For those of you who don’t know (I sure didn’t!) Appa is the much loved Sky Bison, a character from the anime series “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.
A friend of mine asked me to make a crocheted Appa as a surprise for her husband, so I thought I would share the crochet Appa pattern with you. He’s a really sweet little guy and I must say that I was a little sad to hand him over to my friend as I’d become quite fond of him!
Crochet Appa pattern
Requirements:
- Double knit/ light worsted yarn in white (body)
- Double knit/light worsted yarn in dark grey (ears, nose and horns)
- Double knit/ light worsted yarn in dark brown (face, tummy strip, feet)
- Double knit / light worsted yarn in tan (cheeks, back stripe and arrow)
- Safety eyes (size 7 mm)
- Stuffing
- Yarn needle
- Pins
- 3.75 mm crochet hook
Notes
Finished size: 27cm long, 10cm tall
For crochet abbreviations, click here
Parts of this pattern are worked in continuous rounds. Do not slip stitch to close a round unless otherwise instructed. For more tips on crocheting amigurumi and soft toys, look here
>> PIN NOW, MAKE LATER <<
Body (white)
Rnd 1. Mr 6 sc (6)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in each (12)
Rnd 3. [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] repeat around (18)
Rnd 4. [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat around (24)
Rnd 5. [sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat around (30)
Rnd 6. [sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat around (36)
Rnd 7 – 16. sc around (36)
Rnd 17. [sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] repeat once more, sc to end of rnd (42)
Rnd 18. sc around (42)
Rnd 19. sc in next 22 sts, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc 8, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc2tog (36)
Rnd 20. [sc in next 4 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (30)
Rnd 21. [sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (24)
Rnd 22 – 23. sc around (24)
Rnd 24. [sc in next 2 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (18)
Sl st and bind off, stuff
Tail (white)
Rnd 1. Mr 9 sc (9)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in ea (18)
Rnd 3. [sc in next 8 sts, 3 sc in next st] repeat (22)
Rnd 4. [sc in next 10 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat (24)
Rnd 5 – 6. sc around (24)
Rnd 7. [sc in next 10 sts, sc2tog] (22)
Rnd 8 – 18. sc around (22)
Rnd 19. [sc in next 10 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat (24)
Rnd 20. sc around (24)
Sl st and bind off
Attach the tail to the closed end of the body (make sure the body is the right way around with the hump at the top!). When you attach it, open the base slightly so that the fit is snug.
Underbelly strip (brown)
This strip is worked to fit the full length of Appa’s underbelly, from his neck right down to his tail.
R1. ch 7, sc into 2nd ch from hook, sc in remaining sts (6)
R2. ch 1, turn, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in last st (8)
R3. ch 1, turn, sc across (8)
Repeat step 3 (sc 8 sts) until the strip is long enough to reach from Appa’s neck to where his tail joins onto his body. Finish off the tail by doing the following:
R4. ch 1, sc2tog, sc 4, sc 2 tog (6)
R5. ch 1, sc across (6)
Repeat step 5 (sc 6 sts) until the underbelly strip covers all but the last 2cm of tail, then;
R6. ch 1, sc2tog, sc 2, sc2tog (4)
R7. ch1, turn, sc2tog, sc2tog (2)
Bind off, leaving a long tail for joining. Stitch the underbelly strip into place
Head (brown + white)
Rnd 1. In brown, mr 6 sc (6)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in ea (12)
Rnd 3. [sc in next st, 2 sc in next] repeat around (18)
Rnd 4. [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat around (24)
Rnd 5. [sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next] repeat around (30)
Rnd 6. [sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc next] repeat around (36)
Change to white
Rnd 7 – 12. sc around (36)
Rnd 13. [sc in next 4 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (30)
Rnd 14. [sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (24)
Rnd 15. [sc in next 2 sts, sc2tog] repeat around (18)
Sl st and bind off. Add safety eyes between round 4 and 5, approximately 5 stitches apart. Stuff.
Nose (dark grey)
R1. ch 4, sk 1 st, sc into next 3 sts, ch 1, turn (3)
R2. 2 sc in next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st (5)
R3. ch 1, turn, sc across (5)
Bind off.
Attach the nose to the centre of the face, between the eyes
Cheek patches (tan, x 2)
Rnd 1. Mr 5 sc (5)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in ea (10)
sl st and bind off, leave a tail for joining
Bar to join the cheek patches
R1. ch 8, sk 1, sc across
R2. ch 1, sc across
Bind off.
First attach the bar below the nose, then attach the cheek patches on either side of the bar.
