Crochet Frog Amigurumi Pattern

This crochet frog amigurumi pattern makes Nenu, a wide, round mini frog about 2½ inches (6.5 cm) tall, in DK cotton with a 2.5 mm hook. The head and body are one piece with a flat base, two eye bumps sit on top, and two flat feet poke out in front of a cream belly. It's almost all single crochet, plus two tiny flat pieces for the feet with three little toes each. Plan on about 40 yards of yarn and about 2 hours.

Key Takeaways

• Ten pieces: one body, 2 eye bumps, 2 eye whites, a belly patch, 2 flat feet and 2 arms.
• Head and body are one piece, so there's no neck seam at all. Everything else is small and sewn on top.
• A flat base and two flat feet keep Nenu sitting steady.
• About 40 yd of DK cotton: ~35 yd green, ~5 yd cream, plus scraps of black (and pink, if you like rosy cheeks).

Why I love this little frog

Nenu is the quickest pattern in my forest collection, and the one that makes people smile first. It's basically a happy green bun with eyes. The wide body and the big U-shaped grin do all the work, so even a first amigurumi looks like a character.

The construction is friendly too. The body is one sphere with a flattened base. The eye bumps are tiny balls, the eye whites are single-round circles, and the feet are five short rows. And there's no neck to sew.

Skill level. Advanced beginner. You need a magic ring, sc, inc and the invisible decrease in the round, a few short flat rows (with three tiny hdc toes) and some sewing. The smile is two minutes of embroidery.

What you'll need

Yarn: DK #3 cotton, such as Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK or Scheepjes Catona:

• Green (main color): about 35 yd (32 m), sewing tails included.
• Cream (eye whites and belly): about 5 yd (4.6 m).
• Black, about 1 yd, for the pupils and the smile (black DK or 3 strands of embroidery floss).
• Pink (optional), a few inches, for the cheeks.

I worked these amounts out from the stitch counts (about 700 stitches in all, at roughly 1½ in of DK cotton per stitch) plus the sewing tails.

Hook and notions

• 2.5 mm (US B/1 or C/2) hook, or whatever size gives you a tight fabric.
• A small handful of polyester fiberfill.
• A stitch marker, a tapestry needle, pins and scissors.

Gauge and finished size

Gauge isn't critical, but tension is. Your stitches should be tight enough that the stuffing doesn't show through. As a check, Rnd 6 of the body (36 sc) is still a flat circle: it should be about 2 in (5 cm) across.

Yarn	Hook	Approximate size
DK #3 cotton	2.5 mm	about 2½ in (6.5 cm) tall, 2¾ in (7 cm) wide, this pattern
Worsted #4	3.5 mm	about 3¼ in (8 cm) tall

These are estimates from the stitch counts. Your yarn, tension and stuffing all change them, so measure your first one.

Abbreviations (US crochet terms)

• MR = magic ring
• ch = chain
• sl st = slip stitch
• sc = single crochet (UK double crochet)
• hdc = half double crochet (UK half treble), for the toes only
• inc = 2 sc in the same st
• dec = invisible decrease: insert the hook in the front loop only of the next 2 sts, yarn over, pull through both front loops, yarn over and pull through the 2 loops on the hook
• st(s) = stitch(es)
• rnd(s) = round(s)

Work in continuous spirals: don't join and don't chain at the start of a round. Move your marker up every round. The number in brackets is the stitch count at the end of the round. In the flat rows (feet only), the turning chain doesn't count as a stitch.

The pieces at a glance

Piece	Color	Make	Starts at (MR)	Ends at
Body	Green	1	Flat base	Top, closed
Eye bumps	Green	2	Top of the bump	Closed, sewn on
Eye whites	Cream	2	Center	Flat circle
Belly	Cream	1	Center	Flat circle
Feet	Green	2	Heel (flat rows)	Toe edge
Arms	Green	2	Hand	Open, sewn flat

The pattern — step by step

Part 1 — The body and the smile

Body (green). The magic ring is the center of the flat base. The body grows out, goes straight up, and closes at the top of the head.

• Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc in the ring. (6)
• Rnd 2: Inc in each st around. (12)
• Rnd 3: (Sc, inc) × 6. (18)
• Rnd 4: (2 sc, inc) × 6. (24)
• Rnd 5: (3 sc, inc) × 6. (30)
• Rnd 6: (4 sc, inc) × 6. (36)
• Rnds 7–12: Sc in each st around, 6 rounds. (36)
• Rnd 13: (4 sc, dec) × 6. (30)
• Rnd 14: (3 sc, dec) × 6. (24)

Embroider the smile now, while the top is still open. Stuff the body lightly so the fabric sits as it will when finished. Choose the front, on the opposite side from the round jog, and put a pin there on Rnd 12.

With black, embroider a wide U-shaped smile, 6 sts across, centered on the pin: the two ends of the U on Rnd 12 and the bottom of the curve on Rnd 11. Use short backstitches, 1 st each, so the curve stays smooth. Knot the ends inside the body.

• Rnd 15: (2 sc, dec) × 6. (18)

Stuff the body moderately, then press the base flat against the table with your palm. Nenu should be wider than tall, like a bun.

