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Crochet dreidel: a soft Hanukkah amigurumi with four faces

Make 4 single crochets in a magic ring and add 4 a round to 24, so the increases make four corners. Work 8 rounds even, turn the top flat with a back-loop round and close it, then add a stem and stitch a letter on each face.

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Amigurumi roundsUS termsHook: 3.5 mm (US E-4), for tight stitchesSize from your washed swatchDK or worsted yarn

Know these stitches: magic ring, single crochet, single crochet decrease, crochet increase, back loop only

The finished dreidel.

Materials and yarn planning

Yarns we’ve reviewed that suit it: Bernat Softee Cotton yarn, Knit Picks Dishie Cone yarn, Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton DK yarn. For the hook, choose by size and handle.

Yarn estimate from the stitch counts: about 17 m of blue, 2 m of white, silver or gold. That allows about 4 cm of yarn per tight single crochet, plus a quarter for tails and sewing. One 50 g ball of a light or medium yarn holds about 80 m or more, so one ball of each color is enough.

Finished size and gauge

At about 20 tight single crochets per 10 cm, each face is a quarter of the 24-stitch round: 6 stitches, about 3 cm wide. The point and the body stand about 7 cm tall, and the stem adds about 2.5 cm. These are calculations from the counts, not a measured sample.

The gauge calculator compares your swatch with the pattern. A stitch name you do not know is in the abbreviation chart; a UK pattern’s names are in the US/UK term reference.

The pattern

Count rows for this pattern

Point and body (blue)

  1. Round 1: make a magic ring and work 4 sc in it. Mark the first stitch and work in a spiral without joining (4 stitches).
  2. Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (8 stitches).
  3. Round 3: [sc in the next stitch, 2 sc in the next stitch] 4 times (12 stitches).
  4. Round 4: [sc in the next 2 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch] 4 times (16 stitches).
  5. Check the fabric now: hold it up to the light. If you can see gaps between the stitches, stuffing will show through them; start again with a hook 0.5 mm smaller.
  6. Round 5: [sc in the next 3 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch] 4 times (20 stitches).
  7. Round 6: [sc in the next 4 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch] 4 times (24 stitches).
  8. The 4 increases of each round sit one above the other, leaning a little with the spiral: they make the four corners of the point. Mark them with stitch markers if they are hard to see.
  9. Rounds 7–14: sc in each stitch (24 stitches).
  10. Start stuffing now: fill the point firmly first, then the body, and press each face flat between your fingers so the corners show.
  11. Round 15: sc in each stitch through the back loop only: the edge turns in for a flat top (24 stitches).
  12. Round 16: [sc in the next 2 stitches, invisible decrease] 6 times (18 stitches).
  13. Round 17: [sc in the next stitch, invisible decrease] 6 times (12 stitches).
  14. Top up the stuffing, keeping the top flat.
  15. Round 18: invisible decrease 6 times (6 stitches). Fasten off, thread the tail through the front loops of the last round, pull it closed and weave the tail into the middle.

Stem (white, silver or gold)

  1. Round 1: make a magic ring and work 6 sc in it. Mark the first stitch and work in a spiral without joining (6 stitches).
  2. Rounds 2–6: sc in each stitch (6 stitches).
  3. Push a little stuffing into the stem with the end of the hook. Fasten off, leaving a long tail, and sew the open end to the middle of the top, over the closed round.

Letters

  1. With the same yarn and a yarn needle, backstitch one Hebrew letter on each face, about 2.5 cm tall: nun (נ), gimel (ג), hei (ה) and shin (ש). Most dreidels made in Israel carry pe (פ) in place of shin; stitch that one if you prefer.
  2. Start and end each letter’s yarn inside the body, coming out through a face, so no knot shows.
  3. To play: each player starts with the same number of tokens, often 10 to 15, and puts one in the middle. Take turns to spin; the letter on top says what happens: nun, nothing; gimel, take the whole pot; hei, take half (round up); shin, put one in. When the pot is empty or holds one token, everyone puts one in. A soft dreidel may not spin far: toss it instead and read the face on top.

Check the work

The point is 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24: 4 more a round, one at each corner. The sides keep 24, 6 a face; the top is 24 through the back loops, then 18, 12 and 6. The stem is 6 for six rounds.

Single crochets by round, main piece4 · 8 · 12 · 16 · 20 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 24 · 18 · 12 · 6
  • If the point comes out round and blunt, check that each round adds only 4 stitches, not 6.
  • If the faces bulge into a ball, take a little stuffing out and press each face flat again.
  • If a letter sinks into the fabric, backstitch it again over the first stitches with the yarn doubled.

Updated . Stitch counts checked row by row; we haven’t crocheted a sample of this one yet. How the patterns are checked. Keep your yarn label, hook and swatch on the printable project worksheet.

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