffed your doll.

I deliberately split the head and hair cap of this doll pattern to be done in the same week to help minimize these issues. If you crochet your doll head and it’s hair cap in the same sitting, odds are that your tension won’t change too much and your hair cap should slide on smoothely. But, sometimes, things still happen.

If your doll’s hair cap does not fit, unfortunately, you’ll have to rip it out and try again. When you do try again, try adjusting your tension. If your cap was too tight, try loosening up your tension on the yarn. If your hair cap was too big, try tightening up on your tension.

What Yarn Should I Use For My Crochet Doll & Hair?

For this pattern/tutorial and all the patterns in this crochet along, I’m using WeCrochet’s Brava Worsted yarn which is my favourite worsted weight acrylic yarn. If you’re not planning on utlizing Brava Worsted, I recommend utilizing the same yarn brand throughout your project to help minimize any potential issues with gauge/tension later on. Tension can still change using the same yarn, but, it can definitely help minimize problems.

Important Note About The Supply List for this Doll Pattern:

We will not be utilizing all of the supplies listed in the supplies list this week. We will be using them to complete our crochet doll and the clothing that we will crochet for our doll over the coming weeks. This is not an exhaustive list of all of the supplies we will need. This is everything we will need for Weeks 1 – 8 of the Amigurumi Advent Calendar Crochet Along.

You’ll Love These Other Free Amigurumi Patterns:

• Eunice the Unicorn
  
  
• Bob & Betty Bird (Full video tutorial available)
  
  
• Buttons the Bunny

Disclaimer:

Feel free to sell the item created by this pattern but please provide pattern credit back to me when posting online, and please provide a link to my blog: https://theloopylamb.com.  Please do not resell, distribute, duplicate, or share this pattern in any printed or digital form, or claim this pattern as your own original design.  Please do not use my photos when selling your finished items.   

Skill Level:

• Easy

Terminology:

• U.S. Terminology
  
  

Supplies:

• 3.5 mm (E) Furls Crochet Hook
  
  
• Brava Worsted Weight Yarn (100% Premium Acrylic, Worsted Weight (4), 218yds/200m, 100g/3.5oz), 1 skein each of:
  • Colour A: Cream (or preferred skin colour)
  • Colour B: White
  • Colour C: Brindle (or preferred hair colour)
  • Colour D: Mulberry
  • Colour E: Lady Slipper
  • Colour F: Denim
  • Colour G: Black
  • Colour H: Cotton Candy
  • Colour I: Dove Heather
    
    
• 2 – 12 mm Safety Eyes in preferred colour (Mine are from Chateau Bornais Crochet)
  
  
• 9 – 9 mm Buttons in preferred colour(s)
  
  
• Polyester Stuffing
  
  
• Tapestry Needle
  
  
• Multiple Stitch Markers
  
  
• Black Embroidery Thread
  
  
• Scissors
  
  
• Sewing Thread and Needle
  
  
• Sewing Pins (optional but helps make the assembly process easier)
  
  
• Blush and Make-up Brush (optional)
  
  
• 24 boxes that measure at least 2.7” square for the advent calendar. (I got these advent calendar boxes on Amazon)
  
  
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Abbreviations:

• BLO = Back Loops Only
  
  
• CH = Chain
  
  
• CH SP = Chain Space
  
  
• DC = Double Crochet
  
  
• FLO = Front Loops Only
  
  
• FO = Finish Off
  
  
• MC = Magic Circle
  
  
• PM = Place Marker/Stitch Marker
  
  
• PSC = Picot Single Crochet
  
  
• RS = Right Side
  
  
• SC = Single Crochet
  
  
• SCDEC = Single Crochet Decrease
  
  
• SCINC = Single Crochet Increase
  
  
• SK = Skip
  
  
• SL ST = Slip Stitch
  
  
• SP(s) = Space(s)
  
  
• ST = Stitch
  
  
• WS = Wrong Side

Special Techniques and Stitches:

• Invisible Finish/Join: FO leaving a long tail. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle.  Place the tapestry needle through the top of the 2^nd ST from front to back and pull through.  Place tip of needle into top of the last ST of the round, under the back loop of the stitch, and pull through to the back of the work.  Weave in the end. Learn how to do this with my invisible finish/join tutorial.
  
  
• Picot Single Crochet (PSC): Insert hook into indicated stitch, yarn over hook and pull through stitch.  Yarn over and pull through one loop on the hook three times.  Yarn over and pull through both loops on the hook. Learn how to do this with my Picot Single Crochet Tutorial.
  
  

Finished Size:

• Doll is approximately 10.5” tall

Gauge:

• Clothing: 4 sts across x 6 rows = 1” square
  
  
• Doll: Rounds 1 – 4 of the Leg = 1.5” across at widest point.

Notes:

• Gauge is important for ensuring that all of the parts of your doll fit appropriately.  If you don’t plan to match gauge, ensure that you maintain a consistent tension throughout your project. 
  
