Almanzo the Farmer Boy Premium Crochet Pattern

The perfect fall-themed doll—Almanzo the Amigurumi Farmer Boy—is here as a pattern on my blog! Almanzo is an adorable scarecrow-like amigurumi farmer boy who has on a cute pair of overalls and a shirt underneath.

Read on to learn more about my design process and inspiration. To make this doll, grab the beautifully formatted, ad-free, PDF pattern from Etsy here.

Design Process: Mistakes Were Made

I find that often when I’m designing a new project, my motivation comes in waves. The first wave comes when I first get my inspiration for a project (read more about my design process here). When this happens, it’s really exciting. I feel so much motivation that I usually immediately sketch out my project and figure out which colorways will work best. Then, I begin crocheting.

My second wave of motivation usually hits when I’m near the end, and I get really excited at the prospect of finishing a project and I can see the final result more clearly. However, sometimes halfway through the project, I’ll lose steam. Dolls take a particularly long time because I need to make the doll base first and then basically make an entire second layer of clothes and hair, so this stage can be a little tedious sometimes. Often, I’ll set this project aside and become distracted by yet another work-in-progress, or even have another great new idea (or two, or three).

This happens when sometimes I begin crocheting and then gradually realize that the shape isn’t exactly what I wanted, and then come to the realization that I need to redo the whole project. Frogging back is really disheartening, so I’ll usually set aside pieces that need to be redone, telling myself that “I’ll get back to them soon.” (Honestly, I think that this is just because I want to look at it for at least a few days and not feel like it was a whole waste of time)

In this case, I made the doll body of this amigurumi farmer boy about a month ago, and then set it aside. I had originally intended it to be a medieval-looking hunter guy (think Game of Thrones—I was inspired by this book character), but then quickly realized that I didn’t have enough variations of gray and brown yarn in my stash. In the meantime, I designed the princess doll, a baby deer, and then a bubble tea.

Finally, after I got tired of staring at the half finished doll on my desk (which, by the way, has very limited real estate) I decided to turn him into a little farmer boy, inspired by a different book, The Little House on the Prairie. I thought that a farmer boy or scarecrow would be the perfect fall themed amigurumi moving into September, et voilà! I think finishing the doll took around two days, compared to the month of me muddling around in the middle.

I guess the lesson here is, you never know when a mistake can be a blessing! As someone constantly trying to improve my designing skills, a lot of trial and error is involved which can be discouraging. But most recently, I had a would-be seal morph into a cute penguin, which is now one of my favorite patterns!

So Versatile!

Although I originally had this little farmer boy in mind as fall-themed decor, his cute outfit makes him perfect for all seasons. You could switch up the denim blue look for a more spring-like pastel or bold-colored summery look, or even make it into a Christmas sweater. I just love how the overalls look on him and think that he can be a really cute gift for a child, partner, or loved one.

As always, dolls are so cute because they can be custom made to fit anyone you know in real life or fictionally. I love the versatility of him as a potential gift option or as fan art for your favorite TV show or book.

All About Yarn

For this project I mainly used Schachenmayr Catania yarn. It works well for amigurumi because it’s really inexpensive but good quality, and I like that it’s sport weight so that the amigurumi can be more defined without losing softness.

Schachenmayr Catania also has a large range of colorways, so it’s perfect for those of us who need a million colors in the same yarn to make the perfect amigurumi! The yarn I used for the overalls was slightly thinner, but I have notes to account for that in the pattern.

A note on yarn substitution: there is a lot of variation between brands of yarn that are categorized as sport weight. The best way to compare skeins from different brands, fiber contents, and origins, is to look at the yardage per gram. This can be found on the yarn label on any ball or skein of yarn.

When blending yarns within one project, try to make sure that two given balls of yarn differ no more than 0.5 yards per gram from each other and that the gauge is similar.

Get The Pattern

• Get the ad-free, printable, PDF pattern on Etsy here!
• Pin this pattern to your Pinterest boards here:

Description

Almanzo the amigurumi farmer boy is a quick, cute, and customizable doll with overalls perfect for fall-themed decor or gifts. Dress him up as a scarecrow or a farmer or make him a mini-me for a boy who loves overalls. The possibilities are endless with this stash buster, so get started on the free crochet pattern now!

Abbreviations (US):

• MR: Magic ring
• Sc: Single crochet
• Ch: Chain
• Sl st: Slip stitch
• Yo: Yarn over
• Hdc: Half double crochet
• Dc: Double crochet
• Inc: Increase
• Dec: Decrease
• Sts: Stitches
• FO: Fasten off
• (…) x: Repeat stitches within parentheses … times
• Sk: Skip one stitch
• FSC: Foundation Single Crochet (tutorial here)

Tools and Materials: 

• 2.5-3.0mm crochet hook
• Tapestry needle and scissors
• Polyester fiberfill stuffing
• 6.0 mm safety eyes
• Blocking materials (optional)
  • Foam mats, pins, and steam iron
• Fabric glue for hair
• Schachenmayr Catania in Creme (<1 skein)
  • Sport weight beige yarn for skin—you can swap for any other skin color
• Schachenmayr Catania in Leinen (<1 skein)
  • Sport weight light brown yarn for shirt and patches
• Schachenmayr Catania in Royal  (<1 skein)
  • Sport weight dark blue for overalls
• Schachenmayr Catania in Loewenzahn (<1 skein)
  • Sport weight yellow yarn for hair
• Lion Brand DIYarn (scrap)
  • Worsted weight dark brown yarn for boots and also for eyebrows (this can be swapped for brown embroidery thread)
• Small blue buttons (optional)

I hope you like Almanzo the Farmer Boy! Please share your finished projects with me by tagging me on Instagram @littleworldofwhimsy. If you have trouble with the pattern, drop a comment down below or email me at littleworldofwhimsy@gmail.com.

For more doll patterns, check out:

• Kitsune the Fox Girl Doll
• Aurora the Princess Doll