I couldn’t resist the purple pidgeon fever that invaded Facebook. I had no idea of where it came from but I read this article. So, the purple pidgeon is an illustration by Syd Weiler intended as a Facebook add-on that went viral thnks to some internet magic. Soooo, this is my precious omage to this viral sweetie. Here you go, with TrashDove, the social Pidgeon.

PRELIMINARY NOTE

If you are willing to make one of these, please do not steal my pattern. You can share it and sell the products of your work: just link this page in the detail! If you have Instagram (or Facebook), use @1nstayarn (or @InstaYarn in case of FB) to let me know about your work. I would so appreciate it!

QUEUE #TRASHDOVE ON RAVELRY BEFORE YOU GET STARTED!

Suggested materials

These are just suggestions about the materials. Keep in mind that resizing the hook and the yarn accordingly, you will get a bigger or smaller amigurumi.

• E hook (3,5mm)
• Some aran yarn – I used Martifil 7978 (purple, lilac, orange, yellow)
• Safety pin (to keep count of the rounds)
• 2 x 20mm eyes
• Scissors
• Tapestry needle
• Polyfil fiber
• Pins to build the amigurumi

Are you searching for some supplies? I buy my stuff on Amazon!

BUY KIT ON AMAZON

BUY KIT ON AMAZON

BUY POLYFILL ON AMAZON

BUY COTTON YARN ON AMAZON

Stitches US terms (and abb.)

• Magic Ring (MR — nice and neat tutorial > QUI)
• Chain Stitch (Ch)
• Single Crochet (SC)
• Half-Double Crochet (HDC)
• Double Crochet (DC)
• Slip Stitch (Sl;St)
• Stitch (st)
• Increase, 2 SC in the same SC (INC)
• Decrease, work together 2 SC from the previous round using just backloops (DEC)

The amigurumi pattern

Work in rounds. I place the safety pin in the last stitch of every round so I have to keep count just of the current one. We’ll build the amigurumi bottom up. Some parts are plain and not in rounds.

LEGS (make 2)

With ORANGE

1. Start with Ch 8
2. Make 1 SC on the second chain from hook, make another on the next one and join with a sl;st with the next ch. (you get the first “finger”)
3. Ch 3
4. Make 1 SC on the second chain from hook, make another on the next one and join with a sl;st with the base chain of the first finger. (you get the first “finger”)
5. (here you have your second “finger”)
6. Ch 3
7. Make 1 SC on the second chain from hook, make another on the next one and join with a sl;st with the base chain of the first finger. (you finally get the last “finger”)
8. SC down to the beginning of the starting chain
9. Leave some yarn to sew the legs to the body

BODY

With PURPLE

• Begin with a MR
• 1° round: 6 SC in ring [6 stitches]
• 2° round: 2 SC in each stitch around [12 stitches]
• 3° round: *1 SC in next st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [18 stitches]
• 4° round: *2 SC in next 2 st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [24 stitches]
• 5° round: *3 SC in next 3 st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [30 stitches]
• 6° round: *4 SC in next 4 st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [36 stitches]
• 7°, 8°, 9°, 10° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [36 stitches]
• 11° round: *4 SC in next 4 st, 1 DEC* repeat around [30 stitches]
• 12° round: *3 SC in next 3 st, 1 DEC* repeat around [24 stitches]
• 13°, 14°, 15° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [24 stitches]
• 16° round: *2 SC in next 2 st, 1 DEC* repeat around [18 stitches]
• Begin to stuff the body
• 17° round: *1 SC in next st, 1 DEC* repeat around [12 stitches]
• 18°, 19° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [12 stitches]
• Stuff again with polyfil
• 20° round: *1 SC in next st, 1 DEC* repeat around [8 stitches]
• 21° round: Flatten the ending cylinder. Make 3 SC to close the hole (see picture below).
• 22° round (the “butt”): Make Ch 1 and turn. Make 3 DC on the first st, 1 st;st on the next and again 3 DC on the last one. Close the bottom with a sl;st on the last st
• Fasten off and weave in ends

WINGS (make 2)

With LILAC

1. Ch 6
2. SC 1 on the second chain from hook, HDC 1 on the next and 2 DC on the next 2 chains.
3. DC 6 in the last chain
4. Rotate the wing and work the reverseon the bottom of the starting chain. DC 2 on the first 2 stitches, HDC 1 in the next one and SC in the last one
5. Ch 1 and join with a sl;st to the first SC from row 1
6. Leave long tail for sewing

BEAK

With ORANGE

• Begin with a MR
• 1° round: 6 SC in ring [6 stitches]
• 2° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [6 stitches]
• Join with a sl;st to the next st and fastel off
• Leave a long tail for sewing

EYES (make 2)

After hundreds years I found the perfect eye kit!

COMPRA IL KIT SU AMAZON

With YELLOW

• Begin with a MR (if you use safety eyes do not pull too tightly the ring)
• 1° round: 6 SC in ring [6 stitches]
• 2° round: 2 SC in each stitch around [12 stitches]
• 3° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [12 stitches]
• Insert the eye in the center hole of the magic ring. I had to add 2 SC in round to cover perfectly the eye size
• When you are satisfied with the shape, join with a sl;st to the next st and fasten off
• Leave a short tail so you can hide the yarn in the head

HEAD

With LILAC

• Begin with a MR
• 1° round: 6 SC in ring [6 stitches]
• 2° round: 2 SC in each stitch around [12 stitches]
• 3° round: *1 SC in next st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [18 stitches]
• 4° round: *2 SC in next 2 st, 1 INC in nex st* repeat around [24 stitches]
• 5°, 6°, 7°, 8°, 9° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [24 stitches]
• 10° round: *2 SC in next 2 st, 1 DEC* repeat around [18 stitches]
• 11°, 12° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [18 stitches]
• Place the eyesPiazzare gli occhi. I placed them esternally so the pidgeon could look veeeery “smart”
• Start stuffing with polyfill
• 13° round: *1 SC in next st, 1 DEC* repeat around [12 stitches]
• 14°, 15°, 16°, 17° round: 1 SC in each stitch around [6 stitches]
• Keep stuffing
• 18° round: the collar. Make a sl;st in the last stitch from round 17.
  *3 DC in next st, 1 sl;st in the next one* and repeat until the end of the current round. You will end with a sl;st
• Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing the head to the body

ASSEMBLING AND DETAILS

Now that we have all the parts, we can build TrashDove. Befor the sewing part, I try up some configuration with pins. The head could be a little heavy so you need a perfect center placement if you want the amigurumi to stay up and not down. The parts have directions, so you have to use the plumed bottom as a reference for the rest. First thing first: place the head and pin it safely. The rest will come along using some simmetries.

Place the beak on the first decrease weave, in the center of the “smarty” eyes. Ok, now pin the wings aaaaand, there’s no part left. Congratulations!

Sew the parts and there you have it! TrashDove, the social Pidgeon.

TrashDove (The Social Pidgeon)