Animal Crossing Crocheted Player

We got a Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Christmas last year. One of my kids has been asking me to make him "his man" (his player on the island). He is delighted with the final result and I documented the process so I could share it with others. You can change the colours of yarn you use to get different looks (change your skin, hair, shirt colour, etc)

To make this project you will need:

yarn (skin colour, hair colour, shirt colour, shorts colour, sock colour, shoe colours)

white felt

fabric glue

black Sharpie marker

coloured Sharpie marker for the eye colour of choice

crochet hook

sewing needle

stuffing

You will also need to know how to read a crochet pattern.

Head:
Rnd 1: Using skin colour yarn, MR 6 (6)

Rnd 2: Inc around (12)

Rnd 3: [sc, inc] around (18)

Rnd 4: [sc 2, inc] around (24)

Rnd 5: [sc 3, inc] around (30)

Rnd 6: [sc 4, inc] around (36)

Rnd 7: [sc 5, inc] around (42)

Rnds 8-14: Sc around (42)

Rnd 15: [sc 5, dec] around (36)

Rnd 16: [sc 4, dec] around (30)

Rnd 17: [sc 3, dec] around (24)

Rnd 18: [sc 2, dec] around (18)

Rnd 19: [sc, dec] around (12)

* Stuff the head.

Rnd 20: [sc, dec] around (8)

Rnd 21: Working in flo, sc around (8)

Rnd 22: Inc around (16)

Upper Body (Shirt):

Switch yarn to shirt colour. Cut skin colour yarn.

Rnd 23: Using shirt colour, [sc, inc] around (24)

Rnd 24-26: Sc around (24)

Rnd 27: [sc 3, inc] around (30)

Rnd 28-30: Sc around (30)

Rnd 31: [sc 4, inc] around (36)

Rnd 32: Sc around (36)

Rnd 33: Working in flo, sc around (36) *We will come back to this round later to work into the back loops

Rnd 34: Sc around (36) F/O and cut shirt colour yarn with tail to weave in later.

Shorts
Switch to shorts colour yarn. Go back to the beginning of round 33 of the upper body, and look inside the body. There will be a line of back loops left over from when we worked into the front loops previously. Attach the yarn to one of these loops and ch 1.

Rnd 1: [sc 4, dec] around (30)

We will now form the separation of the legs. Currently we have 30 stitches to work with. Sl st into the 1st st of the round. Place st marker in next st. Ch 4. Now count your way around your rnd 1 sts to skip 14 stitches (starting with and including the marked st). Sl st into the 15th st from round 1. Place a marker in the st to the right of the sl st you just made. This has formed the separation of the legs. The next leg round will be formed by working into 14 stitches of the previous and by working down half of dividing chain of 4 stitches (18 stitches to work in). The 2 stitches that we slip stitched into when forming the separation of the legs will not be working into. Place stitch markers into the stitches on either side of the last slip stitch made when dividing the legs. This will help mark your starting points for each leg.

Take out one of your stitch markers to begin a leg. When you are done the first leg you can follow these instructions again to form the second leg.

Rnd 2: Sc 14 in rnd 1 sts. Sc 4 working in 1 side of the dividing ch. (18)

Rnds 3-6: Sc around (18)

Rnd 7: Working in flo, sc around (18) *We will come back to this round later to work into the back loops

Rnd 8: Sc around (18) F/O and cut shorts colour yarn with tail to weave in later.

Legs

Switch to skin colour yarn. Go back to the beginning of round 7 of the legs, and look inside the leg. There will be a line of back loops left over from when we worked into the front loops previously. Attach the yarn to one of these loops and ch 1.

Rnd 9: [sc, inc] around (12)

Rnd 10: [sc, inc] around (9)

Rnds 11-13: Sc around (9)

Socks

Switch to sock colour yarn.

Rnd 14-15: Sc around (9)

Shoes

The shoes can be two different colours. Start with the colour that you want for the top of the shoe, then switch to the colour that you want for the bottom of the shoe when the instructions tell you to.

