Thursday 10 September 2015

Dwarf amigurumi pattern


My latest pattern, to make a selection of crochet Dwarves, is finally finished. I started working on this pattern nearly two years ago, but it kept getting put aside for other projects, and I rather lost the urge to get on with it. Then recently, when I was deciding which pattern to work on next, I looked at the one dwarf I had already made, and figured I might as well finish what I'd started and design a few more companions for him. Once I got started I really enjoyed coming up with different looks for the dwarves, and was very glad that I had chosen to work on this pattern!




I made five different dwarves, two female and three male, with all sorts of different looks and accessories. They fit with my other fantasy amigurumi characters, the slightly taller Elves and the smaller Halflings. Dwarves are another classic fantasy race, originally found in Norse and Germanic myths, that have become solidified in modern imagination from books such as The Hobbit and C. S. Lewis' stories of Narnia. They now feature in all sorts of films, books, and especially role playing games, both computer ones and table-top versions such as Dungeons and Dragons.


Dwarves are usually portrayed as being short and stocky, with impressive beards. Female dwarves do not appear so much in literature and film, and so there is no tradition of how they appear. Sometimes, as in Terry Pratchett's Discworld, they are indistinguishable from male dwarves, but games usually show them as bare faced. They don't feature except as background characters in Peter Jackson's Hobbit films, but I was interested to see that he gave them just hints of facial hair. I made my female dwarves without beards, just to show what they'd look like, and so as not to hide the different shape of their bodies, but there's no reason they couldn't have beards as well.


Most stories about dwarves tend to agree that they live underground, and are experts at mining and working metal. They are usually considered to be tough, and good at fighting, so I made my dwarves with warm, practical clothes (mostly crocheted as part of their bodies), including leather belts and wrist guards. I also included extra items that are made separately, such as a sleeveless coat, a simple cloak and a warm hat.




The pattern contains all the details to make these five characters, with different clothes, three different hairstyles (pulled back, loose, and spiky and shaved at the sides), and two sizes of beard. You can also make armour and weapons for them - there is a pattern for a helmet, with or without wings, a round shield, an axe and a war hammer.




You can buy this pattern from Etsy, Ravelry or LoveCrochet. Use all these details to make a dwarf look the way you want, by mixing and matching the different elements and accessories. If anyone makes one themselves, I'd love to see what your dwarf looks like!

10 comments:

Tsukeeno's said...

They are lovely! Are dwarfs supposed to be this cute? haha ;)

LucyRavenscar said...

Yes, but don't tell them or they get grumpy! Thanks, I'm really pleased you like them :)

Margaret said...

Your dwarves are amazing with all the details. My compliments for you.

Have a great day, Margaret

LucyRavenscar said...

Thank you Margaret!

Lenolan said...

The dwarfs are looking absolutly fantastic. Every year I crochet a member of the Fellowship for my niece. I had your patterns for the Hobbits and for the elves. This time I did Gimli. But your pattern wasn't for sale, yet. So I improvised on your previous patterns. I came out with this: goo.gl/CZBNmU
I think there are similarities, but yours are a better fit to the other patterns. Your beard design are absolutly marvelous.

LucyRavenscar said...

Thank you, your Gimli looks great! I've tried to design my dwarf pattern based on all sorts of versions of dwarves, so none of them look exactly like Gimli, but I really like yours.

Khadin Lankalabyrintti said...

Hi Lucy!
I just love your crochet patterns, at the moment I'm crocheting your pattern for Grey Totoro amigurumi :) I would be interested to translate the pattern to Finnish and share with my blog readers, if you are okay with it? If it's not I totally understand. I'm from Finland and here are many interested in crochet amigurumis etc. but they can't read english descriptions. I'd, of course, give you all the credit for the pattern :) You can visit my knit/crochet blog here: http://lankalabyrintti.blogspot.fi/

Hugs, Khadi

LucyRavenscar said...

Hi Khadi,

Thank you! I would be very happy for you to translate the Grey Totoro pattern and put it on your blog (which looks lovely, by the way). Let me know when you've done it and I'll put the details on Ravelry so people will be able to find it in the future.

All the best,

Lucy

Meggie said...

Beautiful work :)

LucyRavenscar said...

Thank you!