If you’ve kept up with recent posts, you’ll know that we’re going to Japan in May. Since we’ll be gone for roughly two and a half weeks, we’ve asked my sister’s friend to water my plants and visit our dog Ollie while we’re travelling. To thank her for helping us out, I made her this little amigurumi dude!
This Shiba Inu Amigurumi measures to be about 4 inches tall.
My family used to own a black shiba inu named Max, so I have a special place in my heart for shiba inus. Before Max, I was terrified of dogs. But after meeting him for the first time, I was in love.
Max wasn’t the most affectionate and most well behaved dog, but we all loved him so much regardless. It wasn’t always easy to tell, but he definitely loved us too. He would howl whenever we came home because he was so happy to see us even though he was usually pretty silent.
When Max passed away, I cried daily for about a month. I’m sure that if you’ve lost a pet or someone dear to you, you’ll know how this feels. It’s been almost 6 years since he’s left us, and I still get a little choked up whenever I talk about him.
After Max passed away, I had a lot of regrets. I regretted not taking more photos of him, not spending more time with him, not taking him out for more walks and not taking the time to fully understand his needs. The guilt I felt from Max is the reason why Ollie basically lives like a king (and why we post weekly on his Instagram).
Max changed my life. He’s the reason I’m a dog person and I’ll always be grateful to him for that because being a dog person is such a huge part of my identity now.
Free Shiba Inu Amigurumi Crochet Pattern
If you can’t already tell at this point, this pattern feels very special and personal to me, so I hope you guys love it too. Anyway, sorry for the looong intro, feeling all sorts of emotions writing this post. We’ll get to the pattern now!
The difficulty level of this pattern is Easy and this pattern is written in US crochet terminology.
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*Note: I worked in continuous rounds (vs. joined rounds) unless otherwise stated.
Basic colour changing knowledge is required for you to be able to create this toy. Planet June has an amazing video tutorial on that.
TERMINOLOGY
st(s): stitch(es)
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
inc: two single crochet in one stitch
dec: invisible decrease, single crochet two stitches together through the front loops only
sl st: slip stitch
BLO: crochet only in the back loops (loop away from you) of each stitch
(…) 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
sc#: sc # times in the next stitch (I will bold this so that it’s easier to distinguish from #sc)
O: orange yarn
W: white yarn
THINGS YOU NEED
- Orange, White, Brown, & Pink Yarn (worsted weight)
- Brown Embroidery Thread
- 3.5mm Crochet Hook
- 6mm Safety Eyes
- Polyfill or Cotton for stuffing
- Scissors
- Darning Needle
- Stitch Marker
- Pins
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Head
starting with orange yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (inc) x 6 [12]
3 (sc, inc) x 6 [18]
4 (2sc, inc) x 6 [24]
5-6 sc in all sts [24]
7 (3sc, inc) x 6 [30]
8 O: 10sc, W: 2sc, O: 6sc, W: 2sc, O: 10sc [30]
9 O: 9sc, W: 4sc, O: 4sc, W: 4sc, O: 9sc [30]
10 O: 7sc, W: 16sc, O: 7sc [30]
11 O: 4sc, inc, 2sc, W: 2sc, inc, (4sc, inc) x 2, 3sc, O: sc, inc, 4sc, inc [36]
12 O: 8sc, W: 19sc, O: 9sc [36]
13 O: 4sc, dec, 2sc, W: 2sc, dec, (4sc, dec) x 2, 3sc, O: sc, dec, 4sc, dec [30]
14 O: 3sc, dec, 2sc, W: sc, dec, (3sc, dec) x2, 3sc, O: dec, 3sc, dec [24]
15 (2sc, dec) x 6 [18]
16 (sc, dec) x 6 [12]
Fasten off, stuff fully, close hole. Weave tail in.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Muzzle
with white yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (inc) x 6 [12]
3 (sc, inc) x 6 [18]
Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Ears
Make 2
with orange yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 sc in all sts [6]
3 (sc, inc) x 3 [9]
4 (2sc, inc) x 3 [12]
Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing. Sew the bottom end of the ears shut.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Nose
with brown yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
Sl st to the first st and fasten off, leave tail for sewing.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Body
starting with orange yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (inc) x 6 [12]
3 (sc, inc) x 6 [18]
4 (2sc, inc) x 6 [24]
5 (3sc, inc) x 6 [30]
6 (3sc, dec) x 6 [24]
colour changing rows:
7-8 O: 8sc, W: 8sc, O: 8sc [24]
9 O: 3sc, dec, 3sc (do not colour change the top of the stitch, see figure 1), W: 6sc, 2sc (switch the colour of the top of the sts to orange, see figure 2), O: 3sc, dec, 3sc [22]
10 O: 3sc, dec, 3sc, W: 6sc, O: 3sc, dec, 3sc [20]
11 O: sc, dec, 4sc, W: 6sc, O: 4sc, dec, sc [18]
switch back to orange yarn
12 18sc [18]
Fasten off, stuff, leave a long tail for sewing.