Ears (dark grey and white, x 2)
Rnd 1. In white, mr 6 sc (6)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in each (12)
Sl st and bind off
Rnd 1. In grey, mr 7 sc, sl st and bind off
Place a grey and white circle together, wrong sides facing and stitch around. Fold the ear in half (with the grey in the centre) and do a few whip stitches at one end to create the ear shape.
Horns (dark grey, x 2)
ch 8, sl st into 2 ch from hook, sc into next st, [*2 sc into next st*, repeat 2 more times], sc in next st, sl st into last st and bind off.
Headband (white)
The head band is stitched across the top of Appa’s head
R1. ch 18, sc into 2 ch from hook, sc across (16), and 3 sc into last st
R2. Continue working into the other side of the ch and sc across (16 sts), 3 sc into the 17th st
R3. Continue on the other side and sc 17 sts around, 3 sc into the 18th sts
R4. sc around, sl st and leave a tail for joining
Pin the ears in place, then pin the headband over Appa’s forehead (covering the row where you did a color change from brown to white in the head). The ears need to be nicely tucked underneath the head band.
First stitch down the back of the headband and stop stitching approximately ½ cm from the edge of the head band. Then stitch the ears in place.
Then stitch the horns in place by tucking them underneath the back of flap the you left open when stitching the headband on. Once the horns and ears are in place, you can stitch down the 1cm flaps. Attach the head to the body (to the open end of the body).
Legs (brown + white, x 6)
Rnd 1. start in brown, mr 6 sc (6)
Rnd 2. 2 sc in ea st (12)
Rnd 3. sc around into bl only (12)
Rnd 4 – 10. change to white and sc around (12)
Only stuff halfway, sl st and bind off, leaving a tail. Use the yarn tail to stitch the top of the leg closed. Attach the legs (3 on either side) evenly along the side of the body.
Back detail
The arrow running down Appa’s back is made up of several parts, namely a triangle which sits on his head, a long strip for the main part of the arrow, a series of small side strips and the tail base.
Triangle (tan)
R1. ch 2, sk1 and 2 sc into ch (2)
R2. ch 1, turn, sc into next st, 2 sc into last st (3)
R3. ch 1, turn, sc into next 2 sts, 2 sc into last st (4)
R4. ch 1, turn, sc into next 3 sts, 2 sc into last st (5)
R5. ch 1, turn, sc into next 4 sts, 2 sc into last st (6)
R6. ch 1, turn, sc into next 5 sts, 2 sc into last st (7)
Bind off and leave a tail for joining. Carefully pin the triangle in place on the head, overlapping onto the headband (I placed mine 2 rows back from the edge of the head band.) Stitch in place.
Centre stripe (tan)
R1. ch 40, sc into 2 ch from hook, sc to end (39)
R2. ch 1, turn, sc to end
R3. ch 1, turn, sc to end
Bind off and leave a long tail for joining. Attach the stripe down the centre of the body.
Side stripes (body, tan, x 12)
There are 6 pairs of side stripes. 3 larger pairs that are sewn onto the body, 1 small pair that is sewn at the join of the tail and body, and 2 medium sized pairs that are sewn onto the tail.
Side stripes (body, x 6)
ch 8, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc into next 3 sts, hdc into next st, 2 dc into last st.
Sl st and bind off. Attach to body centre stripe, and in line with the legs.
Side stripes (tail join, x 2)
ch 3, sc into 2nd ch from hook, dc into last ch. Bind off. Sew into place.
Side stripes (tail, x 4)
ch 4, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next, dc in last st. Bind off. Sew into place.
Tail base (tan)
ch 8, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next, dc in next 3 sts, sc in next st, sl st into last st. Bind off and sew into place at the base of the back stripe.
Looking to crochet Appa a little friend? Here is my free crochet Momo pattern!
Yours in craft,
Caitie x
Thoresby Cottage is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Hello! On the decrease stitches, should I use a regular decrease or an invisible decrease?
Thanks so much!
You can use either! The invisible decrease will give a nice neat finish.
Thank you!
Hello!
I just wanted to thank for the Pattern, it is really well explained and I loved the result!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi! I just have two questions. I checked the abbreviations but I’m not sure what you mean by “bar” and whip stitches. Thanks for your time!
Thanks for the questions. The bar is referring to the small strip of crochet that joins the cheek patches (it isn’t a crochet stitch but rather a piece of crochet). Whip stitches are also not crochet stitches, but regular sewing stitches that you would use to join to pieces of crochet together. I hope that helps!
Hello! I am having trouble with R17. I can’t get the stitches to come out right. I have redone it 3 times and gotten 49, 43 and then 38 stitches. How do I fix this?
