Intermediate
What the pattern's own author called it. Nothing here is graded again.
Amigurumi 38 Laid out for paper No account, no download
Amigurumi tiger doll crochet pattern for confident beginners
Amigurumi tiger doll crochet pattern: legs, arms, ears, head, and body worked in continuous spiral rounds from a magic
- Skill
- Intermediate
- Time
- 4-6 hours
- Yarn weight
- Worsted
- Rounds
- 38
Worsted
What the sample was worked in. Any weight works; the size moves with it.
38
Each one is typed out whole and gets its own line.
This tiger doll is built the way most amigurumi are: worked in continuous spiral rounds from a magic ring, one piece at a time, then joined at the end. The legs run nine rounds, the arms three rounds, the head six, the body fifteen, and the ears four — each part shaped through single crochet and evenly spaced increases. Have your main color, a contrast color for stripes and face detail, stuffing, and a stitch marker ready before you begin, since the spiral has no natural stopping point to mark your place.
Common mistakes and their fixes
- Losing the round in the spiral
- Drop a stitch marker into the first stitch of round 1 and move it up every round without fail. Without it, the leg's jump from 6 to 18 stitches over three rounds is easy to miscount.
- Starting the ear chain too loose
- Keep the foundation chain of 7 snug before working back into the second chain from the hook. A loose starting chain leaves a gap along the ear's straight edge that shows once stuffed.
The materials list
- Worsted weight yarn (main color)
- Crochet hook (size to suit your yarn)
- Contrast (black) yarn for stripes and face detail
- Polyester stuffing
- Stitch marker
- Yarn needle for weaving in ends and assembly
- Scissors
Listed by the pattern's own author, in their words.
Key to this pattern, 4 short forms
Legs
Round 1
Create a magic ring with 6 sc.
Round 2
6 increases = 12 sts.
Round 3
(1 sc, inc) x6 = 18 sts.
Rounds 4–6
18 sc.
Rounds 7–8
8 sc, 8 dec, 8 sc = 24 sts.
Rounds 9–10
6 sc, 6 dec, 6 sc = 18 sts.
Rounds 11–12
7 sc, 2 dec, 7 sc = 16 sts.
Rounds 13–15
16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 17–18
16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 20–23
16 sc with black yarn.
Arms
Round 1
Create a magic ring with 6 sc.
Round 2
6 increases = 12 sts.
Round 3
(1 sc, inc) x6 = 18 sts.
Ears
Round 1
Chain 7, start from the 2nd chain.
Round 2
Increase, 4 sc, 3 sc in one stitch, 5 sc = 14 sts.
Round 3
2 inc, 4 sc, 3 inc, 4 sc, inc = 20 sts.
Round 4
(1 sc, inc) x2, 4 sc, (1 sc, inc) x3, 5 sc, inc = 26 sts.
Head
Rounds 4–6
Make 18 single crochets (sc).
Rounds 7–8
Decrease pattern to shape the head, leading to 15 sts and then 12 sts.
Rounds 9–10
Make 12 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 12–16
Make 12 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 17–18
Make 16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 20–23
Make 16 sc with black yarn.
Body
Round 4
2 increases, 4 sc, 3 increases, 4 sc, 2 increases = 20 sts.
Round 5
(1 sc, inc) x2, 4 sc, (1 sc, inc) x3, 5 sc, inc = 26 sts.
Rounds 6–9
Make 32 sc.
Rounds 13–15
Make 16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 17–18
Make 16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 20–23
Make 16 sc with black yarn.
Rounds 24–26
Make 48 sc.
Round 27
6 sc, (dec) x6, 6 sc = 42 sts.
Rounds 28–29
Make 42 sc.
Round 30
12 sc, (dec) x3, 12 sc = 39 sts.
Round 31
11 sc, (dec) x3, 11 sc = 36 sts.
Round 32
4 sc, (dec) x6, 4 sc = 30 sts.
Round 33
Make 30 sc.
Round 34
3 sc, (dec) x6, 3 sc = 24 sts.
Round 35
6 sc, (dec) x3, 6 sc = 21 sts.
Check these before you start
- Work all parts in continuous spiral rounds rather than joined rounds; a stitch marker moved up each round is the only reliable way to track where a round ends.
- Keep tension firm and even across all parts — the legs, arms, and body rely on flat, gap-free stitches to hold stuffing without show-through.
On one line
| Rounds | 38 |
|---|---|
| Parts | 5 |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Time | 4-6 hours |
| Yarn | Worsted |
Set-up
- Check that you have enough main-color yarn to carry through the body's fifteen rounds without a mid-piece color change.
- Set aside a contrast color now — the head pattern calls for black yarn partway through, so have it wound and ready rather than searching mid-round.
- Place a stitch marker in round 1 of each part before starting round 2; the spiral gives no visual cue for where a round begins.
- Read through the ear rounds once before starting them — the increase placement shifts every round and is easy to lose track of on a first pass.
Finishing
- Weave in every yarn end as each part is completed, rather than leaving them for last, since the legs, arms, ears, head, and body are each finished separately before assembly.
- Stuff the body and head firmly before closing the final round, working stuffing into the corners created by the increase rounds so the shape holds.
- Close each piece's final round with a cinched seam and attach the legs, arms, ears, and head to the body last, positioning the ears using the increase pattern from round 4 as your placement guide.
Construction
The legs increase from 6 to 12 to 18 stitches over the first three rounds, then hold steady at 18 single crochets for rounds 4 through 6 — a classic base-then-cylinder build that gives the leg its rounded foot before it goes straight.
The ears start from a chain of 7 rather than a magic ring, which means they are worked flat in rows rather than in the round; this is typical for a piece meant to lie against the head rather than stand in the round like the body.
The arms use the exact same first three rounds as the legs — magic ring to 6 sc, 6 increases to 12 sts, then (1 sc, inc) x6 to 18 sts — but stop there instead of continuing, since they only need a short rounded shape to attach at the shoulder.
Time per section
| Legs | about 45 minutes because the piece runs nine rounds with three shaping rounds up front before settling into plain single crochet |
|---|---|
| Arms | about 15 minutes because the piece only runs three rounds, matching the leg's rounded base construction before stopping |
| Head | about 40 minutes because six rounds include both decrease shaping and a color change to black yarn that needs careful counting |
| Body and ears | about 1.5 hours because the body's fifteen rounds are the longest single piece, and the ears' flat rows need close attention to shifting increase placement |
Photographs of this one
Every one was taken by whoever published the pattern, in the order the source listed them.
Common questions
These answers came from whoever first published the pattern, kept word for word.