Ragdoll Llama Free Crochet Pattern

Hi, all!

Ever since I released the pattern for the Ragdoll Unicorn nearly a year (!!) ago, I’ve been wanting to design a llama version. And after a year filled with other projects that just couldn’t wait (and some unfortunate more recent delays in acquiring the yarn), the time has finally arrived! So I’m pleased to present a very colourful pair of llamas! Aside from their super fuzzy and cuddly fur, the decorative blanket, tassels and baubles are my absolute favourite parts of this design. It was really difficult to choose just two combinations of colours. It makes me want to make dozens more of them just to explore all the decorative possibilities. I do have plans to make at least one more with non-fuzzy, regular yarn, since I think this pattern would look great both ways. Also, the fuzzy Pipsqueak yarn can definitely be a pain to work with, so I can totally see wanting to make this pattern with regular yarn instead. (It is such a relief to go back to regular yarn after working with Pipsqueak!).

Let’s get started! (Or Pin for later!)

This pattern is made in the same style as our Ragdoll patterns; separate pieces worked in flat rows and then joined together to give them that unique 2-D look (except for the baubles, which are worked in the round!). The llama itself has 8 separate pieces, however, the accessories, including the blanket pieces, the decorative baubles and the tassels, bumps the number of pieces up to 22 (8 for the llama, 14 for the decorations). Those pieces are all optional though!

The pattern does incorporate the tapestry crochet technique in rows 36 to 48, meaning there is some colour-work involved, so I have included an explainer section for that.

The finished measurements are approximately 40cm/15.5″ from top to bottom.

I encourage you to read everything thoroughly before beginning, particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience with tapestry crochet.

Here’s what I used:

**If you’d prefer a downloadable or printable version of this pattern, an inexpensive, formatted, and ad-free PDF can be purchased HERE.**

• 3.5mm hook for main and 2.25 mm hook for accessories (I use THESE hooks!);
• White Llama
  • Bernat Pipsqueak in Whitey White (200g);
  • Bernat Super Value in White for face;
  • light weight cotton yarn in blue, yellow, white, purple, and pink (I used a generic brand from a local store).
• Brown Llama:
  • Bernat Pipsqueak in Chocolate (200g);
  • Loops & Threads Impeccable in Soft Taupe for face;
  • light weight cotton yarn in red, yellow, grey, green and orange.
• Black crochet thread for eyes and nose/mouth;
• Stuffing;
• Tapestry needle

Reading this Pattern and Colour Changes:

Everything is worked in single crochet stitches. So, in order to indicate the colour-changes, I have omitted the usual “sc” in front of the stitch counts in any lines with colour-changes (rows 36 to 48) and I’ve used the associated legend letter instead. For example, “Wdec” means to work a sc decrease in worsted weight yarn (in this case, white or taupe). “P12, W8” means to work the next 12 sc in Pipsqueak yarn and the next 8 sc in worsted weight, and so on.

Due to the colour-changes, you will have at least two skeins or balls of yarn attached to your project at once.

The bonus part of the colour-changes in an amigurumi is that you don’t have to worry about what the back of your panels look like! This is why I carry my yarn on the back instead of carrying it inside the stitch as you go. It prevents any colours from bleeding through where they shouldn’t. As long as you always carry your yarn on the back of your panel, you won’t have to weave in any ends and you’ll have a beautiful smooth front with clear lines and colours.

When changing colours, you will insert your hook into the stitch for the last stitch of Colour A and pull up a loop. Then, with Colour B, yarn over and complete the stitch by pulling through both loops with Colour B. Drop your working yarn in Colour A and continue with Colour B. You will pick your Colour A working yarn back up again on the way back in the next row when you need it.

*Make sure to always drop your yarn on the WRONG side of your panel!* When you’re working on odd-numbered rows, your right side will be facing you. When you’re working on even-numbered rows, the wrong side will be facing you. So, when you are working on a row where the wrong side of the panel is facing you, you will have to make a conscious effort to pull your yarn toward you to the wrong side of the panel when dropping your yarn during a colour-change. This is because it will naturally drop to the side furthest away from you if you don’t.

