**UPDATE (12/30/20): The pattern has been updated to include more photos. Some slight changes have been made to the way the pattern is worked up, but your final item will look the same.
Happy Chinese New Year!
Whenever Chinese New Year rolls around, you start seeing these bold, red lanterns popping up everywhere. So to decorate our home a little during this festive time, I have decided to create my own little Chinese Lantern pattern.
You can make your own to decorate your house with (it’ll look adorable hanging on a door knob), or you can make it as an accessory for your amigurumi toys.
Free Chinese Lantern Ornament Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

This pattern is written in US crochet terminology. The difficulty level of this pattern is Easy. The finished ornament (not including the hanging part) measures to be about 3.5 in (8.25 cm) tall.
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Gauge
5 Round Circle = 1.5” with a 3.25mm (D) hook
Note: If you are working with an x-stitch (yarn under single crochet), you will need to go up a couple hook sizes. I recommend using a 3.5mm hook.
Gauge isn’t super important for amigurumi, but I included it just in case you want to check your gauge. Being a little off should not affect the final product too much. You can learn more about how to measure gauge for amigurumi here!
Yarn I Used
I used Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran for this ornament, but you can use any soft cotton yarn as long as you correspond your hook to the weight of your yarn. You can also easily size down your lantern by using a lighter weight yarn (lantern pictured above is made with WeCrochet Shine Sport & 2.75mm crochet hook).
List of colours I used: Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran- 7g of Pillar Red & 1g of Buttercup Yellow. WeCrochet Shine Sport– 5g of Serrano & 2g of Dandelion.
The thread I am using for this Lantern is Curio #10 from WeCrochet in Tumeric. You can also just use embroidery floss.
*Please note that this pattern is worked in continuous rounds unless otherwise stated.
THINGS YOU NEED
- Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Pillar Red and Buttercup Yellow
- Gold or Yellow Embroidery Thread (I’m using Curio #10 in Tumeric from WeCrochet)
- 3.25mm Crochet Hook
- Polyfil Stuffing
- Scissors
- Darning Needle
- Stitch Marker
- Pins
TERMINOLOGY
st(s): stitch(es)
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
inc: two single crochets in one stitch
dec: invisible decrease- single crochet two stitches together through the front loops only
YO: yarn over
sc2tog: single crochet two together: (insert hook into the next st, YO, draw up a loop) x 2, you should have 3 loops on your hook. YO and draw it through all 3 loops on your hook.
(…) x #: repeat anything in the parenthesis however many times the number indicates
[#]: total number of stitches for that row
#sc: one sc in the following # stitches
BLO: crochet only in the back loops (loop away from you) of each stitch
Chinese Lantern

with Pillar Red yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (inc) x 6 [12]
3 (sc, inc) x 6 [18]
4 sc, inc, (2sc, inc) x 5, sc [24]
5-6 sc in all sts [24]
7 (3sc, inc) x 6 [30]
8 sc in all sts [30]
9 (3sc, dec) x 6 [24]
10 sc, dec, (2sc, dec) x 5, sc [18]
11 (sc, dec) x 6 [12]
Fasten off, stuff fully, and close hole. Leave a long tail (~12” long) that will become the part you hang your lantern with.
Top of the Chinese Lantern

with Buttercup Yellow yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (inc) x 6 [12]
3 BLO, (sc, sc2tog) x 4 [8]
Fasten off, seamless join in the round, and leaving a tail for sewing.
Bottom Piece of the Chinese Lantern
with Buttercup Yellow yarn
1 6sc in magic circle, sl st to 1st sc [6]
Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing.
Bottom Fringe
- Wrap the embroidery thread around your fingers 18 times, making sure to hold the end at the bottom by your pinky.
- Cut the loops along your pinky so that you end up with 18 strands of thread.

- Gather 3 strands of pre-cut thread and fold the bundle in half. Insert your hook (it helps to use a smaller hook) into the front loop of any stitch of the bottom piece and pull the middle of your thread bundle through to form a loop.
- Wrap the tail ends around the hook and pull it through the loop on your hook to create a cow hitch knot. See photos below.

Assembly
- Embroider in the lines on the Lantern with embroidery thread by diving the lantern into 8 segments See video tutorial if you want to see how I embroider the lines in (see video tutorial above).

- Weave the yarn tail of the Lantern through the centre of the bottom of the Lantern and out the top.
- Fold the yarn tail down to create a long loop then tie a double knot as close to the Lantern as possible to create the loop for hanging. Trim off the excess tail.

- Insert the hook into the centre of the top piece, from the top down. Pull the hanging loop through the centre of the top piece.
- Pin the top piece to the top of the Lantern, and when you are happy with the position of the top piece, sew it in place.
- Pin the bottom piece to the bottom of the Lantern and comb the fringe downwards with your fingers. Sew the bottom piece in place.
- Trim the fringe to adjust the length and to make it look neater.

Thank you for following along with this pattern! Please leave me a comment down below (or contact me) if you have any questions about this pattern. I would also love to see your creation so don’t forget to tag me (@olliehollycrochet) on Instagram or use the #olliehollycrochet! Please let me know in the comments what you would like to see next!
[If you would like to see more Chinese New Year 2019 related patterns, check out my Year of the Pig pattern on the blog and check out the Chinese New Year Pig in the Shop!]
You may sell products made from this pattern but please clearly credit the design to me, Abby Sy of Ollie + Holly and provide a link to my blog www.OllieHolly.com. Permission is NOT granted for mass production or factory manufacturing of any kind. Thank you for being respectful and for your understanding!

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