Left Shoe: (the character’s left foot)

Switch to shoe colour yarn. You will now work back and forth in rows to form the top of the shoe.

Row 1: Sc 4 (4)

Row 2: Ch 1 & turn. Inc, sc, inc (5)

Row 3: Ch 1 & turn. Sc across (5)

Row 4: Ch 1 & turn. Dec, sc, dec (3)

You will now be moving back into rounds to form the sides of the shoe.

Rnd 5: Ch 1 and turn. Sc 3 across the top of row 4. Sc 3 down the side of the previous rows. Sc into the 5 sock stitches from rnd 15 and sc into the 1 leftover stitch from row 1. Sc 3 up the side of the previous rows to get back to the starting point of the round (15)

Switch to shoe bottom colour yarn.

Rnd 6: Sc around (15)

Rnd 7: Working in blo, dec 7, sc (8)

F/O and use long tail to sew closed the opening at the bottom of the shoe.

Right Shoe: (the character’s right foot)

Switch to shoe colour yarn. You will now work back and forth in rows to form the top of the shoe.

Row 1: Ch 1 and turn. Sc 4 (4)

Row 2: Ch 1 & turn. Inc, sc, inc (5)

Row 3: Ch 1 & turn. Sc across (5)

Row 4: Ch 1 & turn. Dec, sc, dec (3)

You will now be moving back into rounds to form the sides of the shoe.

Rnd 5: Ch 1 and turn. Sc 3 across the top of row 4. Sc 3 down the side of the previous rows. Sc into the 5 sock stitches from rnd 15 and sc into the 1 leftover stitch from row 1. Sc 3 up the side of the previous rows to get back to the starting point of the round (15) Switch to shoe bottom colour yarn.

Rnd 6: Sc around (15)

Rnd 7: Dec 7, sc (8)

F/O and use long tail to sew closed the opening at the bottom of the shoe.

Arms (make 2)

Sleeve
Using shirt colour, ch 4. Make sure you leave a long tail at the beginning, you can use it to attach the arm to the body later.

Row 1: Turn. Sc across (3)

Row 2: Ch 1 & turn. Inc across (6)

Row 3: Ch 1 & turn. Sc 2, inc 2, sc 2, ch 4 (8)

*Bend the piece so that you can start working in the next stitch into the first stitch from row 3. Going forward the arms will be worked in rounds.

Rnd 4: Working in the flo, sc around (12) You will be moving back here later to work into the back loops.

Rnd 5: [sc 3, inc] 2 times (10) Finish the round here. You will not be working into all the sts from the previous round.

F/O and cut yarn with tail to weave in.

Arm/Hand

Switch to skin color yarn. You are going to be working in the back loops of rnd 3 inside of the sleeve. Attach yarn to the first back loop of the round.

Rnd 6: [sc, dec] around (8)

Rnd 7: [sc 2, dec] around (6)

Rnds 8-12: Sc around (6)

Rnd 13: [sc, inc] around (9)

Rnds 14-15: Sc around (9)

*Stuff the arm. You can use the end of the crochet hook to push the stuffing up the arm. I didn't stuff the hand as I wanted it flat. If you prefer a rounded hand you can stuff it too.

Rnd 16: Dec 4, sc (5)

F/O with long tail. Sew the end of the hand shut with the tail. If you want a flat hand you should also sew across the hand to keep the two sides together and to keep stuffing out of it.

Attach to the Body

You will use the long tail in shirt colour that you left at the top of the sleeve when you started it. The top of the sleeve should line up with the change to shirt colour on the body. Line up the arms on either side of the body. Sew the top of the sleeve, then work along all the open edges at the top of the sleeve to sew it along the body.