Hi! 🙂 Have you made sure that the preceding round has the correct number of stitches? I find that a stitch marker really helps. Also, make sure you are working continuous rounds rather than closing off each round as you go. Hope that helps!
Hello! Currently working on this pattern. I am using the same weight yarn and hook size, but I think my pieces are coming out in wrong proportions. I had thought my body and head were smaller than yours but thought it would be fine. However, now that Im working on the face pieces, they’re coming out too small and just don’t look right. Should I try to just increase my hook size? And if so, by how much?
Hello! Are you using the same brand of yarn for the different colors? Sometimes there can be slight variations in thickness across the different yarn brands…An easy way to check is to quickly work up one of the face pieces in the same yarn as the body and see if there is a difference in size. It is tricky to say if you need to make an adjustment without seeing the pieces you have worked. You are welcome to email through some pictures! Don’t forget that when you sew the pieces onto the face that it will add a little bulk. Depending on the yarn you are using, you can also block the face pieces to the correct size. Before going up a hook size, I would also try and adjust your tension. Hope those tips help!
I believe I know why people may be struggling with rnd 17 of the body. People are trying to repeat the pattern until the end of the round similar to what was done in the first few rnds, instead of doing the pattern only twice. It may help if it is clarified that this pattern is only done twice.
Thank you for this! I have updated the pattern 🙂
Hi I really like the pattern it was nicely done but I have a question is the dip supposed to be on the top or bottom of the body
Hi! Glad you like the pattern. The hump (And therefore the dip too) should be at the top of the body. It forms the hump or “shoulders”. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the amazing pattern! I have a question about the headband – Do you stitch the entire headband to the head, or do you leave the front open?
So glad you like the pattern! You can leave the front open and tuck the ears underneath.
Great pattern! Quick question – is the headband stitched to the ears? Also, is the front of the headband left unstitched, or is it all stitched down? Thanks!
Yes, you leave the front of the headband unstitched with the ears tucked underneath. If the headband doesn’t sit nicely, you can use some matching sewing thread to tack down any unruly bits!
Hello! I’m confused where to attach the tail. Is it nearer to the hump (where I ended the body) or further away (where i started the body)?
Hi! The tail gets attached further away from the hump (where you started the body). Hope that helps!
I love your pattern! I am just a bit confused about the largest side stripes. The pattern says to finish it with a slip stitch. In which stitch am I supposed to do it?
So glad you like the pattern! You can simply slst into the next st to finish off.
Thank you so so much for this pattern!! I made this for my friend’s birthday and they absolutely LOVED IT!!! Out of all the Appa patterns on the internet, this is by far the best-looking one and it’s FREE!! (Thank you so much for that.) As a beginner, this was the second project I’ve made and the instructions were so clear and easy to follow. Again, thank you SO MUCH and this pattern is AMAZING!! :))))
So glad that you enjoyed the pattern! Thank you for your lovely, kind words 🙂
Hi i got stuck in the body. I just dont understand round 17. Do you do sc in 3 sts and 2 sc in thr next 3 sts?
I just can get it to 42
I’ve written out rnd 17 in a different way here which may help! Essentially, you are doing 6 increases (36 + 6 = 42)
sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc in next 24 st.
Hey! I have a quick question about the body – should it be turned out to where you see the string from the mr? I can’t tell if it’s inside out or not. Thank you!
Hi there, it depends on how you have crocheted it, but amigurumi tend to turn inside out as you work in the round. An easy way to tell the inside from the outside, is that the little string from the magic ring should be on the inside. Hope that helps!
I’m from austria, so my first struggle was, to know what the acronyms meant. From there, it was a really good and easy instruction. Maybe you could put the explanation for the different stitches at the beginning.
Thanks for your patience! All of the pattern abbreviations can be found here: https://thoresbycottage.com/crochet-pattern-abbreviations/
im trying to make this for my sister and i still dont understand how to do round 17 for the head, could you please explain more on how to do the round? i have everything right, i just keep ending with way more than 42 sts.
Hmm, it’s tricky without seeing your work. I’m assuming you mean the body as the head doesn’t have 17 rounds… I’ve written out rnd 17 in a different way here which may help! Essentially, you are doing 6 increases (36 + 6 = 42)
sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc in next 24 st.
I had trouble with this too, but I found to increase from from 36st to 42st in rnd 17 that you SC in 5 stitches then inc in the next st, repeating until the end of rnd.
You can do this, but then you won’t get the nice hump! The idea is to cluster the increases around one area which gives the shaping. There are 6 increases worked within the first 12 stitches , and the rest is sc around.
