Finally I can show you something new and exciting! My first amigurumi dog on all fours is finished. This is Toki, a miniature Dachshund crochet pattern!
After designing a few sitting dogs, I felt like doing something new this time. A dog on all fours had been on my mind for a while, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. What dog could be more suitable for that challenge than a Dachshund?! A sitting Dachshund would be a bit dull, because it is the elongated body that makes it cute. So, I sat down and started crocheting ‘sausages on paws’ to make myself familiar with a new technique and the long-bodied animal.
After a few silly-looking sausage dogs in bright colours (I use left-overs from other projects before I use the intended yarn), I felt confident enough to start designing the actual dog. I already had made myself familiar with the technique of chaining four legs together, but how on earth was I going to write that down so that you would be able to do the exact same thing? A simple and effective solution presented itself and helps you work in the correct stitches. One hint: mark many stitches! My testers found that it worked very well and the dogs they made were a copy of Toki, I was relieved!
This pattern also contains something else new: images with little hints to point out certain steps. I often get asked if I have videos for a pattern. I do have a Youtube channel with tutorials for complicated constructions, but I prefer my patterns to be written, with supporting images. To make it easier for those who don’t like only written instructions, I added those images.
Anyway, this little dog was a joy to design, and I’m very satisfied with how it turned out. From a sausage on four paws with a realistic head, it evolved into an actual Dachshund-shaped dog, with a broad chest, an elongated body, and short stubby legs with broad feet. Even the hind legs run backwards like a real dachshund! I’m delighted that my ideas worked out. At some point I had quite a decent-looking crochet dachshund, but the belly and crotch where the same size, whilst a real dachshund has a broad chest and belly and a slim underbelly and crotch. The solution to that issue came when I was in bed. ‘What if I just use smaller stitches (sc’s instead of dc’s) for closing the back of the belly than for the rest of the belly?’ That worked like a charm.
Here are some more pictures of this cute and realistic mini-dachshund and below them you can find all the info you need about the pattern.
For an experienced crocheter this is an easy pattern, and I always try to write it in a way so beginners can make it too. The body of the dog is rather small, so once you’ve connected all the pieces, it works up pretty fast. I explained very thoroughly as to what stitches you need to work, and I added extra images to make sure you understand how everything works.
This dog is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. It’s 6 inch / 15 cm long and about 4 inch/ 10 cm high. The pattern contains a clear and colour-coded description of how to crochet and assemble the doll, with instruction images with notes next to the text and pictures of the finished doll at the bottom. In the pattern you can also find out what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers — in short, everything you need to know to make your own realistic Dachshund amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can purchase it in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.
And heads up! This pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 25th of May.