The bench · 15 builds issued
Soft toys drawn
like machine parts
Fifteen builds, each issued as a build drawing: a parts manifest, a count on every round, US terms, and the snags I hit before you do. Free to read, nothing to download, nothing to sign up for.
| Terms | Counts | Builds | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | Every round | 15 issued | None |
On the bench
Ten on the bench
Each card carries its build number, its level and the hook it was worked on. The full list filters by shelf and by level.
Mini and keychains
Melting Moment Cone
This one is a little different from your everyday granny square — the Melting Moment Cone Granny Square is a pictorial design, which means the...
Garden and food
No-Sew Crochet Watermelon Amigurumi: A Free 1-Hour Pattern
This pattern turns a few yards of red, white and green yarn into a cheerful watermelon slice you can finish in a single sitting.
Animals
Peekaboo Fox
The Peekaboo Fox Granny Square takes the classic granny square you already know and turns it into a little scene: a fox peeking out from her...
Sea friends
Sage Shell Turtle
This original design is a classic granny square worked in 6 rounds of sage green, cream and warm brown.
Garden and food
How to Crochet a Strawberry Ice Cream (Free Beginner Amigurumi Pattern)
This free amigurumi pattern turns a handful of cotton yarn into the sweetest strawberry ice cream cone you have ever seen — two stacked scoops...
Animals
Free Crochet Koi Fish Amigurumi Pattern for Beginners
This free crochet koi fish pattern turns half a skein of White and half a skein of Poppy into a plump little koi with two small back fins and a...
Animals
Crochet Cow Doll for the Baby Nursery: Free Amigurumi Pattern
This pattern turns chunky yarn into a soft, huggable cow doll built for a baby nursery shelf.
Animals
Crochet Giraffe Amigurumi Hugging the Curtains — Free Pattern
This pattern makes a charming little giraffe with a soft, cuddly texture — a vibrant yellow body set off by white hands, feet, mouth and adorable...
Animals
How to Crochet a Polar Bear Amigurumi for Winter
This pattern creates a small, snow-white chibi polar bear amigurumi dressed in a sweet red sweater made with simple color changes.
Animals
Whiskers the Cat
Whiskers the Cat Granny Square is a classic solid granny square dressed up with a small, sewn-on cat face — a pointed-ear appliqué with a nose and...
How a build is written
Five things happen before a build gets a number
The order is always the same, and the last step is the one that takes longest.
01
Parts manifest first
Before a single round, the manifest lists every piece the animal is made of, how many of each, and the stitch count that piece finishes on. If the manifest and the tables ever disagree, the manifest is wrong and the tables are right.
02
A count on every round
Every row of every table ends with the total the round finishes on — including the rounds where the number does not change, which are exactly the rounds people lose their place on.
03
The count run
Each build opens its round section with a ladder: every round of the main part read from the last one down to the magic ring, so you can name the round you are on from its count alone.
04
Then the sewing
Assembly is a numbered sequence with the pinning order in it, because on a small animal the order you pin in decides where the face ends up.
05
The snag list last
Whatever went wrong on my bench goes at the foot of the build in red, with the fix next to it. Every entry is a mistake I actually made.
House rules
What a build promises, and the number behind it
These are not aspirations. They are the checks a build has to pass on my bench before it gets a number.
| The promise | The number |
|---|---|
| A count on every roundNo round is issued without the stitch total it ends on. | 0 gaps |
| Worked before it is written upEach build is made at least twice: once to draft, once to follow. | 2 makes |
| Finished size is a measured sizeMeasured on the stuffed piece, not calculated from gauge. | ±0.5 cm |
| The parts manifest matches the tablesEvery part named in the manifest has its own round table below it. | 1:1 |
| Snags come from real mistakesEvery snag on a build is one I actually made and had to undo. | 0 invented |
| Nothing to buy, nothing to installNo file, no account, no paywall on any build, ever. | 0.00 |
Levels
Two levels are in the list today
The level describes the assembly, not the stitches. Every build on this site uses the same handful of stitches; what changes is how many separate pieces you have to place and sew.
One or two round pieces, a magic ring, and sewing that is hidden inside a seam. If you can work a sphere and close it, you can work every round on a B1.
B1 buildsFour or more parts, colour changes worked mid-round, and at least one join that has to be placed by eye and then checked against a measurement.
B2 builds- maker
- Odile Ferreira
- role
- Maker at the bench
- terms
- US
- default hook
- 2.5 mm
- default yarn
- Worsted cotton
- builds issued
- 015
- makes per build
- 2 minimum
- contact
- hello@amigurumiaddict.com
The bench
Who counted these
I spent eleven years making prototype models for product designers — foam, resin, a lot of sanding — and the habit that stuck was measuring the thing before I liked it. Amigurumi got me the same way. I now make the same animal four or five times before I let it out, and the version you get is the one where every round finally agreed with the round below it.
The addiction part of the name is not marketing. I make the same animal until it stops annoying me, which is usually four goes and occasionally seven. What you read as a finished build is the last one in that pile. The earlier ones are in a box under the bench and they are what the snag list is made of.
Odile — issued from the bench
Queries
The six questions that arrive most often
Why is there a count on every single round?
Because the round with no count is the round you find out about two hours later, when the head will not close. A count is the only cheap check in amigurumi — it costs four seconds at the end of a round and it saves the whole piece. Every table on this site carries one, including the rounds where nothing changes.
Are these patterns free, and is there a catch?
They are free and the catch is that there is no file. Nothing to download, no email wall, no account. The build lives on its page and it stays there. If you want to know when a new one is issued you can join the build log, and if you do not, the site works exactly the same.
US or UK terms?
US throughout, and each build repeats the shorthand it uses in the rail beside the rounds so you never have to hold two vocabularies at once. If you read in UK terms, the single stitch you need to translate is sc, which is your dc.
Can I sell what I make from a build?
Yes, finished pieces, in small numbers, made by you. Sell the toy and keep the pattern to yourself: do not copy the rounds into a listing, a PDF, a video description or another site. A link back to the build page is welcome and is never required.
What does the mk number next to a build mean?
It is the issue of that drawing. Mk 1 is the first version I published. If a count turns out to be wrong, or a shaping instruction reads two ways, I correct the page and step it to Mk 2 rather than quietly editing it. The snag list at the foot of the build is where corrections are explained.
Are these safe for a small child?
Only if you build them that way. Every build with safety eyes says so in the rail, and every one of them can be worked with embroidered eyes instead — which is what I do for anything going to a child under three. Stuff firmly, close the last round twice, and never leave a bead or a wire in a toy that will be chewed.
Join the build log
One message when a build is issued
Build number, level, hook, link. Nothing else, and never more than one message for one build.