Growing up, I loved swimming and spent a handful of my summers in the pool with my sisters. We would often pretend to be different animals while we played in the water, like dolphins, turtles, or sea otters! So I thought I would create a crochet pattern for a cute amigurumi sea otter holding a piece of kelp! I hope you enjoy!
Here are some video tutorials (both left and right handed) in case you want to follow a step-by-step video for extra guidance with crocheting this otter or just want someone to crochet with! If you’d rather follow a written pattern, keep scrolling down.
Did you know that you can follow this same pattern using different sized yarn and crochet hooks to get a smaller or larger crocheted otter? In the picture below, I have two examples of otter sizes, both made with this pattern. I’ve listed the yarn and crochet hook sizes I used in the materials list below.
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Materials
Common Materials – You’ll need these materials for all sizes of otters that you make.
- Scissors
- Yarn needle (also called darning needle, tapestry needle, darning needle)
- Black felt (for the nose and mouth)
- Pink felt (for the blush)
- Hot glue gun and glue (you can also use fabric glue)
- Fiber Fill/Stuffing
Small Otter (approx. 7 inches tall)
- 5mm Crochet hook
- Hobbii Baby Snuggles Yarn (in colors green – for the kelp, and any colors you wish for your head and main body color – I chose to use white and blue in my photos)
- 8mm Safety Eyes (you can also use black felt if you don’t have safety eyes)
Large Otter (approx. 10.5 inches tall)
- 8mm Crochet hook
- Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn (in colors green – for the kelp, and any colors you wish for your head and main body color – I chose to use white and blue in my photos)
- 12mm Safety Eyes (you can also use black felt if you don’t have safety eyes)
Optional Materials
- Stitch marker – I won’t be mentioning this in my pattern, but I rely on stitch markers to keep track of my stitch count and the start of my rows when I am crocheting. I highly recommend using stitch markers, they are life savers! You can use a paper clip or a scrap piece of yarn as a stitch marker.
- Pins – I use pins to help visualize where pieces should go and help keep the pieces in the right location while sewing. While I highly recommend them and will be mentioning them in the pattern, they are not necessary.
Pattern Abbreviations
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- inc – increase
- dec – decrease
- […] x # – follow the steps inside the square brackets # amount of times, then move onto the next step
Otter Body
(Using white yarn)
Row 1. magic circle with 6 sc inside (6)
Row 2. inc x 6 (12)
Row 3. [sc, inc] x 6 (18)
Row 4. [sc x 2, inc] x 6 (24)
Row 5. [sc x 3, inc] x 6 (30)
Rows 6 -9. sc x 30 (30)
Row 10. [sc x 3, dec] x 6 (24)
Pause here. If you are using safety eyes, place them between rows 7 and 8, about 5 stitches apart. If you are using felt for eyes, you can glue them on at the end.
(Change colors to blue yarn)
Rows 11 – 19. sc x 24 (24)
Row 20. [sc x 2, dec] x 6 (18)
Row 21. [sc, dec] x 6 (12)
Row 22. dec x 6 (6)
Rows 23 – 28. sc x 6 (6)
Fasten off and weave in the end.
Arms / Legs (make 4 of these)
(Using blue yarn)
Row 1. magic circle with 6 sc inside (6)
Row 2. sc x 6 (6)
Ears (make 2)
(Using blue yarn)
Row 1. inside of a magic circle: sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc
Close up the circle. Do not join with a sl st. Leave a long tail for sewing onto the head.
Kelp
(Using green yarn)
Row 1. ch 16 (16)
Row 2. Starting from the second ch from hook: sl st x 3, sc x 4, hdc x 5, sc x 2, sl st (15)
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing the kelp onto the body.
Putting the Pieces Together
Before I start sewing my amigurumi otter together, I first use pins to place each piece where I think it should go. I remove the pins from my amigurumi as I sew. I placed the ears on rows 4 and 5 from the top of the head. I placed the arms on rows 12 and 13 of the body. I placed the legs on rows 18 and 19 of the body. Lastly, I placed the kelp on top of the body between the arms and legs, so that it looks like the otter is holding it. See the below photos for an example.
Once you are comfortable with the placement of the pieces, use your yarn needle to sew them onto the body.
Next, it is time to cut and glue on the felt details for the otter’s face. Using your felt and scissors, cut a small black oval for the nose, a thin black rectangle for the mouth, and two pink circles for the cheeks.
Place the felt details where you would like them and glue them on using your hot glue gun. I placed my cheeks diagonally below the otter’s eyes. I placed the nose and mouth centered between the otter’s eyes. See the below photo as an example.
Once you’ve completed sewing the pieces together and glueing on the felt details, your amigurumi otter should look like this:
And that is it! You now have a cute crochet otter of your very own! I hope you enjoyed this pattern. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to reply as soon as I can.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. 🌸
~Tori
This is an original pattern by Toristory Creations. Please do not claim this pattern or any part of it as your own. If you plan on selling the amigurumi made from this pattern, please mention Toristory Creations as the pattern designer. You may place a link to this pattern on your own website, but please do not repost or republish any part of this pattern on your site. As always, I love to see finished creations made by my patterns, so please share your own versions of this pattern with me @toristorycreations
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