Introduction: Keevie the Crochet Laughing Kookaburra (Step-by-Step Pattern!)
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he!"
Hello Everyone! I'd like to introduce you all to the one and only Keevie the kookaburra! This plush took me a couple of tries to get right, but I think I finally perfected it! I named this little amigurumi (Crochet plushie) after watching an episode of "Crikey! Its the Irwins!" (Check it out!) They had taken in a beautiful little laughing kookaburra bird that had recently been injured in an accidental collision with a car. Her leg was badly fractured and they had to keep her to heal at their hospital for a while until she was ready to go back home.
Before I get into the nitty gritty of this pattern and tell you how to make a kookaburra for yourself, I'd like to talk a little bit about the amazing birds in question!
As you may know, kookaburras are endemic to Australia and are very iconic there. They are best known for their human-like laughing call! This call makes the birds "famous" for being an overwhelming symbol of joy, enthusiasm, and optimism, especially around friends and family as they are often found in groups. However, not all kookaburras make this call, there are four species and only the Laughing Kookaburra (hence the name) can make these beautifully joyful sounds!
Like many birds, kookaburras use their call to communicate to other members of the "riot" (a group of kookaburras) in many ways. Kookaburras can use their call to warn other individuals, predict oncoming weather, establish territory and check in on one another! As previously mentioned, they are very social among each other and even the newly hatched individuals will stay for years to come before leaving the nest for good. These individuals will aid in the care of newer kookaburras that come after them and help raise the next generation in the family. Kookaburra pairs are monogamous and mate for life, this also further strengthens the bond between these groups.
Learn more about the Laughing Kookaburra here and here!
Hope you learned something new about these magnificent birds, Happy crafting!
Supplies
Here are the supplies I used to make Keevie!
-Red Heart Super Saver Yarn (4ply) (In white, off-white, tan, light brown, light blue, brown and dark grey)
-Stuffing or scrap yarn
-12mm Plastic Safety Eyes (Do not use if you are making this for a small child or infant, instead, embroider the eyes)
-Sewing Pins (optional)
-Stitch Marker (optional)
Note:If you do use stitch markers and you are purchasing a new set, I would suggest getting metal ones (which are linked above) because the plastic ones snap after about just one use. If you don't have stitch markers and you wouldn't like to purchase any, use a piece of scrap yarn to mark your rows, it works just as well.
Level of Difficulty:Easy-Intermediate
Abbreviations:
Sc= Single Crochet
Dec= Decrease
Inc= Increase
CC= Change Color
Hdc= Half Double Crochet
Step 1: Head & Body
(In off-white yarn)
Row 1: 6 Sc in a Magic Ring (if you've never made a magic circle/ magic ring before, check out the linked YT video by BHooked crochet & knitting)
Row 2: *Inc* x6 (12)
Row 3: *Sc1, Inc* x6 (18)
Row 4: *Sc2, Inc* x6 (24)
Row 5: *Sc3, Inc* x6 (30)
Row 6: *Sc4, Inc* x6 (36)
Row 7-14: Sc 8 rows
Row 15:*Sc4, Dec* x6 (30)
Row 16:*Sc3, Dec* x6 (24)
Row 17:*Sc3, Inc* x6 (30)
Row 18:*Sc4, Inc* x6 (36)
Row 19-24: Sc 6 rows
Place the plastic safety eyes between rows 12-13 and 8-9 stitches apart.
Row 25: *Sc4, Dec* x6 (30)
Row 26:*Sc3, Dec* x6 (24)
Row 27:*Sc2, Dec* x6 (18)
-Stuff your work-
Row 28: *Sc1, Dec* x6 (12)
Row 29: *Dec* x6 (6)
Fasten off and cut a 2" tail for sewing in the end.
Step 2: Bill (Tan Part)
(In tan yarn)
Row 1: 6 Sc in a Magic Ring
Row 2: Sc 1 row
Row 3: *Sc2, Inc* x2 (8)
Row 4: Sc 1 row
Row 5: *Sc3, Inc* x2 (10)
Row 6: Sc 1 row
Row 7: *Sc4, Inc* x2 (12)
Row 8: Sc 1 row
Fasten off and leave a 2-3" tail for sewing later.
Step 3: Bill (Grey Part)
( In dark grey yarn)
Row 1: Chain 6 (6)
Row 2-3: Sc 2 rows
Row 4: *Dec, Sc1, Dec* x1 (3)
Row 5-6: Sc 2 rows
Row 7: *Dec all 3 stitches into one* (1)
Fasten off and leave a 2-3" tail for sewing later.
Step 4: Head Spot
(In dark brown yarn)
Row 1: 6 sc in a Magic Ring
Row 2: *Inc* x6 (12)
Row 3: *Sc1, Inc* x6 (18)
Row 4: *Sc2, Inc* x6 (24)
Row 5: Sc 4 stitches, ch 1, turn your work (4)
Row 6: Sc 5 stitches (you'll be using one extra stitch from the previous round) ch 1, turn your work (5)
Row 7-9: Sc 3 rows
Row 10: *Dec, Sc1, Dec* x1 (3)
Row 11: *Dec all 3 stitches into one* (as shown in the last two photos above) (1)
Fasten off and cut a long tail for sewing to the head later.
