Small Domo-Kun Amigurumi Crochet Doll
Domo-Kun Amirugumi
This amigurumi Domo-Kun is around half the height (5 inches) of my previous one and is also made differently, using joined rounds so that the stitches are not offset by a spiral and the red of the mouth can be crocheted rather than applied as a felt panel. I wasn’t thrilled with the felt panel for the mouth and wanted to try a crochet mouth. If you would prefer not to join and work in a spiral, ignore the “Join and CH1” at the end of each round and work the entire piece in brown and apply a panel of red felt or a separate rectangle of red crochet fabric for the mouth at the end.
Because this ami is small, it can be completed in 2 or fewer hours which makes for good projects for people like me who have attention deficit issues with craft projects. As with all of my patterns, little Domo-Kun is free. If you have any questions or find any bits in the instructions confusing, please leave your query in the comments so all can see any clarifying responses provided.
To be or not to be?
Domo-Kun Rear End
Side view showing the line of joins
Warm Brown
Domo was made with a 3.5mm hook going through both loops. He is worked in rounds with joining every round. In joins, the CH does not count as a stitch. I used Lily Sugar & Creme in Warm Brown but any brown yarn will do.
SC = Single Crochet
SL ST = Slip Stitch
CH = Chain
Join = Slip Stitch into first stitch of the same round
INVDEC = Invisible Decrease
INC = Increase (2 SC in one stitch)
Head and Body
CH 10
starting in second CH from hook
1. INC, SC x 7 (down one side of the CH), INC then pop over into the other side of the same CH and do another INC (video of stitching in both sides of a CH) (these two increases serve as the U-turn at the end of your CH, the remaining stitches will work up the other side of the CH back to where you started from), SC x 7, INC, join then CH1; (22)
2. SC, INC, SC x 7, INC, SC x 2, INC, SC x 7, INC, SC, join then CH1; (26)
3. SC around, join then CH1; (26)
4 – 5. repeat round 3 for rounds 4 and 5; (26)
6. SC x 4, Switch to Red Yarn, SC x 7, Switch back to Brown Yarn, SC x 15, join then CH1; (26) (video of colour changes)
7 – 11. repeat round 6 for rounds 7 through 11; (26)
12. SC around, join then CH1; (26)
13 – 18. repeat round 12 for rounds 13 through 18; (26)
19. SC, INVDEC, SC x 10, INVDEC, SC, INVDEC, SC x 6, INVDEC, join then CH1; (22)
20. SC, INVDEC; repeat 7 times; join then CH1; (15)
21. SC, INVDEC, INVDEC; repeat 2 times; (10)
Finish off, stuff and sew shut.
Arm (Make 2)
CH 2 or Magic Ring or start however you like. You can make this in the spiral or joined, it’s up to you.
1. SC x 6 (6)
2. SC then INC; repeat 2 times; (9)
3. SC aroundl (9)
4. INVDEC, SC; repeat 2 times; (6)
5. SC around; (6)
6 – 11. repeat round 5 for rounds 6 through 11; (6)
Finish off leaving a long tail for sewing in. Arms should be wired.
Leg (Make 2)
CH 2 or Magic Ring or start however you like.
1. SC x 6 (6)
2. INC x 6; Join to first stitch from this round; (12)
3. SC around in back loop (wrong side loop) only; (12) (this creates a sort of flat bottom to his foot); Join to first stitch from this round.
4. SC x 4, INVDEC, INVDEC, SC x 4; (10)
5. SC around; (10)
6. repeat round 5; (10)
I surface crocheted around the mouth to add a dimensional look or to cover up the zig zag line of red and brown stitches blending. (this video around 1:40 shows how to do surface Slip Stitch crochet details on finished crochet fabric). If any red yarn is poking through under the brown stitches, thread a tapestry needle with brown yarn and stitch underneath the brown yarn but over the red to try to cover it. If you follow the grain of the V’s it should be fairly invisible. I used 6mm black safety eyes but smallish black buttons or felt cut outs would work fine as well.
I love this but I would like to make a bigger one. Any suggestions on how to do that?
What kind of glue did you use to glue the felt please?
Any glue.
I seem to be making this inside out. I’m right handed. What am I doing wrong?
Check the tutorials page, there is a tutorial on right side versus wrong side.
Ummmm what do you do for the teeth……?
Felt cut out and fabric glued on.
Felt is good, but you can also crochet with white and ch 3, sl st in 1st ch, pull through and sew it on
Hi ,
I just read all of the comments concerning this project. And like some previous comments, my stitches are off, my mouth slants to the right. For me I believe I have it right up through and including Step #2 ( by this part I have a nice symmetrical oval with a join to the right and middle of oval) but then when I begin step#3 (SC) I am confused as to where I am to begin on the oval? I am a beginner and it is sometimes hard for me to recognize where that first SC is on the previous round. I didn’t seem to have a problem with making the larger domo, it came out fine. So I assume that the ” joining ” between step #2 and #3 is where I am going wrong. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
If you put a stitch marker in the first stitch of your round, that might help you recognize it when you get back around to it. It’s fairly simple though, you begin in the same stitch you just joined your last stitch to. A tiny bit of slant is normal and will not be visible once you finish the slip stitch overlay around the mouth. You just joined the first stitch to the last stitch from the previous round, so it should be somewhat apparent which is the first stitch from the previous round. If it’s too difficult just make it in a spiral without joining and add a felt mouth, problem solved.
