Crochet Flamingo

This sweet, fluffy flamingo will look so cute on a bed or sofa. The flamingo’s head, neck, and body are crocheted all in one piece, from top to bottom. Carefully placed increases and decreases give the flamingo its shape, so make sure you read the pattern carefully! The beak, legs, and feathers are crocheted separately and sewn in place, along with two peaceful eyes. Finish off your flamingo with a cute little crocheted crown.

What you need

• 7 mm crochet hook
• Toy stuffing
• Yarn needle
• Scissors

Instructions

Size

Using super bulky weight yarn and a 7 mm crochet hook, your flamingo will be about 25 inches (63 cm) long from head to toe.

Special Stitch

Picot: Ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook

HEAD, NECK & BODY

1.

Work in the round, without joining rounds.

Using light pink yarn, start with an adjustable ring.

R1: 6 sc in a ring. [6 sts]

R2: 2 sc in each st around. [12 sts]

R3: (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) 6 times. [18 sts]

R4: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts) 6 times. [24 sts]

R5: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times. [30 sts]

R6: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times. [36 sts]

R7–12: Sc in each st around, for 6 rounds. [36 sts per round]

R13: Sc in next 12 sts, (Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts) 6 times. [30 sts]

R14: Sc in next 12 sts, (Sc2tog, sc in next st) 6 times. [24 sts]

R15–18: Sc in each st around, for 4 rounds. [24 sts per round]

Add some stuffing to the head.

2.

R19: Sc in next 3 sts, Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts, Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts. [24 sts]

R20: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

R21: Sc in next 3 sts, Sc2tog, sc in next st, Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts. [24 sts]

R22: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

R23: (Sc in next 2 sts, Sc2tog) twice, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts. [24 sts]

R24: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

R25: Sc in next 2 sts, Sc2tog, sc in next st, Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts. [24 sts]

R26: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

R27: Sc in next st, Sc2tog, 2 sc in next st, Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts. [24 sts]

R28: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

R29: (Sc in next st, Sc2tog) twice, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 sts. [24 sts]

R30: Sc in each st around. [24 sts]

Add some stuffing to the neck.

3.

R31: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times. [30 sts]

R32: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times. [36 sts]

R33: (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) 6 times, sc in next 24 sts. [42 sts]

R34: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts) 6 times, sc in next 24 sts. [48 sts]

R35: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times, sc in next 24 sts. [54 sts]

R36: (2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times, sc in next 24 sts. [60 sts]

R37–44: Sc in each st around, for 8 rounds. [60 sts per round]

R45: (Sc2tog, sc in next 8 sts) 6 times. [54 sts]

R46: (Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sts) 6 times. [48 sts]

R47: (Sc2tog, sc in next 6 sts) 6 times. [42 sts]

R48: (Sc2tog, sc in next 5 sts) 6 times. [36 sts]

R49: (Sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times. [30 sts]

R50: (Sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times. [24 sts]

R51: (Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts) 6 times. [18 sts]

Add more stuffing so that the body is nice and puffy.

R52: (Sc2tog, sc in next st) 6 times. [12 sts]

R53: Sc2tog 6 times. [6 sts]

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing, and finish off. Add more stuffing if needed and then sew the hole closed, and hide the yarn end inside the body.

WINGS & TAIL FEATHER

Make 3

You’ll work the wing and tail feathers in the round, joining each round with a slip stitch. The ch 1 at the beginning of each round is not included in the stitch count.

Using dark pink yarn, start with an adjustable ring.

R1: (2 sc, 2 hdc, dc, 2 hdc, 2 sc) in a ring. Join round with a sl st in 1st sc. [9 sts]

R2: Ch 1, 2 sc in same space as sl st, 2 sc in next st, (2 hdc in next st) twice, 3 dc in next st, (2 hdc in next st) twice, (2 sc in next st) twice. Join round with a sl st in 1st sc. [19 sts]

R3: Ch 1, sc in same space as sl st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, (hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st) twice, dc in next st, 3 dc in next st, dc in next st, (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) twice, (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) twice. Join round with a sl st in 1st sc. [29 sts]

R4: Ch 1, sc in same space as sl st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, (sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st) twice, hdc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st, dc in next 2 sts, 3 dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next

2 sts, (2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts) 3 times. Join round with a sl st in 1st sc. [39 sts]

R5: Ch 1, sc in same space as sl st, (ch 1, skip next st, sc in next st) 9 times, ch 1, (sc, ch 1, sc) in next st, ch 1, sc in next st, (ch 1, skip next st, sc in next st) 9 times, ch 1, sl st in 1st sc. [22 sc and 22 ch 1 gaps]

R6: Ch 1, (sc, picot, sc) in each ch 1 gap around. Join with a sl st in 1st sc. [22 picot sts]

Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing, and finish off.

