Worked on the glider, counted out loud —
A two-color kiwi bird amigurumi with a popcorn stitch detail. About 4-6 hours, good for confident beginners.
You know those quiet stretches where you want your hands busy but your mind free to wander? This little kiwi bird is made for exactly that. It's a good pick if you've made an amigurumi or two already and want something with a bit more character than a plain round body, but nothing so fussy you need a chart in front of you the whole time.
The two-color setup here is an easy place to experiment. Try swapping which color goes where — a darker main body with a bright beak color reads very differently from the reverse, and since the beak is worked entirely separately in Rounds 2 through 5 of its own four-round sequence, you can test colors without touching the body at all. If you want a bigger bird, working the same stitch counts in a bulkier yarn with a larger hook will scale things up without changing a single round. For a smaller, pocket-sized version, drop to a finer yarn and a smaller hook and expect the eighteen- and thirty-stitch rounds to come out noticeably tighter. The popcorn stitch detail in Round 14 is also worth playing with — repeat it in a third color for a speckled effect, or work it in the main color instead of the contrast if you'd rather keep the color change subtle. And if you're making more than one, varying the eye size between the nine millimeter called for and the 12 mm option used here gives each bird a slightly different expression, which is a nice way to make a pair feel like individuals rather than duplicates.
There's something satisfying about a body that doesn't need a separate head sewn on later — the Head and Body section is worked as one piece, so you skip that fiddly seam entirely. The color swap partway through Continuing with the Body, where you drop the main color mid-stitch for a popcorn stitch and then pick it back up, is the kind of small technical moment that makes a plain round of single crochet feel like you're actually making something. And the beak, worked separately in a second color and sewn on between the safety eyes, gives you a tidy little project-within-a-project — quick to finish, immediately recognizable, and the piece that makes the whole bird read as a kiwi rather than just a round blob.
The rounds, in full
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Everything this one takes, in the order you will reach for it.
Cut a short tail, use a needle to weave in the end, and close up the hole.
Creating and Attaching the Beak: In the second color, start with four sc in a magic circle.
Round 17 (Final Round): Six decreases.
Creating and Attaching the Beak:: In the second color, start with four sc in a magic circle.
Round 2:: One increase, followed by three sc.
Rounds 3-5:: Five sc each round (Alternatively, 15 sc consecutively).
Leave a tail long enough for sewing and attach the beak between the safety eyes.
Work with a 3.5 millimeter hook and keep your tension on the snug side throughout — amigurumi stitches that are too loose will let stuffing show through, especially around the smaller early rounds of the head.
The color change on Round 14 happens mid-stitch, not at the start of the round, so swap colors before completing the last pull-through of the ninth stitch rather than after it.
Stuff as you go rather than leaving it all for the end — once you're past the increases into the straight rounds of the body, it's much easier to pack stuffing firmly before the opening narrows.
Original pattern: https://crocheteverything.com/crochet-kiwi-bird-amigurumi-pattern/
the ones that come up on the glider
You can, but going up or down will change the size of your finished bird and may leave gaps for stuffing to peek through if you size up too much. If you do change hooks, work a small swatch first to check your stitches stay tight enough to hide the fiberfill.
No — the pattern calls for nine millimeter eyes, and the 12 mm pair was only used because the yarn worked up thicker than expected. Choose whichever size looks proportionate once you've got a few rounds of the head worked up.
The second color is used for the beak, which is only a few small rounds, plus the popcorn stitch detail and color swap in Round 14, so you'll need far less of it than the main body color. A small amount set aside before you start should be plenty.
Leave a long enough tail when you finish the beak's rounds so you have plenty to sew with, then position it between the safety eyes before stitching it down. Pin it in place first if you want to check the placement before committing.
You could substitute a simple single crochet in its place, though you'd lose the raised texture the pattern is going for at that point in the body. It's worth practicing the popcorn stitch on a scrap first since it's only used in that one spot.
Sunday evening, from the glider —
A pattern and a note from the glider, most weeks.
That was the last round. Would you like the letter when the next one goes up?