Colour legend:

W – Worsted weight yarn (used for the face)

P – Pipsqueak yarn (used for the body)

Stitches and Special Terms:

Ch – Chain

Slst – Slipstitch

MR – Magic Ring

Sc – Single crochet

Inc – Increase. Work 2 sc in the same st.

Dec – Decrease. Work a regular sc decrease.

Invdec – Invisible decrease.

Legs (make 8 legs but in fours as explained below) in Pipsqueak:

The panels are worked from the bottom up. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.

Row 1: Ch 2, sc 1 (1 st)

Row 2: Inc (2 sts)

Row 3: Sc across (2 sts)

Row 4: Inc in each st (4 sts)

Rows 5-6: Sc across (4 sts)

Row 7: Inc, sc 2, inc (6 sts)

Rows 8-11: Sc across (6 sts)

Row 12: Inc, sc 4, inc (8 sts)

Row 13: Sc across (8 sts)

Tie off. Put aside for assembly later. Repeat rows 1-13 for three more legs, EXCEPT do not tie off on the fourth leg. Instead, continue to row 14 below.

Body (make 2 panels) in Pipsqueak:

*Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.*

Row 14: Sc 8 along the leg on your hook, join second leg and sc 8 across, join third leg and sc 8 across, join fourth leg and sc 8 across (32 sts)

Row 15: Sc 31, inc (33 sts)

Rows 16-20: Sc across (33 sts)

Row 21: SC 32, inc (34 sts)

Rows 22-28: Sc across (34 sts)

Row 29: Sc 33, inc (35 sts)

Now we will start the neck. You will be crocheting only part way across the previous row before turning.

Row 30: Sc 15 (15 sts)

Rows 31-32: Sc across (15 sts)

Row 33: Dec, sc 13 (14 sts)

Row 34: Sc across (14 sts)

Row 35: Sc 13, inc (15 sts)

Now we will start the face, which includes the tapestry crochet.

Row 36: In worsted weight yarn, ch 7, W6 along chs, W2, P13 (21 sts)

Row 37: P12, W8, Winc (22 sts)

Row 38: W11, P9, Pdec (21 sts)

Row 39: P9, W12 (21 sts)

Row 40: W14, P7 (21 sts)

Row 41: P7, W14 (21 sts)

Row 42: W14, P7 (21 sts)

Row 43: P7, W12, Wdec (20 sts)

Row 44: Wdec twice, W9, P5, Pdec (17 sts)

Row 45: P6, W10, P1 (17 sts)

Row 46: P3, W8, P6 (17 sts)

Row 47: P6, W7, P3, Pinc (18 sts)

Row 48: Pinc, P5, W5, P7 (19 sts)

The remaining rows are completed entirely in Pipsqueak yarn.

Row 49: Sc across (19 sts)

Row 50: Dec, sc 17 (18 sts)

Row 51: Sc 16, dec (17 sts)

Row 52: Dec twice, sc 13 (15 sts)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-52 for the second panel. Put aside for assembly later.

Ears (make 4 panels in twos as explained below) in Pipsqueak:

Use a 3.5mm hook. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.

Row 1: Ch 3, sc  2 (2 sts)

Row 2: Sc across (2 sts)

Row 3: Inc twice (4 sts)

Rows 4-5: Sc across (4 sts)

Row 6: Dec twice (2 sts)

Row 7: Sc across (2 sts)

Row 8: Dec (1 st)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-8 for second panel but do not tie off. Instead, place both panels together, matching up all sides, and join the panels together by chaining 1 and single crocheting around the panels. (Sc, ch, sc) in the top stitch (row 8). Stuff lightly after you’ve crocheted two-thirds of the way around. Continue to crochet around. Slst to first st to close and tie off. Poke yarn tail back inside. Repeat all of the above for the second ear and set aside for assembly later.

Tail (make 2 panels) in Pipsqueak:

Use a 3.5mm hook. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.

