stuffed animal

When my husband got his first teaching job, in an amazing little Wyoming town, he asked me to crochet some dolls for all his students. I think he was scared the kids wouldn't like him so he wanted something to bribe them with. But they LOVED him, so he decided the kids would earn the dolls by hitting their reading goals.  And what started out as a one time thing for my husband to make friends with third graders, has continued for 10 years, He still teaches in the same school and everyone still loves him.  Here is a look at the things I have made throughout the years.  

1st year (2015-16)

This was a jungle theme. I made a bunch of different dolls, the patterns were all from this book.

2nd year (2016-17)

Cowboy theme.  I made horses, the pattern I used can be found here.

3rd year (2017-18)

Ocean theme.  I made up the octopus and jelly fish patterns. The rays came from here. And the turtles and whales both came from the same shop.

4th year (2018-19)

Bugs theme.  My least favorite.  Luckily there weren't many kids in the class and not many of them hit their goals.  I also made butterflies. The slugs were from this pattern.  I made up the others. 

5th year (2019-20)

6th year (2020-21)

This was the start of my husband picking the theme, before that, the librarian picked a theme for the whole school and we went along with that.  Then she retired so he started picking. This was baby yoda, my own made up pattern.

7th year (2021-22)

He picked dragons for this year. I think it was because I made up this pattern and he loved it. 

8th year (2022-23)

These sharks are all my own patterns, I will have to put them in my shop soon! 

9th year (2023-24)

This Mario theme has been my favorite! I made all the patterns, but the only ones I wrote down were the Mario, Luigi, and them in cat costumes. This year I tried out making some smaller dolls as keychains, and they were a bust.  They were the last two picked. 

10th year (2024-25)

Star Wars theme this year. I did baby Yoda before, but did all new characters this time. They were all my own patterns, based off this Porg pattern and this Ewok pattern.

I'll get pics soon!

These little dolls might be my most favorite creations of all time. Especially the moose.  It makes me want to have a baby and make a bigger version of the costume for my baby!

The best part about these patterns is the hair.  I made different options available in the patterns.  You can either make your dolls bald or with a buzz cut look and then make the wig version of the costumes so the hair can change with the costumes.  Or you can connect the hair right on to the dolls head so it is permanent.  Both ways are included in the patterns! 

The patterns range from beginner to intermediate and use a bunch of different stitches.  The fox, bee. dino, and moose are easy.  The peacock, flamingo, and hippo are a bit more complicated.  The lion, owl and sheep all use special stitches and might take some trial and error if you aren't familiar with those stitches.  But they all come out so amazing and adorable! 

I used Caron Simply Soft yarn for all my dolls, but you should be able to get away with any other size 3 or size 4 brand, but the size of the dolls might change, so make sure you are consistent in using the same brand for both the dolls and the costumes.  If you make any of the patterns, please tag me or email a picture so I can see how they turned out! 

Learn how to make amigurumi with this super easy chicken pattern that can be used and tweaked to make a dog, bear, chick, and whale!

Get this super cute turtle crochet pattern with a removable shell! And find out how to change the size without having to change the pattern.