I am a very experienced crocheter. The written directions are confusing but the videos are quite helpful. Stitch markers help with the joining. To me each time I am joining I am skipping a stitch but as I count I have the correct number of stitches. Could this be where some of the earlier posts concerning stitch increases are happening? After a few rounds of marking stitches and counting the piece is starting to take shape. I’m making this for a baby shower so I will stitch on eyes and teeth. Thank you for the pattern and the videos!
I don’t understand what you mean by every time you are joining you are skipping a stitch… if your count is coming out correctly I wouldn’t worry about it, but according to my math and logic, you shouldn’t skip a stitch.
Essentially, the whole fear about joining is unfounded… it’s not that complex. The last stitch in a round gets bound to the first stitch of a round by a slip stitch. This slip stitch is not a real stitch, think of it as a staple that binds the two together and is not a stitch at all. Don’t count it. Ignore it. Once the two are bound together, the staple’s existence no longer matters. Once your round is joined, you chain 1, again, not important, don’t count it, ignore it. Think of it as a step that helps your yarn “meet the height” of the next round of crochet stitches, so your first SC can stand as tall and proud as all the others (like a row of bricks). Once it has been made, ignore it and never speak of it again. From here on out, this next round, only single crochet stitches exist. Your first single crochet fits neatly, directly on top of the first single crochet from the previous round. Ignore that little bar staple which was your slip stitch in the previous round… it’s not important. Your second SC fits neatly on top of the second from the previous round, so on and so forth until your last, which is then joined (with a slip stitch) to the very first stitch from this round.
I think the host of problems and confusion that have happened (and been responded to) are because people are very different in how they parse information. What makes perfect sense to one person completely befuddles another. Fortunately the older a pattern is, the more diverse the questions have been and we eventually get to a point where there is a question and answer in the comments that answer most issues people are having.
That being said, please nobody skip a stitch as practice, please ignore the slip stitches and the CH after your join as they are not counted as stitches. You have to do them, but don’t treat them like “stitches” and SC your first stitch in every round, into the first stitch from the previous round.
I did not say I was skipping a stitch I said it feels like I am. I encouraged counting stitches and usage of stitch markers to help with any confusion.
Hi, I did the domo-kun but it’s not symmetrical like it should. I even watched your videos and still didn’t get it right. I got some links to the domo-kun. I don’t know if I did this right, so if you can’t see the images please tell me:
http://imgur.com/o6Vkf
http://imgur.com/uROCR
Do you have any idea what could be wrong?
Hmm, it’s hard to tell. A little bit of twisting is normal, but that is a lot more than I would expect. Your photos look okay though, the only thing I could think of was, on your next round, were you putting a stitch in that first same hole you joined into or were you counting your CH as a stitch?
I don’t think I was. I’m going to try and do it again to see what happens. Also, the sticth right before the chain, the one that joins the two rounds, am I also suppose to ignore that one?
Yes, the stitch you use to join them, the one that looks like a horizontal bar, that is a slip stitch and you ignore it. Think of it like a staple that joins the end to the beginning but has no purpose other than holding them together and doesn’t act like a stitch at all or count.
Do you miss the CH and SL ST’s?
I am not sure what you mean.
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I was wondering if u could please make a video for this? It would b very helpful:)
Probably not, sorry.
I can’t wait to make this for my son – he is going to LOVE it! I appreciate you posting this pattern – thanks!!!!!
Would you recommend gluing the teeth on before or after surface crocheting around the mouth? Thanks!!
Yes before is likely best that is when I applied the teeth 😀
Awesome! Thank you SO MUCH for this adorable pattern and your wonderful instructions. You have such a gift. Thanks for sharing it with all of us!!
I feel like a dope, but I have attempted this pattern 3 times now, and for some reason a stitch or two keeps being added by the time I get done with the 2nd row! I’ve watched the tutorials to the point that I crochet along with you, but it never fails that I always end up with 27 or 28 stitches. Any insight into what I might be doing wrong? I feel this pattern is so simple, yet its driving me crazy trying to get it right!
Thanks!
Are you able to send me a picture of your work so I can look at it and see what is going on?
I a finding that I’ having the same problem with the extra stitches by the next join. I think that it has some thing to do with where I am making my join. That is the only place that I can think of that an extra stitch can be inserted. Do you think you could do a video tutorial about making a join but keeping the line of joins straight and not diagonaling around the object? This is a great pattern thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Sorry, I delayed responding to you since I was working on a tutorial video for this very thing and I wanted to have something more helpful than “I’m working on it :)”! Here’s the link, please let me know if you still have questions http://nerdigurumi.com/2011/08/new-tutorial-video-for-amigurumi-crochet-in-joined-rounds.html and thanks for the comment!
I got the first 5 steps done, very excited. I would never figure it out without your video. Thank you so much for a great project’s idea.
Hello! I love this Domo-kun pattern but I’m having a little bit of trouble and have a question…
On the head/body part, round 2 had 26 stitches but then round 3 had 22 stitches all the way around even though it was only SC around. I don’t know how to bring it down unless I do a decrease, is that what I should be doing?
Thank you so much for all your free patterns! They are wonderful and very admirable
That’s right that is a mistake, should be (26) not (22), thanks for pointing it out. I’ve fixed the pattern.
Thanks for very clear instructions. I am a beginner at crochet and I am glad you labeled theose abbreviations. I am going to try and make this domo for my daughter. SHe loves Domo dolls.
LOVE this! definitely on my “must make / very kawaii” list!
Love this technique! I’ll have to consider this next time I’m designing my next creation. =)
Wow!!! Thank you so much!!! I’ve always wanted to have my own domo kun, so i really appreciate this! Thanks!!
Thank you so much, he is adorable! ♥