Row 1: Ch 2, Sc 1 (1 st)

Row 2: Inc (2 sts)

Row 3: Inc twice (4 sts)

Row 4: Sc across (4 sts)

Row 5: Dec twice (2 sts)

Row 6: Dec (1 st)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-6 for second panel but do not tie off. Instead, place both panels together, matching up all sides, and join the panels together by chaining 1 and single crocheting around the panels. (Sc, ch, sc) in the top and bottom stitch (row 1 and 6). Stuff lightly after you’ve crocheted two-thirds of the way around. Continue to crochet around. Slst to first st to close and tie off. Poke yarn tail back inside and set aside for assembly later.

Blanket (make 2 panels) using a 2.25mm hook:

Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.

Since the blanket is just a series of stripes, you can make it as wide or as narrow as you need. Using a 2.25mm hook and light weight cotton yarn, 27 stitches across was a good width to cover the body/back portion of my llamas, but your mileage may vary. Feel free to chain as many or as few as you need to get the right fit! Just make sure to leave some room on either side to accommodate for the tail and the extra row of stitching along the neck once the panels are joined together.  Also, feel free to use whatever colours you want in whatever combination looks good to you. If you want to replicate what I did, here is the colour sequence I used for the white llama (brown llama in parentheses):

Row 1: In blue (red), ch 28, sc across (27 sts)

Row 2: Blue (red) (27 sts)

Row 3: Yellow (yellow) (27 sts)

Row 4: Blue (red) (27 sts)

Row 5: White (grey) (27 sts)

Row 6: Purple (orange) (27 sts)

Row 7: Yellow (yellow) (27 sts)

Row 8: Pink (green) (27 sts)

Rows 9-11: Purple (orange (27 sts)

Row 12: White (grey) (27 sts)

Row 13: Pink (green) (27 sts)

Rows 14-15: Blue (red) (27 sts)

Row 16: Pink (green) (27 sts)

Row 17: White (grey) (27 sts)

Rows 18-19: Yellow (yellow) (27 sts)

Row 20: Purple (orange) (27 sts)

Row 21: Blue (red) (27 sts)

Tie off. Weave in ends. Finally, add some fringe to the bottom of the blanket panel by taking short pieces of yarn and tying each one in a knot through each chain st along the beginning row. Trim the fringe and repeat all of the above for the second blanket panel. I made my fringe all the same colour but I think a multi-colour finge would look great as well! Put these aside for assembly later.

Baubles (make 8) in various colours of light weight cotton yarn:

Use a 2.25mm hook. Work the rounds continuously (i.e. no chaining or joining!)

I made 8 baubles for each llama but I could have easily fit 9 or 10 around the neck depending on how you space them (I just got really tired of making baubles after making 16 of them!)

Rnd 1: MR 6 sc (6 sts)

Rnd 2: Inc in each st around (12 sts)

Rnd 3: [Sc, inc], repeat [ ] around (18 sts)

Rnds 4-6: Sc around (18 sts)

Rnd 7: [Sc, invdec], repeat [ ] around (12 sts)

Rnd 8: Invdec around (6 sts)

Tie off, leaving a long tail for closing. With your tapestry needle, weave the tail down and up through the FLO of each stitch around. On the last st, weave your needle down into the bauble and out the other side. Pull firmly on the yarn tail to close the top and poke the tail back inside the piece. Repeat for remaining baubles! I made two each in red, orange, yellow and green for the brown llama and purple, pink, yellow and blue for the white llama.

Choose which colour yarn you would like to string your baubles on and cut off about a meter (about 2.5 feet) in length. I decided to use red for the brown llama and blue for the white llama to match the tassels. With a 2.25mm hook, ch 5, then thread the other end of the length of yarn into your tapestry needle. Insert your needle through the top of one of the baubles and push it all the way down to the other end where you have started your chains. Simply continue to chain right over the bauble so that it is hanging from the chains. Ch 8 and then string your next bauble. Continue until all your baubles are attached and finish off with a few more chain sts. Don’t tie off yet. You will want to wait until your llama is assembled to make sure your string of baubles fits comfortably around the neck. Simply set it aside for now.

