Crochet Axolotl Pattern Free Amigurumi Made Of Velvet Yarn

Six frilled gills fanning out from the head are what make a crochet axolotl plushie recognisable, and everything else is a flat body with a tapered tail. Velvet yarn gives it the soft finish without any brushing afterwards.

Velvet yarn splits under a hook, so this crochet axolotl pattern free amigurumi made of velvet yarn runs tighter than usual and drops a hook size to keep the stuffing hidden. The body is a flat oval that tapers into a tail, with the frilled gills worked separately and sewn on at each side of the head. Pink throughout with darker gills. Velvet hides your stitch definition completely, so count rounds and use markers rather than reading the fabric.

Crochet Axolotl Amigurumi

A friend had a baby shower coming up and asked for something the parents would not quietly put in a cupboard. That ruled out buttons. It also ruled out about half of what was on my hooks that month. So I sat down with a skein of aqua velvet yarn and worked out a plushie where every single piece gets crocheted straight into the body while the round is still live. No sewing anywhere. The six gills attach as you build the head, and the four limbs attach as you build the torso, which means nothing on this toy can work loose down the line.

Why I Love This One

The head narrows to six stitches and widens again, and once it is stuffed that pinch reads as an actual jawline rather than a seam.

Materials and Tools

• Main body yarn: Loops and Threads Sweet Snuggles Light, or any number 4 velvet yarn. Aqua blue, dusty pink and pale lilac all work.
• Accent yarn for the gills and tail fin: matching velvet yarn in a contrast shade, or the same shade if you want a quieter finish.
• 6.0 mm hook for the head, body, arms and legs.
• 4.25 mm hook for the gills and the tail fin.
• Polyfill stuffing.
• 16 mm safety eyes with plastic washers.
• Stitch marker.
• Yarn needle.
• Scissors.

Approximate finished size is around 20 to 23 cm tall depending on how firmly you stuff, and the make takes roughly three to four hours spread across an evening or two. Both figures are estimates from working this style of pattern, not measurements taken from the original.

Pieces List

• Gills: 6, worked on the smaller hook
• Arms and legs: 4 identical limbs, 2 used as arms and 2 as legs
• Head and body: 1 continuous piece
• Tail fin: 1, worked directly onto the finished body

Before You Start

• Every round in the head and body section ends with a slip stitch into the first stitch, and the next round begins with a chain 1.
• The no sew attachment works like this: hold the finished piece against the live round, push your hook through 2 stitches on the piece and 1 stitch on the body at the same time, and work your single crochet through all three loops.
• Velvet yarn is slippery and worms if you work it loose. Keep your tension a touch tighter than feels comfortable.

The Pattern

Gills, Make 6

• Use the 4.25 mm hook and your accent yarn.
• Round 1: Magic circle, 6 sc into the circle, pull tight to close. [6]
• Round 2: (1 sc, 1 increase) 3 times. [9] Checkpoint: this should still be flat enough to sit on a table like a small coin.
• Round 3: 1 sc in each stitch around. [9]
• Round 4: 1 sc in each stitch around. [9] Checkpoint: the sides should now stand upright, giving you a short open tube rather than a curved cup.
• Round 5: (1 sc, 1 decrease) 3 times. [6]
• Round 6: 1 sc in each stitch around. [6] Checkpoint: a squat little teardrop, closed at the magic circle end and open at the other. Leave it unstuffed.
• Slip stitch into the next stitch and fasten off, leaving a short tail.
• Repeat until you have 6 gills.

Arms and Legs, Make 4

• Use the 6.0 mm hook and your main yarn.
• Round 1: Magic circle, 6 sc into the circle, pull tight to close. [6]
• Rounds 2 to 4: 1 sc in each stitch around, worked for 3 rounds. [6]
• Checkpoint: a stubby finger shape roughly 3 cm long. It should hold its own shape without stuffing because velvet is dense enough to fill itself.
• Fasten off and cut the yarn.
• Repeat until you have 4 identical limbs.

