Minkie the Polar Bear

Let's create! 🥳

What materials are included in your kit?

materials included in crochet do it yourself kit for instructions

Dosi Soufflé yarn is a high quality yarn you’ll fall in love with! It’s soft and easy to work with, especially for amigurumi (stuffed crochet animals).
Stitch markers help you keep track of where you are.
Polyester stuffing is used to fill the amigurumi project.
Crystal bead to go with your completed project (for the good vibes). We placed ours inside the amigurumi with the polyester stuffing.
Tapestry needle to sew your project together and hide your yarn ends (also referred to as yarn tails).
Crochet hook to, of course, crochet :O!
P.S. give us a shout at learn@dosidiy.com if you're feeling stuck :)

How to hold your hook and adjust tension

The first step to learning how to crochet is to understand how to hold your hook and adjust your tension. This comes with practice, so experimenting with different ways is highly encouraged!]

How to make a magic circle

Let's start crocheting the bear's body using the white yarn. This demonstration uses a different yarn for visibility. To start crocheting, we’ll be making a magic circle (also known as a magic ring or magic loop). At its basic form, a magic circle is a circle made with your yarn that is held together with a slip knot and is generally used as the foundation to help you create circular shapes (like amigurumi!). You’ll find that many amigurumi patterns start with a magic circle

Tips and tricks

Basic stitches: chain stitch and single crochet stitch (00:12)
The importance of tensions (1:49)
How to rotate your hook during stitches (4:00)
How to leave your work when taking a break and how to come back to your project (6:37)
Other stitches you might come across in amigurumi, and how it differs from a single crochet stitch (7:54)

How to single crochet (1st round)

Let's learn how to single crochet by completing the first round in the magic circle. Make sure you have this stitch down before moving on! The single crochet stitch is one of the basic stitches you’ll need to know in order to crochet.
We'll be crocheting "in the round".

How to single crochet increase (2nd round)

A single crochet increase will be demonstrated in this next video. An increase, often notated in patterns as "inc", means that 2 stitches will be placed in 1 stitch from the previous round.
As a result, if you start with 6 single crochet stitches in the 1st round, in the 2nd round you would now have 12 stitches when increasing. If you started with 7 single crochet stitches, you would now have 14, etc.
In formal pattern terms, this is denoted as "inc x 6 [12]" or "6inc".

How to create the 3rd round

We want to make the circle larger while maintaining this circular shape. In order to do so, we'll be incorporating the single crochet and an increase stitch.
For round 3, place 1 single crochet stitch in the previous round's 1st stitch, then 2 single crochet stitches in the previous round's 2nd stitch. This pattern will continue as "1 sc, 1 inc" until we have 18 stitches.
In formal pattern terms, this is denoted as "(sc, inc) x 6 [18]"
Another helpful way to understand this: the 2nd round took on a pattern of 2-2-2-2-2-2 (this is not how patterns are written, but I find this method is easier to understand as a beginner). The 3rd round will take on a pattern of 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2.

Before we go on, here's an important tip on differentiating between the right and wrong side of your work

Give the 4th and 5th increasing rounds a shot on your own :)

For the 4th round: you should have a total of 24 stitches! The formal pattern is written as (2sc, inc) x 6 [24]. In beginner-friendly terms, this is a 1-1-2-1-1-2 pattern.
For the 5th round: you should have a total of 30 stitches! The formal pattern is written as (3sc, inc) x 6 [30]. In beginner-friendly terms, this is a 1-1-1-2-1-1-1-2 pattern.

No increasing stitches for the 6th-12th rounds. Give it a try!

For the 6th-12th rounds, we'll start building the marshmallow's (excuse me, *bear's*) body.
This means that for a total of 7 rounds, you should be ending each round with 30 stitches. Don't forget to place your stitch marker on every first stitch so you don't lose track of where you are!
The formal pattern is written as "30 sc".

Round 13, the first decreasing round with an invisible decrease

A decreasing round is when we decrease the number of stitches for that round. You're almost done!
For a decreasing round, we are joining 2 previous stitches (by going into the front loops only, also referred to as "FLO" in patterns, from the last round so they become 1 stitch in this new round.
The formal pattern is written as (3sc, dec) [24]. The "dec" is short for decrease. You should have 24 stitches at the end!

Rounds 14 & 15

Adding the eyes and sewing on the blush

Stuff the bear and finish the bottom portion

Crocheting the ears

P.S. the counterclockwise technique we've been using to "wrap the yarn" is formally referred to as "yarn over", also denoted as "YO" in patterns. The opposite direction (clockwise to wrap the yarn) is called "yarn under".

Crocheting the paws

Let's try starting the paws with just a pattern. You can do it!
1st round: 6 single crochet stitches in your magic ring (just like we started our bear in the beginning)
2nd round: 6 single crochet stitches. No increases (end the round with 6 stitches). Tip: it might be a bit tight to get into the stitches, but wiggle your hook around to get under that v.

The video below starts from the last stitch of round 2, and will help you with the ending. Make sure you pull up on that last loop after you cut like we did for our ears above. Repeat the above steps for the second paw. You can go ahead and cut the tail (~1 inch) that is coming from the magic ring. Don't cut the yarn that you just pulled your hook out of as that yarn tail will be used to stitch the paws onto the body.

Sew on the ears and paws

Finale: cute little mug

Now, see if you can start the mug off on your own with rounds 1-5 using the blue yarn. I believe in you!
We're starting with 7 single crochet stitches in the magic ring this time, so our totals will be different, but the same pattern applies:
Round 1: 7 sc
Round 2: inc x 7 [14]
Round 3: (sc, inc) x 7 [21]
Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x 7 [28]
Round 5: (3 sc, inc) x 7 [35]
The instructions for round 6 are in the video below:

Rounds 7-11: 35 sc.
Round 12 will be a round of slip stitches to create a neat border. A slip stitch is similar to a single crochet, but we don't yarn over a second time. Please see the video below for instructions:

Great job completing the little marshmallow bear! Tag us @dosidiy so we can ooh and aah at your creations :O