Tassels (make 2) in light weight cotton yarn:

There are tonnes of great tutorials on Youtube on how to make tassels, so feel free to take a look if you’re unsure.

For mine, my smart phone (an iPhone 6S) was the perfect width to wrap my yarn around. So I wrapped the yarn around 25 times, slid the yarn off the end of the phone and then tied a piece of yarn around the bundle and tied a knot (just like you’d find on a hank of hand-spun yarn). Then tie another piece of yarn around the top a few times to secure. Cut the loops and trim the ends. Put these aside for assembly later.

If you don’t feel like making your own tassels, you can buy some! I found some at Michaels on my last trip. Check out the last pic below.

Tassel Bands (make 2) in light weight cotton yarn:

Use a 2.25mm hook.

You may need to adjust the length of your band depending on yarn and hook size . It simply needs to be long enough to go around the ear.

Row 1: Ch 26, sc 25 (25 sts)

Tie off.

Move on to assembly below!

Assembly:

Step 1: Face

The first thing I did was stitch on sleepy eyes onto my llama, as well as a little downward triangle nose using black crochet thread.

Step 2: Body, Tail and Ears

Here are all the pieces you now have for assembly:

Cut two lengths of Pipsqueak yarn approximately 30cm/15″ long. Set these aside for later.

Place the two body panels together, matching up all sides.

**Make sure the front of your Llama is facing you as you crochet around the outside.**

Starting on the left side (as shown in the second pic above), begin attaching the panels together by chaining one and single crocheting around the outside of the panels in Pipsqueak.

You will need to switch to worsted weight yarn when you get to the face. To switch colours, insert your hook into the last st with the Pipsqueak yarn and pull up a loop, but do not finish the st. Instead, join your worsted weight yarn and pull through both loops. Continue in worsted weight. Switch back to Pipsqueak once you are past the face.

Crochet the panels together all the way down the neck and the first leg. At the tip of each leg, work a (Sc, ch, sc). Continue to crochet around all four legs and about half way up the back. Stop here and pull up a loop.

Stuff the legs now.

Now, with a length of yarn that you set aside earlier, place the tail between the panels of the body and attach by sewing through all three pieces; the back panel, the tail, and the front panel. Tie the yarn tails in a knot inside the panels of the body to secure.

Continue crocheting around. When you get to the tail, simply crochet in the stitches of the front panel only, since this portion is already sewn shut.

Crochet across the back. Stop here and stuff the body.

Crochet up the neck, stopping after every few stitches to top up stuffing. Stop when you get about three-quarters of the way up the neck/head.

Now, with the length of yarn you set aside earlier, place the ears and sew in place the same way you did for the tail. When placing the ears, I placed one pointing horizontally out from the top of the head, and the other one pointing vertically up from the top, so that they are perpendicular to each other.

Continue crocheting around. Remember, when you get to the ears, you will crochet in the stitches of the front panel only. Crochet both panels together as usual when you get past the ears.

Top up stuffing. When you’re satisfied, continue crocheting around. Close with a slst to first st. Tie off. With your tapestry needle, poke the yarn tail back inside the piece.

If you want your llama to face the other direction (like my white llama), the process is exactly the same, it’s just done backwards! You will start at the back of the llama (below where the tail will be) work around all the legs, up the neck, switch colours at the face, add the ears, down the neck (stuff as you go!), across the body (keep stuffing!), add the tail and close.

Step 3: Accessories

First, you will attach your blanket panels to the back of your llama. With a 2.25mm hook and corresponding yarn colour, you will insert your hook through the front blanket panel, then through one of the stitches on the back of the llama and finally, through the back blanket panel. Continue all the way across. Tie off at the end and poke the yarn tail inside. You may have some fuzzy yarn sticking up through the stitches; simply trim it away.

My blanket pieces were curling on the ends a little bit, so I stitched down each corner to make them lay flat.

Next, place your string of baubles around the neck and tie in a knot. I chose to secure the string of baubles at the knot to a stitch in the neck as well.

Finally, sew the tassel bands around each ear and lastly, attach your tassels!

That’s it! Enjoy!

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