  
• This pattern is worked in continuous rounds (unless stated otherwise).  Do not join at the end of the row, unless indicated.  A stitch marker is used to keep track of the beginning of the round.
  
  
• For a cleaner SCDEC, do your SCDEC under the front loops only of each st rather than under both loops.  This is often referred to as an invisible decrease.  Learn how to do this invisible decrease tutorial.
  
  
• In Round 1 of the Body of the doll only, the CH 1 is counted as a st and should be worked into in Round 2 of the body.

You can purchase an inexpensive ad-free PDF version of this pattern with all three parts of the doll together + 1 outfit in one convenient file in my Ravelry and Etsy shops
OR
Buy the Amigurumi Advent Calendar CAL Bundle in my Ravelry or Etsy shops and get printable versions of all of the CAL patterns at once.

Amigurumi Crochet Doll Tutorial Step-by-Step Video Instructions

Doll Head

(Find the doll legs and body, Rounds 1 – 21 in the Amigurumi Advent CAL Week 1 Post.)

Round 22: (SC, SCINC) X 6 (18)

Round 23: SC, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) X 5, SC 1 (24)

Round 24: (SC 3, SCINC) x 6 (30)

Round 25: SC 2, SCINC, (SC 4, SCINC) x 5, SC 2 (36)

Round 26: SC around (36)

Round 27: (SC 5, SCINC) x 6 (42)

Round 28: SC 3, SCINC, (SC 6, SCINC) x 5, SC 3 (48)

Rounds 29 – 35: SC around (48) – Place safety eyes in Round 32 with 7 sts in between them.

Round 36: SC 3, SCDEC, (SC 6, SCDEC) x 5, SC 3 (42)

Round 37: (SC 5, SCDEC) x 6 (36)

Round 38: SC around (36)

Round 39: SC 2, SCDEC, (SC 4, SCDEC) x 5,  SC 2 (30)

Round 40: (SC 3, SCDEC) x 6 (24)

Round 41: SC 1, SCDEC, (SC 2, SCDEC) x 5, SC 1 (18)

Round 42: (SC 1, SCDEC) x 6 (12)

Round 43: (SCDEC) x 6 (6)

FO leaving a long tail.  Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle and weave through the FLO of the last round and cinch the top closed (learn how to do this with my Ultimate Finish Tutorial or watch the video below).  Weave in ends. 

Other free crochet doll patterns you’ll love:

• My Dolly Molly
  
  
• My Pal Pascal
  
  
• My Girl Pearl

Hair Cap

Round 1: Using Colour C make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)

Round 2: (SCINC) x 6 (12)

Round 3: (SC 1, SCINC) x 6 (18)

Round 4: SC 1, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) x 5, SC 1 (24)

Round 5: (SC 3, SCINC) x 6 (30)

Round 6: SC 2, SCINC, (SC 4, SCINC) x 5, SC 2 (36)

Round 7: (SC 5, SCINC) x 6 (42)

Round 8: SC 3, SCINC, (SC 6, SCINC) x 5, SC 3 (48)

Rounds 9 – 14: SC around (48)

Round 15: SK 2, 5 DC in the next ST, SK 2, SL ST, SK 2, 5 DC in the next ST, SK 2, SC 10, (CH 19, SCINC in the 2^nd CH from the hook and each CH across, SC in the next ST of Round 14) x 3, SC in the next 11 STs, (CH 19, SCINC in the 2^nd CH from the hook and each CH across, SC in the next ST of Round 14) x 3. (The rest of the stitches will remain unworked.

FO using Invisible Finish (see special techniques), leaving a long tail to sew onto the head.  Thread tapestry needle onto tail and sew the hair onto the head to secure. 

Optional: Using a length of yarn in your preferred colour, wrap it around the base of each pig tail and secure in the back with a knot to act as hair ties.

If you want a different hair cap, check out the Amigurumi Advent CAL Bundle, which includes this hair cap (see picture at top of post).

Next week, we will be working on the finishing touches for our amigurumi dolls. We’ll be crocheting the arms, doing the embroidery and creating our advent calendars. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to add blush to your amigurumi crochet dolls, I’ll have a tutorial video next week demonstrating that as well. Week 3 is now live.

Ready for Week 4? The easy crochet doll shirt tutorial for Week 4 is now ready.

Check out this premium amigurumi crochet doll pattern available in my shops:

Find the pattern for Wanda Wordsmith in my Ravelry and Etsy shops.

I hope that you enjoyed this amigurumi crochet doll tutorial. I’d love to see your progress you’ve made on your dolls!  Share your projects with me on social media by tagging me @theloopylamb or using #theloopylambCAL in your posts. You can also join The Loopy Lamb Crochet Community on Facebook and share your projects there, chat with other participants and see their work as well. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. 

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