May we count your visit with Google Analytics? It uses cookies and sends visit data to Google. You can change this any time under Cookie choices. Privacy

crochetguide

Find what you need

Search this site. Press Escape to close.

Crochet turkey: a Thanksgiving amigurumi with a feather fan

Make a 36-stitch body with a back-loop round for a flat base and an 18-stitch head, both stuffed and closed, then sew on a double-crochet half-circle fan with six shell feathers, a beak, a wattle and feet.

Go to the pattern ↓

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, double crochet, chain, slip stitch

The finished turkey.

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 31 m of brown, 6 m of orange, 5 m of yellow, 1 m of red. 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

If S single crochets measure 10 cm in your tight swatch, the widest round of 36 stitches is 36 × 10 ÷ S cm around, so the body is about 36 × 10 ÷ (S × 3.14) cm across. 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

Body (brown)

  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. Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 stitches).
  3. Round 3: [sc in the next stitch, 2 sc in the next stitch] 6 times (18 stitches).
  4. Round 4: [sc in the next 2 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch] 6 times (24 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] 6 times (30 stitches).
  7. Round 6: [sc in the next 4 stitches, 2 sc in the next stitch] 6 times (36 stitches).
  8. Round 7: sc in each stitch through the back loop only: the edge turns up and makes a flat base (36 stitches).
  9. Rounds 8–13: sc in each stitch (36 stitches).
  10. Round 14: [sc in the next 4 stitches, invisible decrease] 6 times (30 stitches).
  11. Start stuffing now, while the opening is wide: fill the body firmly and press the base flat on the table as you go.
  12. Round 15: [sc in the next 3 stitches, invisible decrease] 6 times (24 stitches).
  13. Round 16: [sc in the next 2 stitches, invisible decrease] 6 times (18 stitches).
  14. Round 17: [sc in the next stitch, invisible decrease] 6 times (12 stitches).
  15. Top up the stuffing through the small opening.
  16. Round 18: invisible decrease 6 times (6 stitches). Fasten off, thread the tail through the front loops of the last round and pull it closed.

Head (brown)

  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. Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 stitches).
  3. Round 3: [sc in the next stitch, 2 sc in the next stitch] 6 times (18 stitches).
  4. Rounds 4–6: sc in each stitch (18 stitches).
  5. Place the safety eyes between Rounds 4 and 5, about 4 stitches apart. Safety eyes and other small parts can come loose: for a toy meant for a baby or a child under 3, embroider the eyes with yarn instead. Stuff the head firmly.
  6. Round 7: [sc in the next stitch, invisible decrease] 6 times (12 stitches).
  7. Round 8: invisible decrease 6 times (6 stitches). Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing, and close the opening the same way as the body.

Fan tail

  1. Row 1 (brown): leaving a tail about 40 cm long for sewing the fan on, make a magic ring, chain 3 (it counts as a double crochet) and work 5 double crochets in the ring. Pull the ring closed; do not join (6 stitches).
  2. Row 2 (brown): chain 3 and turn, 1 double crochet in the same stitch, then 2 double crochets in each stitch across (12 stitches). Change to orange.
  3. Row 3 (orange): chain 3 and turn, 2 double crochets in the next stitch, then [1 double crochet in the next stitch, 2 double crochets in the next stitch] 5 times (18 stitches).
  4. Row 4 (orange): chain 3 and turn, 1 double crochet in the next stitch, 2 double crochets in the next stitch, then [1 double crochet in each of the next 2 stitches, 2 double crochets in the next stitch] 5 times (24 stitches). Change to yellow.
  5. Row 5 (yellow), the feathers: chain 1 and turn, slip stitch in the first stitch, [skip 1 stitch, 5 double crochets in the next stitch, skip 1 stitch, slip stitch in the next stitch] 5 times, skip 1 stitch, 5 double crochets in the next stitch and slip stitch in the last stitch: 6 feathers. Fasten off and weave in the yellow end.

Beak, wattle and feet

  1. Beak (yellow) 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. Beak (yellow) round 2: [sc in the next stitch, 2 sc in the next stitch] 2 times (6 stitches).
  3. Fasten off the beak, leaving a tail.
  4. Wattle (red): chain 6, slip stitch in the second chain from the hook and in each chain back along it. Fasten off, leaving a tail.
  5. Feet (make 2, orange): a magic ring with 6 sc, then [sc in the next stitch, 2 sc in the next stitch] 3 times (9 stitches). Fasten off, leaving a tail; the feet stay flat.

Assemble

  1. Pin every piece before you sew, then look at the turkey from the front.
  2. Head: on top of the body, toward the front, closed side down; sew around a circle about 10 stitches across. Fan: stand it upright behind the head, its straight edge across the back of the body at about Round 12, and sew along the whole straight edge with the brown tail, so it stands on its own.
  3. Beak: between the eyes and one round lower, the magic ring pointing out. Wattle: sewn by one end just beside the beak so it hangs down. Feet: under the front of the base, toes poking out.

Check the work

Body totals: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, then 36 for seven rounds (the first in back loops only), then 30, 24, 18, 12 and 6. Head: 6, 12, 18, 18 for three rounds, 12 and 6. Fan: 6, 12, 18, 24, then 6 feathers. Beak: 4, 6. Feet: 6, 9.

Single crochets by round, main piece6 · 12 · 18 · 24 · 30 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 36 · 30 · 24 · 18 · 12 · 6
  • If the turkey will not stand, the base was stuffed into a dome: take out a little stuffing at the bottom and press it flat again.
  • If the fan cups, the doubled stitches were tight: go up half a hook size for the fan. If it ripples, go down one.
  • If the fan flops backward, sew it on again a little higher and add a few stitches from the middle of the fan to the body.

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.

What to do next