Step 5: Feet (M2)
(In dark grey yarn)
This row can get a bit tricky,so, if you have any questions or concerns about the pattern at all feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Row 1: 6 Sc in a Magic Ring
Row 2: *Sc1, Inc* x3 (9)
Row 3: Sc 1 row
Row 4: *Sc2, Inc* x3 (12)
Row 5: *Sc3, Inc* x3 (15)
(First Toe)
Row 6: (Split as evenly as you can -it doesn't have to be exact- for toes as shown in photos above) Sc 1 row (on first toe)
Row 7: (on side of first toe still) *Sc1, Dec* around (Fasten off and cut a short tail for sewing later)
(Second Toe)
Row 1: (Attach yarn to the first stitch on the very right, Ch 1) Sc 1 row
Row 2: (To begin, connect one Sc on the very first stitch you made last row) *Sc1, Dec* around (Fasten off and cut a long 3-4" tail for sewing later)
Step 6: Right Wing
(In dark brown yarn)
Row 1: 6 Sc in a Magic Ring
Row 2: *Inc* x6 (12)
Row 3: *Sc1, Inc* x6 (18)
Row 4: *Sc2, Inc* x6 (24)
(First -and shortest- Feather)
Row 5: Ch 3,CC to Light Blue, Ch 2
Row 6: (Working downwards towards the base) Slst1, CC to Dark Brown, Sc1, Hdc2, Slst 1 back into the base (as shown in the photo above)
(Second -medium length- Feather)
Row 7: Ch 5, CC to Light Blue, Ch 4
Row 8: Slst1, Sc1, Hdc1, CC to Dark Brown, Hdc5, Slst1 back into the base
(Third -and longest- Feather)
Row 9: Ch7, CC to Light Blue, Ch 5
Row 10: Slst1, Sc1, Hdc2, CC to Dark Brown, Hdc7, Slst1 back into the base
Fasten off and cut a long tail for sewing onto the body later.
Step 7: Left Wing
The left wing is very similar to the right wing except you crochet the feathers from longest to shortest instead of shortest to longest.
(In dark brown yarn)
Row 1: 6 Sc in a Magic Ring
Row 2: *Inc* x6 (12)
Row 3: *Sc1, Inc* x6 (18)
Row 4: *Sc2, Inc* x6 (24)
(Third -and longest- Feather)
Row 5: Ch7, CC to Light Blue, Ch 5
Row 6: Slst1, Sc1, Hdc2, CC to Dark Brown, Hdc7, Slst1 back into the base
(Second -medium length- Feather)
Row 7: Ch 5, CC to Light Blue, Ch 4
Row 8: Slst1, Sc1, Hdc1, CC to Dark Brown, Hdc5, Slst1 back into the base
(First -and shortest- Feather)
Row 9: Ch 3,CC to Light Blue, Ch 2
Row 10: (Working downwards towards the base) Slst1, CC to Dark Brown, Sc1, Hdc2, Slst 1 back into the base
Fasten off and cut a long tail for sewing onto the body later.
Step 8: Tail Feather
(In white yarn)
Row 1: Ch 8
Row 2: *Sc6, Inc 3 stitches into one (this creates a curve that brings you to the opposite side of the foundation chain), Sc5, Inc* x1 (16)
(you should now have a long oval shape crocheted as shown in the photo above)
Row 3: CC to Dark Brown, Sc 1 row
Row 4-5: CC to Tan, Sc 2 rows
Row 6:CC to Dark Brown, *Dec, Sc5, Dec, Sc7* x1 (14)
Row 7:CC to Tan, *Dec, Sc4, Dec, Sc6* x1 (12)
Row 8: *Dec, Sc3, Dec, Sc5* x1 (10)
Fasten off and stuff the tail loosely, leave a long 3-4" yarn tail for sewing to the body later.
Step 9: Assembly & Embroidery
Start by sewing all the tail ends of every individual piece back into itself, this will leave you only with the strand of yarn you will be sewing with.
Assemble by pinning your kookaburra with sewing pins as shown in the photo above. You can go about sewing this bird together in two ways: you can pin it just to see what it will look like placement wise, and then take it apart to sew it together as you put it together (piece by piece individually) OR You can keep the bird pinned together as you sew (I wouldn't suggest doing this if you're new to amigurumi or crochet, this method is a bit more difficult)
Once you have all the pieces sewn to the body you will begin embroidering the eye:
Eye Markings:
(With a long strand of brown yarn)
begin pulling the needle up (with yarn attached) in the inner right side of the eye as shown in the photo above. You will be forming an oval case over both eyes. After you have done both the upper and lower eyelid, sew the needle through the project about 2-3 stitches(make both sides as even as possible) left away from the eye (as shown in the photos above) to create that brown line that extends from each eye.
Congrats! you've just completed you're very own kookaburra plush! Please share a photo of you're finished project, I'd love to see what you've made!
First Prize in the
Knitting and Crochet Speed Challenge