Head and Body

• Use the 6.0 mm hook and your main yarn.
• Round 1: Magic circle, 6 sc, slip stitch to join. [6]
• Round 2: Chain 1, increase 6 times, slip stitch to join. [12]
• Round 3: Chain 1, (1 sc, 1 increase) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [18]
• Round 4: Chain 1, 1 sc, 1 increase, then (2 sc, 1 increase) 5 times, then 1 sc, slip stitch to join. [24]
• Round 5: Chain 1, (3 sc, 1 increase) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [30] Checkpoint: hold it in your palm and it should cup like a shallow bowl. If it is still flat as a disc your tension is loose.
• Round 6: Chain 1, work 12 sc, attach the first gill with 3 sc, work 12 more sc, attach the second gill with 3 sc, slip stitch to join. [30]
• Round 7: Chain 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, slip stitch to join. [30]
• Round 8: Chain 1, work 12 sc, attach the third gill with 3 sc, work 12 more sc, attach the fourth gill with 3 sc, slip stitch to join. [30]
• Round 9: Chain 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, slip stitch to join. [30]
• Round 10: Chain 1, work 12 sc, attach the fifth gill with 3 sc, work 12 more sc, attach the sixth and final gill with 3 sc, slip stitch to join. [30] Checkpoint: three gills on each side, stacked in a vertical line with a plain round between each. The head is still an open cylinder at this stage.
• Round 11: Chain 1, (3 sc, 1 decrease) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [24]
• Round 12: Chain 1, 1 sc, 1 decrease, then (2 sc, 1 decrease) 5 times, then 1 sc, slip stitch to join. [18] Checkpoint: the opening should be drawing in noticeably now, and the head should read as a rounded dome with the gills standing out from the sides.

Attach the 16 mm safety eyes now, before you go any further. Place them between rounds 9 and 10, spaced about 8 single crochets apart, and push the plastic washers on firmly from the inside.

• Round 13: Chain 1, (1 sc, 1 decrease) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [12]
• Stuff the head firmly with polyfill.
• Round 14: Chain 1, 6 decreases all around, slip stitch to join. [6] Checkpoint: a tight pinch at the base of the head. This is the neck, and it should look almost closed.
• Round 15: Chain 1, 6 increases worked in the front loops only, slip stitch to join. [12]
• Round 16: Chain 1, (1 sc, 1 increase) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [18]
• Round 17: Chain 1, attach the first arm with 3 sc, work 7 sc, attach the second arm with 3 sc, work 5 sc to finish the round, slip stitch to join. [18]
• Rounds 18 to 20: Chain 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, worked for 3 rounds, slip stitching to join each round. [18] Checkpoint: a straight tube below the head with the arms sitting at the top of it, not angled forward or back.
• Round 21: Chain 1, attach the first leg with 3 sc, work 7 sc, attach the second leg with 3 sc, work 5 sc to finish the round, slip stitch to join. [18]
• Stuff the body firmly with polyfill.
• Round 22: Chain 1, (1 sc, 1 decrease) 6 times, slip stitch to join. [12]
• Round 23: Chain 1, (2 sc, 1 decrease) 3 times, slip stitch to join. [9]
• Round 24: Chain 1, (1 sc, 1 decrease) 3 times, slip stitch to join. [6]
• Add any last polyfill needed to keep the body plump.
• Round 25: Work 3 decreases, slip stitch into the next stitch and fasten off. [3] Checkpoint: the body should taper to a soft point that already looks like the start of a tail.
• Thread the tail end onto a yarn needle, weave it through the front loops only of the last 3 stitches, pull tight to close, then bury the end inside the body.

Tail Fin Detail

• Use the 4.25 mm hook and your accent yarn.
• Insert your hook into a stitch on the side of the tail, pull up a loop, and work a chain of 9 slip stitches following the contour of the tail.
• Chain 1 and turn your work.
• In the first stitch, work 1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 hdc and 1 sc all into that same stitch.
• Slip stitch into the next stitch.
• Repeat that flare and slip stitch sequence for a total of 4 flares along the chain.
• Fasten off, weave in the ends and secure them with a knot hidden inside the plushie. Checkpoint: four soft scallops running along one edge of the tail, standing slightly proud of the body rather than lying flat against it.