• Rnd 16: (Sc, dec) × 6. (12)
• Rnd 17: Dec in each st around. (6)

Fasten off, leaving a 6-in (15 cm) tail. Thread it through the front loops of the last 6 sts, pull tight to close, and hide the tail inside the body.

Part 2 — The eyes, belly, feet and arms

Eye bumps (make 2, green). Little balls that sit on top of the head.

• Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc in the ring. (6)
• Rnd 2: Inc in each st around. (12)
• Rnds 3–4: Sc in each st around, 2 rounds. (12)
• Rnd 5: Dec in each st around. (6)

Stuff lightly. Fasten off, leaving an 8-in (20 cm) tail. Thread it through the front loops of the last 6 sts and pull tight to close. Keep the tail for sewing. The closed end is the bottom of the bump, the one you sew to the body.

Eye whites (make 2, cream).

• Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc in the ring. (6)

Pull the ring tight, sl st in the next st and fasten off, leaving a 6-in (15 cm) tail. With black, embroider an upright oval pupil in the center: 2 or 3 straight stitches side by side over the ring. Then sew each white circle to the front of an eye bump, over its Rnds 2–4.

Belly (cream).

• Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc in the ring. (6)
• Rnd 2: Inc in each st around. (12)
• Rnd 3: (Sc, inc) × 6. (18)

Sl st in the next st (it doesn't count as a stitch) and fasten off, leaving a 10-in (25 cm) tail.

Feet (make 2, green). Worked flat in rows, from the narrow heel to a wide edge with 3 little toes. The ch 1 at the start of each row doesn't count as a stitch.

• Row 1: Ch 4. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch across. (3)
• Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across. (3)
• Row 3: Ch 1, turn, inc, sc, inc. (5)
• Row 4: Ch 1, turn, inc, 3 sc, inc. (7)
• Row 5 (toes): Ch 1, turn, sl st, 3 hdc in the next st, sl st, 3 hdc in the next st, sl st, 3 hdc in the next st, sl st. (13)

Each group of 3 hdc puffs up into a little round toe. Fasten off, leaving an 8-in (20 cm) tail. Weave it back down the side to the heel: Row 1 is the edge you sew on.

Arms (make 2, green). Long, thin and unstuffed, so they can curl around the body. The magic ring is the hand.

• Rnd 1: MR, 5 sc in the ring. (5)
• Rnds 2–7: Sc in each st around, 6 rounds. (5)

Fasten off, leaving an 8-in (20 cm) tail. Flatten the opening and sew it closed with the tail.

Part 3 — Putting Nenu together

Pin everything before you sew. Use your smile as the center front. Sew each piece with its own tail, going a little way into the body with each stitch, then knot the tail and pull the end inside.

1. Belly. Pin the cream circle under the smile, centered between Rnds 7 and 8. Its top edge reaches about Rnd 10, one round below the smile. Whipstitch it on all the way around.
2. Eyes. Pin the two eye bumps on top of the head, each covering Rnds 13–15, with 2 sts between them and the pupils looking forward. They sit above the two ends of the smile. Sew around the base of each bump twice, so they stay upright.
3. Feet. Sew the narrow Row 1 heel edge of each foot under the body, on Rnds 3–4, a little out to each side. The toes point forward and stick out past the belly.
4. Arms. Sew the flat top of each arm to the side of the body on Rnds 9–10. Curl the arm forward around the body and tack the hand to the side of the belly with one small stitch, so the frog looks like it's hugging its tummy.
5. Cheeks (optional). One short pink stitch at each end of the smile.

Check before you finish: Nenu should sit flat on its base and both feet, with the eye bumps upright and even. If it rolls backward, press the base flat again and move the feet half a round further back, so they steady it. Next time, stuff the lower half a little less.

Safety and care. Nenu has no safety eyes or hard parts: the pupils and smile are embroidered. A handmade toy still isn't a certified baby toy, so sew every seam twice and check the eye bumps and feet before giving it to a small child. Hand wash in cool water and let it air dry.

Make it yours — quick variations

Variation	Change from base pattern
Strawberry frog	Pink body, cream belly, tiny white French knots as seeds.
Mushroom hat	Make the eye bumps in red with white French knot spots.
Sleepy frog	Skip the eye whites and embroider a downward curve on each eye bump.
Lily pad	Make a flat green circle of 36 sts and sew a notch shut to sit Nenu on.
Tiny crown	A short strip of yellow sc, joined in a ring, tacked between the eyes.

Troubleshooting the three things that go wrong

Nenu is round, not flat

You overstuffed the lower half. Stuff the base firmly but thinly, and press it flat against the table before Rnd 16. A frog this wide should look like a bun, not a ball.

The eyes droop forward

The bumps are sewn only at the front. Sew all the way around the base of each bump, twice, and pin them so they sit on Rnds 13–15, not lower.

The smile looks crooked

Count from the pin: 3 sts on each side, ends on Rnd 12, bottom on Rnd 11. Small backstitches of 1 st each give a smoother curve than long stitches.