LEGS

Make 2

1.

Work in the round, without joining rounds.

Start with a long tail for sewing the legs onto the body later. Using dark pink yarn, ch 12. Join with a sl st in the 1st ch to form a loop, being careful not to twist the chain.

R1: Ch 1, sc in each ch around. [12 sts]

R2: (Sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts) twice. [10 sts]

R3: (Sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts) twice. [8 sts]

R4: (Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts) twice. [6 sts]

R5–12: Sc in each st around, for 8 rounds. [6 sts per round]

R13: 2 sc in each of the next 3 sts, sc in next 3 sts. [9 sts]

R14: Sc in each st around. [9 sts]

R15: Sc2tog 3 times, sc in next 3 sts. [6 sts]

R16–23: Sc in each st around, for 8 rounds. [6 sts per round]

2.

Add a little bit of stuffing to the leg, making sure it is still easily bendable. You can use the back of your crochet hook to push the stuffing into the leg.

R24: Pinch the open end of the leg closed so you can crochet through both sides at once. Working through 2 sts at a time, make 3 sc across the opening, closing the hole as you go. [6 sts]

3.

Ch 1, and turn. The rest of the foot is worked flat in rows.

R25: 2 sc in each sc across. Turn. [6 sts]

R26: (Ch 3, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, skip next sc, sl st in next sc) 3 times. [3 pointy toes made]

Cut the yarn, and finish off. Hide the yarn end inside the leg.

BEAK

1.

Work in the round, without joining rounds.

Using black yarn, start with an adjustable ring.

R1: 5 sc in a ring. [5 sts]

R2: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts. [6 sts]

R3: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts. [7 sts]

Change to white yarn.

R4: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts. [8 sts]

R5: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 sts. [9 sts]

R6: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 8 sts. [10 sts]

R7: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 9 sts. [11 sts]

R8: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 10 sts. [12 sts]

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing, and finish off.

CROWN

1.

Using yellow yarn, ch 18. Join with a sl st to form a ring.

2.

R1: Ch 1, sc in each ch around. Join round with a sl st in the 1st sc. [18 sc]

R2: *Skip next 2 sts, (2 hdc, dc, picot, dc, 2 hdc) in next st, skip next 2 sts, sl st in next st. Repeat from *2 more times. [3 crown spikes]

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing, and finish off. Join the round.

ASSEMBLY

1.

Sew a tail feather onto the back of the flamingo’s body, right in the middle.

2.

Sew a wing onto either side of the body, at a slight downward angle.

3.

Add some stuffing to the top part of the legs. Attach the legs underneath the body, with the knees pointing forward. They should line up with rounds 48–51 of the body.

4.

Sew the beak onto the front of the head in line with rounds 9–11 of the head, adding a little bit of stuffing to the beak as you go.

5.

Use black yarn to embroider an eye on either side of the beak.

6.

Sew the crown on top of the head.

Lauren Bergstrom was born and raised in South Africa and has been doodling and crocheting cute things for as long as she can remember. When she’s not drawing or painting, she spends her time designing crochet patterns for little stuffed animals at mohumohu.com and making video games with her partner at Studio Any Percent. She lives in Canada with her family, in a small home filled with cute and fluffy things. Lauren is the author of 101 Super Cute Things to Draw, Amigurumi Animals, and Cute & Cuddly Crochet.

Excerpted with permission from Cute & Cuddly Crochet (Walter Foster Publishing, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 2023) by Lauren Bergstrom. Cute & Cuddly Crochet is available wherever fine books are sold. Learn more at quarto.com.