Little Owl Charm Amigurumi

I am challenging myself with micro amigurumi and I have chosen to use Mr. Murasaki, the sleepy owl amigurumi pattern to test on. I am glad that I am still able to do this little tiny cutie at my age How tiny this little owl charm amigurumi is? It is about 1″ tall.

I have been wanting to try on crocheting this teeny tiny amigurumi when I saw some of them on Pinterest. Glad that I managed to do it and still able to crochet them with my kind of age. Presbyopia hit me eventually and I need to borrow my husband reading glasses to do it.

It is time to visit an optometrist to get mine to prescribe soon….. I just wish that I don’t look old with it, I think a rimless with red arms should look good on me.

Reading glasses aside and back to this little owl charm amigurumi, I am using lace thread #40 and hook size of 0.7mm to make this little owl charm amigurumi. Once you have some experiences with micro amigurumi, you may advance to a more tiny one by sewing thread and size 0.4mm hook. I think I would need a magnifier to do so. It may seem difficult but it is possible, just that you will need more practices as holding the tiny bit while crochet is not easy. A good eye-sight is a must as you will need to see where to insert your hook and needle to crochet and sew.

Let’s amigurumi along and progress to the tinier one soon!!!

Little Owl Charm Amigurumi

Pattern Adapted From Mr. Murasaki
Skill level: Easy / Intermediate for those with hyperopia (far-sightedness) vision
Duration: About 2 hours

Abbreviations
Ch: chain
Sc: single crochet
Dc: double crochet
Inc: increment stitch / 2sc in a stitch
Inv dec: invisible decrease

Materials
0.7mm steel crochet hook (you may also use 0.75mm. or 0.8mm)
Crochet thread #40 in purple, cyan, white/beige and black
Yellow felt
Darning needle
Polyester fiberfill
Quick dry all-purpose adhesive (clear color), for example, UHU.
Blunt tip tweezers
Scissors

Body
With purple yarn:
Round 1: Sc 6 in magic ring {6}.
Round 2: [Inc] around {12}.
Round 3: [Inc, sc 1] around {18}.
Round 4: [Inc, sc 2] around {24}.
Round 5: [Inc, sc 3] around {30}.
Round 6: [Inc, sc 4] around {36}.
Round 7-18: Sc around {36}.
Round 19: [Inv dec, sc 4] around {30}.
Round 20: [Inv dec, sc 3] around {24}.
Stuff body.
Round 21: [Inv dec, sc 2] around {18}.
Round 22: [Inv dec, sc 1] around {12}.
Round 23: [Inv dec] around {6}.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Eyes
Make 2 with white/beige yarn:
Round 1: Sc 6 in magic ring {6}.
Round 2: [Inc] around {12}.
Round 3: [Inc, sc 1] around {18}.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.
Cut a strand of black crochet thread and sew a diagonal eyelid across each eye. Knot off ends at the back.

Wings
Make 2 with cyan yarn:
Round 1: Sc 6 in magic ring {6}.
Round 2: [Inc] around {12}.
Round 3: [Inc, sc 1] around {18}.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Ears
Make 2 with purple yarn:
Round 1: Sc 3 in magic ring {3}.
Round 2: [Inc] around {6}.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Assembly
1. Sew eyes onto the body.
2. Fold each wing through the center to make them look like semi-circles.
Sew them onto the sides of the body, near the bottom corner of each eye.
3. Cut a strand of cyan yarn and sew a series of upside-down Vs on the body, below the eyes. There should be 3 on the first row, 2 on the second, and 1 at the bottom.
4. Sew ears onto the top of the head.
5. Cut out a small egg-shaped beak from the yellow felt seal. Cut it in half through the center. Glue it onto the point where both eyes meet.
6. Glue pink brads to the bottom corners of each eye.

Note: Since there is already a tutorial on how to make the owl amigurumi, I am not going to repeat here. Instead, I am sharing the tips on how to do this owl in tiny form of micro amigurumi.

This is the #40 crochet thread with 0.7mm steel crochet hook.
#40 crochet thread usually is meant for lace crochet but you could use it for micro amigurumi. The recommended hook size written on the thread label is 1.5mm but since it is for amigurumi, you need to reduce the hook size so that the stitches are not too loose. As a rule of thumb, for micro amigurumi, you need to reduce the size of the hook by half approximately. Work on it to test out and adjust the hook size that’s most comfortable to you.

This is the base round of the owl charm, the stitches are closely crocheted and not too loose. #40 thread with 0.7mm hook size worked well on it. If you don’t have 0.7mm, you may use a 0.8mm hook size.

Most of us need to use a stitch marker hook to mark the first stitch of the round in amigurumi as you work in the upward round. In micro amigurumi, the stitches are so tiny that you can’t hook a normal marker on it.
As a substitute, use a short string (a few inches) from a different color thread. When you come to the end of the round, place the thread just before you crochet the first stitch of next round. Continue to crochet till the end of the round, flip one end of the marking thread from the front to the back. On the next round, flip it back to the front. Continue to flip as you start a new round, as a result, you will see a little vertical row of running stitches that mark every first stitch of the rounds you have made. when you’re done, just pull and it comes right out.

A good lighting source when doing micro amigurumi is very important. Don’t strain your eyes under a poor lighting condition that leads to poor eye-sight.
If possible, get a LED Floor Light and Magnifier especially for the craft.

The parts of owl charm before assembly. The body of the owl is only 1″.

This is how tiny the green owl charm is after assembled.

Sew a keyring or key strap to the owl charm amigurumi and it is ready to use. Play around with the colors to make a set of owl charm, great as gifts for friends and families.

Happy MICRO amigurumi!