Beginner
What the pattern's own author called it. Nothing here is graded again.
Amigurumi 13 Laid out for paper No account, no download
How to crochet a tiny apple keychain charm
A stuffed apple charm in single crochet, 17 shaping rounds, 2.0mm hook, finished with a crocheted brown stem and green
- Skill
- Beginner
- Time
- 1-2 hours
- Yarn weight
- Worsted
- Hook
- 2.0 mm
- Rounds
- 13
Worsted
What the sample was worked in. Any weight works; the size moves with it.
13
Each one is typed out whole and gets its own line.
This apple charm builds from a magic ring into a rounded body worked entirely in single crochet, shaped through a short run of increases, a stretch of straight rounds, and a decrease sequence that pulls the top closed. A dimple stitched through the center gives it the pinched look of a real apple, and a brown chain forms the stem and keychain loop, with a crocheted green leaf sewn alongside it. Have red, brown, and green worsted-weight yarn, a 2.0 mm hook, fiberfill, a yarn needle, and scissors on hand before starting.
Common mistakes and their fixes
- Losing count through the increase rounds
- Move a stitch marker to the first stitch of each round and check the total against 12, 18, 24, or 30 before moving on.
- Closing the top before stuffing is complete
- Push fiberfill up into the shoulders of the apple before weaving the tail through the last stitches, since the opening is too small to add more once it is pulled tight.
- Skipping or rushing the dimple stitch
- Insert the needle from the top center to the bottom center and pull firmly, repeating the pass a few times until the dip holds its shape on its own.
The materials list
- Snowball’s Cloud Doll four-strand yarn (red, brown, green)
- 2.0 mm crochet hook
- Stuffing (polyester fiberfill)
- Yarn needle
- Scissors
Listed by the pattern's own author, in their words.
Key to this pattern, 10 short forms
Starting the Base
Round 1
Begin with a magic ring and work 6 single crochets into the ring (6 stitches).Step by step: begin with a magic ring; work 6 single crochets into the ring; pull the yarn tail to tighten the loop.
Increasing Rounds
Round 2
Make 2 single crochets in each stitch around (12 stitches).
Round 3
1 single crochet, 1 increase — repeat around (18 stitches).
Round 4
1 single crochet, 1 increase, 1 single crochet — repeat around (24 stitches).
Round 5
3 single crochets, 1 increase — repeat around (30 stitches).
Straight Rounds
Rounds 6–12
Work 1 single crochet in each stitch (30 stitches per round).
Shaping Decreases
Round 13
2 single crochets, 1 decrease — repeat around.
Round 14
2 single crochets, 1 decrease — repeat around (approx. 24 stitches).
Round 15
Work 1 chain to lock, continue with plain single crochet stitches in each stitch.
Round 16
3 single crochets, 1 decrease — repeat around.
Round 17
2 single crochets, 1 decrease — repeat around.
Apple Stem
Stem
Chain 10 with brown yarn. Work into the 5th chain from the hook and pull through the back loop. Slip stitch or single crochet along the rest of the chain. Cut yarn with a long tail and tie the two ends together.
Apple Leaf
Leaf
With green yarn, chain 8. Starting from the 2nd chain from the hook, work 1 single crochet, 1 half double crochet, 3 double crochets (one in each of next 3 stitches), 1 half double crochet, 1 single crochet. In the last stitch, work 3 half double crochets to round the tip. Work along the opposite side of the chain: 1 half double crochet, 3 double crochets, 1 half double crochet. Finish with a slip stitch into the first stitch. Cut yarn with a long tail for sewing.
Assembly, in order
Step 1Weave in and hide the yarn ends inside the apple.
Step 2Trim off any excess.
Step 3Use the yarn needle to sew the stem to the center top of the apple. Insert the needle through the apple body a few times for security. Knot the yarn and tuck the ends inside.
Step 4Sew the leaf next to the stem, using the long tail from the leaf. Secure well and hide the yarn tails inside the apple.
Check these before you start
- Work tightly with the 2.0 mm hook so the small stitch count at 6 and 12 stitches does not gap and let stuffing show through.
- Keep a stitch marker moving with each round; a stitch count of 12, 18, 24, or 30 is easy to lose track of on a piece this small.
- Add stuffing gradually as the straight rounds progress rather than all at once at the end, so the fiberfill settles evenly before the decreases pull the top shut.
On one line
| Rounds | 13 |
|---|---|
| Parts | 6 |
| Level | Beginner |
| Time | 1-2 hours |
| Hook | 2.0 mm |
| Yarn | Worsted |
Set-up
- Check that the fiberfill is teased apart loosely so it packs the small body evenly without lumps.
- Place a stitch marker at the start of round 1 and move it up each round through the increase and decrease sections, since there is no seam to orient by.
- Read through the shaping decreases once before working them, since round 15 breaks the decrease pattern with a single locking chain.
- Cut the yarn tail long after the magic ring, since that same tail is used later to weave the top closed and shape the dimple.
Finishing
- Stuff the apple firmly through the straight rounds and top up before the decrease rounds close the opening, working fiberfill into the rounded top and bottom as you go.
- Weave the long tail through every other stitch around the final opening, pull tight to close, then insert the needle from the top center to the bottom center and pull snug, repeating a few times to set the dimple.
- Weave in and hide all remaining yarn ends inside the apple, then trim off the excess close to the surface.
Construction
The increase rounds add six stitches per round (12, 18, 24, 30) with the extra stitch worked further from the previous increase each time, spacing the shaping evenly so the widening body stays round rather than pointed.
Round 15 inserts a single locking chain in the middle of the decrease sequence before returning to plain single crochet, stabilizing the stitch count partway through the shaping so the following decrease rounds start from a fixed base.
The leaf combines single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet worked along both sides of a chain 8, with 3 half double crochets in the final stitch to round the tip, so the graduated stitch heights curve the piece into a pointed leaf shape.
Time per section
| Increasing rounds | about 15-20 minutes because four rounds climb from 6 to 30 stitches and need careful counting |
|---|---|
| Straight rounds | about 20-25 minutes because seven rounds at 30 stitches each build most of the apple's body |
| Shaping decreases and finishing | about 20-30 minutes because the decrease rounds, locking chain, dimple stitching, and stem take fiddly hand-finishing |
| Stem and leaf | about 10-15 minutes because the stem chain, leaf shaping, and sewing the pieces to the apple body add fine hand-finishing detail |
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.