Hair

Rnd 1: Using hair colour yarn, MR 6 (6)

Rnd 2: Inc around (12)

Rnd 3: [sc, inc] around (18)

Rnd 4: [sc 2, inc] around (24)

Rnd 5: [sc 3, inc] around (30)

Rnd 6: [sc 4, inc] around (36)

Rnd 7: [sc 5, inc] around (42)

Rnd 8: [sc 13, inc] around (45)

Rnds 9-10: Sc around (45)

Rnd 11: [Sl st 1, ch 3, sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, dc in next ch st, sk next 2 sts previous rnd, st sl in next st] 5 times, sc 24, sl st ( 5 spikes, 25 st)

Rnd 12: Ch 3 and turn, sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, dc in next ch st, sk next 2 sts previous rnd, st sl in next st, sc 17, sl st 3. (1 spike (6 spikes total now), 20 sts)

Rnd 13: Ch 3 and turn, sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, dc in next ch st, sk next 2 sts previous rnd, st sl in next st, [Sl st 1, ch 3, sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, dc in next ch st, sk next 2 sts previous rnd, st sl in next st] 4 times ( 11 spikes)

F/O with very long tail (used to attach hair to the head)

Attach hair to head

The back of the hair piece is slightly longer than the front. The spikes formed from rnd 11 will be centered on the front of the head. There is a bit of difference between the spikes is where the ears will be located. Make sure they are on either side of the head. . Pin the hair to the head. There are a few pictures to help guide you. When it is pinned where you would like you can sew the hair to the head using the long tail. Make sure you sew down all the spikes so they will stay in place.

Ear (make 2)

Rnd 1: Using skin colour yarn, MR 6 sc. (6)

Row 2: Ch 1 & turn. Sc, inc, sc, sl st 3 (7)

F/O with long tail (to attach ear to the head).

Attach ears to head

Sew the ears to the side of the head. They will be on either side of the head between the spikes, right below the hair.

Eyes

The eyes will be made out of felt, but before we start cutting the felt we will make a paper template. Sketch out the eyes on paper and cut them out. Pin them to the face to see how they look. You can remove and trim them until it looks the way you want them to. When you are satisfied with your template you can trace it onto the felt and cut it out. Check the felt pieces on the head to make sure it looks right. If you need to trim it, do it before you start colouring them in.
Lightly sketch the eye details with pencil. When you are happy with how it looks go over it with the Sharpies. Make the eye details and colour the iris.

You can pin the eyes to the head, but don’t glue them to the head until you are done making the nose.

Nose

We are going to start at the top of the nose and work down. First we need to find our starting point. Find the center point between the eyes. (Eyes should be spaced around 5 stitches apart, so there should be 2 stitches on either side of the starting point. Your nose stitches will be formed around the middle line of stitches). Depending on your eye shape they will have varying heights. The eyes I made were 3 stitches tall. I want to line up the top of the nose with approximately the top third of the eye. (In this case, 1 stitch down from the top of the eye).

Insert the crochet hook from the right side under the selected stitch and have it come out on the left side. Pull up skin coloured yarn on your hook and pull through. Ch 1.

Insert the crochet hook from the right side under the selected stitch and have it come out on the left side. Pull up skin coloured yarn on your hook and pull through. Sl st.

Insert the crochet hook from the right side under the selected stitch and have it come out on the left side. Pull up skin coloured yarn on your hook and pull through. Sc

Insert the crochet hook from the right side under the selected stitch and have it come out on the left side. Pull up skin coloured yarn on your hook and pull through. Sc

F/O and sew in ends.

Smile

You can draw the smile onto the face using a ultra fine tip Sharpie. To get a symmetrical smile, look at the little square that each stitch makes and the lines that are between each row of stitches. Imagine that they are a grid that you can use to map out your line.

The ends of the mouth are lined up below the inside edge of the eyes. The lowest part was the mouth is 1 1/2 stitches below the highest point of the mouth, centered in the middle.

Add extra details

You can add extra details if you want to. My kid wanted a plain red shirt, but you could add decorations to the clothes.