Little Sheep- Little Nativity Mini Amigurumi Crochet Along Day 5

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*You can purchase the ad-free Ebook with all 12 patterns on Etsy or Ravelry

It is Day 5 of the Little Nativity Mini Amigurumi Crochet Along. Yesterday's pattern was a Little Shepherd, and what is a shepherd without a sheep? So today the Little Shepherd gets his Little Sheep. 

Typically when I make these mini amigurumi for the crochet alongs I don't worry about proportion at all, like in the woodland Christmas crochet along last year the little robin was the same size as the deer. I typically aim to have all of the pieces end up between about 3-5". With these Nativity pieces I have tried to have a little more proportion, although they are still little crocheted pieces so it is not perfect, but I want them to look right when put out together as a complete set. In this case I wanted to make sure that the little sheep was smaller than the donkey, and looked semi-proportional to the shepherd. As a result the sheep is the smallest piece in the set so far. All of the others have been about 4" tall, and the sheep is only about 2.5" tall. 

I often make my sheep with white wool and gray faces and legs, but this time I decided to switch it up and use tan (the same color I have used so far for the skin tone of the people) for the face and legs. I still used white for the wool, specifically I used Red Heart Super Saver in Soft White so it is a little bit less harsh of a white than the regular white, but not quite as cream as something like an aran. 

The little sheep is made using alternating single and double crochet stitches to make the bumpy texture on the wool. One quick note about that- The alternating stitches do make slightly larger holes between stitches than you would normally get in amigurumi when working with only single crochet stitches. It doesn't end up being a huge deal because the stuffing is also white so it doesn't show through, however if you were to make a little black sheep I would highly recommend using dark colored stuffing or you will likely see little bits of white showing between stitches. 

The Little Sheep joins Mary, Joseph, a Donkey, and the Shepherd as the first 5 of the 12 patterns in this set. Tomorrow will be day 6, the halfway point.  

*You can purchase the ad-free Ebook with all 12 patterns on Etsy or Ravelry

How to Crochet a Little Sheep

Finished Size about 2.5" tall 

You will need:

• Worsted weight yarn in 2 colors- wool color (white, off-white, or black) and body color (tan, cream, black, or dark gray) (Sample made with Red Heart Super Saver in Soft White, and Loops & Threads Impeccable in Almond)
• G crochet hook (4/4.25 mm)
• 2- 6mm safety eyes
• black embroidery floss and needle
• stuffing
• yarn needle
• stitch markers
• scissors

Instructions: 

The head/body and legs are made beginning with a magic ring. The ears, and tail are made by making a chain and then working into that chain. The wooly part of the body uses alternating single and double crochet stitches to make the bumpy texture, you may need to sort of force the double crochets toward the outside by pushing then forward when you make the single crochet next to it. The texture is subtle but helps the body look more wooly. 

 

Head/Body

Make 1 starting with body color (tan) and switching to wool color (white) where indicated, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next] repeat around (9 sc)

Round 3: 1 sc in each st (9 sc)

Round 4: 2 sc in each st (18 sc)

Add safety eyes between rounds 3 and 4 with a few (3-4) stitches in between 

Stitch a Y shape on the face to make a nose and mouth (over round 1)

Switch to white yarn

Round 4: [sc in first st, dc in next st] repeat around (9 sc, 9 dc)

Round 5: sc in first st, [sc in next st, dc in next st] repeat around (10 sc, 8 dc)

Round 6: [sc in first st, dc in next st] repeat around (9 sc, 9 dc)

Round 7: sc in first st, [sc in next st, dc in next st] repeat around (10 sc, 8 dc)

Round 8: [sc in first st, dc in next st] repeat around (9 sc, 9 dc)

Round 9: sc in first st, [sc in next st, dc in next st] repeat around (10 sc, 8 dc)

 

Begin stuffing and continue stuffing as you work

Round 10: [sc2tog, dc in next st] repeat around (6 sc, 6 dc)

Round 11: sc2tog around (6 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

 

Ears 

Make 2 in body color (tan), beginning with chain

ch 4

Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, hdc in next, sc in last st (2 sc, 1 hdc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Stitch the 2 ears hanging down to the side of the face on each side 

Tail 

Make 1 in wool color (white), beginning with chain 

ch 4

Row 1: hdc in third ch from hook, sc in last st (1 hdc, 1 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Stitch the tail to the back of the body

Legs 

Make 4 with body color (tan), beginning with magic ring 

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 1 sc in each st (6 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Stitch the four legs onto the bottom side of the body, two in front and two in back.