Figure 1 
Figure 2
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Front Legs
Make 2
starting with white yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 (sc, inc) x 3 [9]
3 BLO, sc in all sts [9]
switch to orange yarn
4 2sc, dec, sc, dec, 2sc [7]
5-9 sc in all sts [7]
Fasten off, lightly stuff, leave a long tail for sewing.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Hind Legs
starting with white yarn
1 Ch 4, sc2 in 2nd ch from hook, sc, sc3 in final ch, continuing on the other side: 2sc [8]
From this point on you will be working in the round.
2 BLO, sc in all sts [8]
switch to orange yarn
Left:
3 3sc, dec, turn
4 4sc, turn
5 inc, 3sc, turn
6 inc, 3sc, inc
Right:
3 dec, 3sc, turn
4 4sc, turn
5 3sc, inc, turn
6 inc, 3sc, inc
Fasten off, leave a long tail sewing.
Shiba Inu Amigurumi Tail
with orange yarn
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2-13 sc in all sts [6]
Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing.
Assembly
- Pin the muzzle onto the face, between the two white “hills”. The top of my muzzle is between rows 8 & 9. Sew into place.
- Pin the ears onto the top of the head, starting from between rows 2 & 3. Sew both into place.
- Pin the body to the head and sew in place.
- Pin the front legs to the front of the body and sew in place.
- Pin the back legs onto the back of the body and when you’re happy with the position of the legs, sew in place. When you are sewing it to the body, make sure you’re sewing all of the open edge to the body.
- Pin the open side of the tail to the back of the butt, sew around and sew in place. Curl the tail and thread the yarn through the curl and back. Do that a couple of times until it is secure, weave tail in.
- Sew the nose onto the top of the muzzle.
- Embroider a W under the nose with brown yarn.
- With the white yarn, embroider two lines above the eyes to create “eyebrows”.
- With pink yarn, embroider two lines on the cheeks for blush.
Congrats, you now have your very own Amigurumi Doge!
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!
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!
Hey! Love this pattern so much! Thank you for sharing it 🙂
But I don’t understand how I should make the ears…
There is only one step? I just don’t get how it should work with a slip stitch.
Hi Hildie! Thank you so much!
I believe you’re looking at the nose part of the pattern. I didn’t include a photo for that so it can be a little confusing, my bad!
The pattern for the ears is right above that and is as follows:
1 6sc in magic circle [6]
2 sc in all sts [6]
3 (sc, inc) x 3 [9]
4 (2sc, inc) x 3 [12]
Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing. Sew the bottom end of the ears shut.
Hope this helps!
Hey Abby! I was indeed looking at the wrong part, dumb me ahaha
Now I get it! 🙂
Thank you for the fast reply! I just looked through your website and love all your patterns and little writings, I hope to try more of your designs in the future (*´∀｀*)
Glad that helped! 🙂