Pattern Note

The tail fin base is a chain of 9 slip stitches, but the flare sequence uses 2 stitches each and repeats 4 times, which comes to 8. That leaves one stitch spare at the end. It makes no difference to the finished look, so either stop after the fourth flare or squeeze in a fifth if your chain ran long. Nothing else in this pattern has a gap in it, and all the round counts hold up on paper.

Safety Eyes

The eyes go in at the end of round 12, positioned between rounds 9 and 10 with roughly 8 stitches between them. This has to happen while the head is still open, because once round 13 pulls the opening down to 12 stitches you cannot get a hand inside to push the washers on. Velvet hides the exact stitch positions, so mark both spots with scrap yarn before you commit. For any toy going to a child under three, skip the safety eyes entirely and embroider the eyes in black yarn after the head is stuffed and closed.

Assembly

There is no assembly in the usual sense, which is the whole point of this build. Every piece joins as you work. The order that matters is this: gills go on during rounds 6, 8 and 10 of the head, arms go on during round 17 and legs during round 21. Do not make the head first and leave the gills for later, because the attachment only works into a live round. Have all 6 gills and all 4 limbs finished and sitting beside you before you cast on the head. If a gill ends up crooked, unpick the 3 attaching stitches only and redo them.

Stuffing Guide

The head takes the most stuffing and wants to be firm, packed just short of the point where the stitches start to gap and show white polyfill through the velvet. Do it in small pinches rather than one big handful. The body wants firm too, but slightly softer than the head so the neck keeps its pinch. The gills stay completely empty, and so do the arms and legs. Over-stuffing shows up first at the widest part of the head, round 10, where the fabric goes shiny and the gills get pushed outward at an odd angle.

Troubleshooting

• Gills sitting flat against the head: they were attached with the seam facing the wrong way. Unpick the 3 stitches and rotate the gill before reattaching.
• Losing your place mid round: find the slip stitch join from the previous round. In velvet it is easier to feel than to see, so run a fingernail up the back of the work.
• Head coming out oval rather than round: usually uneven tension across rounds 4 and 5. Firm up your grip and it corrects itself by round 8.
• Stitch counts drifting on the head: the joined round means it is easy to work into the chain 1 by mistake. Skip it and work into the first true stitch.

Yarn Substitution and Size Scaling

Any number 4 yarn works here, though the finish changes a lot. Cotton gives sharper stitch definition and a firmer toy, and it will run smaller with the same hook. Chenille or velvet gives that soft blurred surface but hides your stitches. If you want a bigger axolotl, move up to a 6.5 mm hook and a chunkier yarn, and go up to 18 mm eyes so they stay in proportion. Going smaller with a 5.0 mm hook is fine too, but the 4.25 mm gills will then be nearly the same weight as the head, so drop to a 3.5 mm hook for those.

Colour and Customization Ideas

• Classic pale pink body with darker rose gills.
• Aqua body with cream gills for a calmer nursery palette.
• Lilac body with white gills and white tail fin.
• Speckled or self-striping yarn for the body, plain accent for the gills.
• Add a small embroidered smile in a single strand of black yarn under the eyes.
• Swap the 16 mm safety eyes for 12 mm if you prefer a gentler face.

Toy Safety

Safety eyes with washers are secure for older children but are never suitable for babies or toddlers who put things in their mouths. Embroider instead. Weave in every end and bury the knots inside the body where they cannot be picked at. Check the attachment points on the gills and limbs by giving each one a firm tug before the toy leaves your hands. Velvet yarn also sheds a little at first, so give the finished plushie a shake outdoors before wrapping it.

FAQ

• Can I use ordinary worsted yarn instead of velvet? Yes, and it is actually easier to see what you are doing. The toy will come out slightly smaller and firmer with the same hook, and the gills will hold their shape better than they do in velvet.
• Why joined rounds instead of a spiral? Because the gills and limbs attach at specific points, and a spiral makes those points drift sideways round after round. The join gives you a fixed back seam to measure from.
• My gills flop down instead of standing up. That is almost always understuffed tension in rounds 3 and 4 of the gill itself. Work those two rounds tighter on the next one and it will hold upright without any stuffing.
• Is this pattern safe for a newborn gift? With embroidered eyes, yes. The no sew construction is a real advantage here since there are no sewn seams that can loosen with washing or chewing.