Could you explain round 17 of the body? Every time I do the round I get more than 42.
This round has 6 increases (36 + 6 = 42). A few things to check: are you starting with 36 st for the previous round? Are you making sure to work continuous rounds? Hope that helps!
So far im loving this pattern my boyfriend and I were watching korra and saw a sky bison stuffy and we both said in unison omg I want one! So I’m making him one for Christmas lol I’m just a little stuck on the ears do you have anymore pictures of how that second step is done with the crocheting around the two circles and then a picture of the folding and attaching? Thanks so much for the pattern!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the pattern! Unfortunately I don’t have any more pictures, but I will describe it in a bit more detail here. First, to construct the ears, you place the grey and white pieces on top of each other (wrong sides touching each other with the right side of the crochet facing outwards). Then do whip stitches around the grey circle to join the two circles together. You should have a nice circle that is white on one side and has a smaller grey circle on the other side. Then, to shape the ear, you want to fold it in half, with the grey bit on the inside (like a half moon shape). With a scrap or yarn or yarn tail, simply sew together sew a few stitches – say 2 or 3, (through the front an back of the fabric) so that when you open up the circle, it is pinched together at one end. Hope that makes sense!
Hi! I’m a bit confused about the headband. Do you just do round 3 on one side of the chain, or do you repeat it? and if it’s just on one side, do you then do round four only on the other side, or all the way around?
Hi there, I can see how that can be confusing. The rounds/rows are worked almost as half rounds (or rows, in the round). i.e. from one end of the headband to the other, rather than all the way around to the starting stitch. So, for round 4 you will just work to the one end of the headband. I hope that makes sense!
It does! Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing, like you I didn’t know about this show until I was asked to make the avatar as a birthday present.. once again many thanks for sharing
Cathy
Thank you so much for posting this pattern Caitie, my brother just asked for this Appa thing and you’re pattern is the only one i could find, thank you for sharing it!! And for stumbling upon it in the first place! You’re a life saver lol
Muy generosa por compartir. Estoy entrando a un mundo nuevo de amigurumis contigo, Caitie.
Muchas gracias!
I just found this pattern to make the crochet appa. I just finished crocheting for the body Rnd 7. I do not understand what to do for Rnd 8 to Rnd 16? If you could help me out with this and explain it so I could understand it better. Thanks.
Hi Julie. For those rounds you simply work a single crochet in each stitch, around. Hope that helps!
Hey I love this pattern!! I’m from the UK and we use different terminology but I’m not sure what the american equivalents of each are, would you be able to clarify which are which? We normally use double crochet, increase and decrease? Also any chance of you making a video for this at some point? Would love to see it 🙂
So glad you like the pattern! This pattern is written using US terminology, which is slightly different (and can be jolly confusing!). Here are the conversions for you:
US sc = UK dc
US dc = UK sc
US sc2tog = UK dc decrease
US 2sc = UK dc increase
I’m not going to be making a video any time soon, but if you sign up to the newsletter then you will be kept up to date if that changes! 🙂
Thank you so much for this wonderful free pattern! It came out perfect and was easy to follow. Cheers!!
Hello Caitie! I love your Appa plushie pattern! Do you remember which yarn you personally used to make it? I love the colours of it and am also worried that the yarn I am planning on using will be too thin despite it being labeled as a DK yarn.
Hi Sharon, so glad you like the pattern! I used a local yarn called Elle Pure Gold DK. It is similar to Caron cotton cakes, although the Pure Gold is acrylic. I’d say go with the yarn that gives you the best color combo and then adjust your hook size (go down a hook or two) to accommodate the thinner yarn. Hope that helps!
Hello,
This is a really awesome pattern, and I’d love to try it.
Could you just please let me know how much yarn you needed? (in yards/meters?)
Thank you!
Hi! Unfortunately I don’t have the exact yardage for this pattern, but I can tell you that I didn’t use a full skein. In fact, you should be safe using half a 100g skein (so 150 meters or so).
I love this pattern! Quick question, do we attach the tail to the open end of the body?
So happy to hear you like the pattern! The tail is attached the closed end of the body (the rounds that you worked first). Happy stitching!
Hi! Dumb question, but this is my first time crocheting something like this! Are we supposed to stuff the tail before attaching it to the body? And do we attach it to the open end of the body? Thank you!
No worries! I didn’t stuff the tail (in my patterns I tell people when to add stuffing) as I didn’t want it to be too puffy, but if you want it to puff a bit more then you can stuff it lightly.
Sera que me regalas el video porfa
I don’t have any videos at this time I’m afraid!
Muchas gracias por compartir, lo pondré en práctica, bendiciones