How to Crochet a Mushroom - 7-Step Amigurumi Tutorial

Lay out a 5.5 mm crochet hook, a skein of cream or white worsted-weight cotton, a contrasting cap-color skein (teal, red, yellow - your pick), a yarn needle, polyester fiberfill, and two 6 mm safety eyes.

Make a slip knot, chain 3, and join with a slip stitch to form a tiny ring. Work 6 single crochets into that ring - they all go inside the loop you just made. That's round 1. (If you already know the magic ring technique, you can substitute it here; it makes a slightly smaller starting hole.)

Round 2: work 2 single crochets in each of the 6 stitches around. That gives you 12 stitches total - you've doubled the count, which opens the ring into the start of a flat circle.

Instead of a clip-on stitch marker, drop a short piece of contrasting-color yarn across the work before your first stitch of each new round and carry it up between rounds. You'll always know exactly where the round starts, and the marker yarn lifts out cleanly at the end.

Keep stacking increase rounds until you've reached 24 stitches: round 3 is single crochet 1, then increase, repeated around (18 stitches); round 4 is 2 single crochets, then increase (24 stitches).

From there, work several rounds evenly with no increases - just one single crochet in each stitch around. This is what creates the straight cylinder of the mushroom stem between the rounded bottom and the cap-attaching neck.

Round 7 starts the decreasing. Work the first stitch as a regular single crochet, then a single-crochet-2-together decrease, then another single crochet. Repeat that 3-stitch pattern around. The stem narrows toward the top.

Continue the decrease pattern through round 10. Then cut the yarn leaving a 12-inch tail (this is what you'll use to sew the stem to the cap later - don't skip the long tail). Pull the cut end through the last loop to fasten off.

The cap and the underside both start exactly like the stem - chain ring, 6 single crochets, increase to 12, then 18, then 24 stitches. The cap is wider and shallower than the stem, so you'll increase faster and stop sooner.

For the cap (the colorful top piece), work a few rounds with a few decreases at the end to get the dome shape. For the underside (a flat disc that closes off the bottom of the cap), stop after 18 stitches - it stays flat. Set both pieces aside.

Find a spot about half an inch from the top of the stem, on the front-facing side. Push each safety eye post through the cotton from the outside - the eye sits flush on the front and the post pokes through to the inside.

From the inside of the stem, slide the locking washer onto each post and press it firmly down until it clicks. The washer locks the eye in place permanently. Both eyes should sit symmetrically and level.

Stuff the stem with small bits of polyester fiberfill, shaping as you go so it stands upright. Pack it firmly - an under-stuffed mushroom slouches.

Place the underside disc against the bottom of the cap. Single crochet through both pieces around the edge to join them, working as you go. Leave a 1-inch opening, stuff the cap firmly with fiberfill, and close the last few stitches.

Now thread the long tail you saved on the stem onto a yarn needle. Center the top of the stem against the underside of the cap and whip-stitch around the join, pulling each stitch snug. After one full circle, the cap is locked on. Weave in all loose ends with the yarn needle.