Free Amigurumi Axolotl Keychain Pattern

My household has gone Full Axolotl in the last few days. Which is funny, because it’s one of the few pets we don’t have here… for now. Both my kids picked up different styles of axolotl toys at a fair at the weekend, and my envy of their purchases inspired this new amigurumi axolotl keychain pattern.

My crochet axolotl used a tiny amount of yarn, but has such a big personality. And given you can work one up in the time it’d take to make a meal from scratch, I might make a few more and stash them in my drawer as potential last minute gifts!

• Your equipment list
• The crochet axolotl keychain pattern

What You’ll Need

This is what I used to design my amigurumi axolotl keychain:

• 2.5mm crochet hook
• 30g Hobbii cotton silk pale pink DK yarn
• 3mm crochet hook
• 20g dark pink Lily Sugar n Cream yarn*
• Toy safe stuffing*
• Stitch markers
• Tapestry needle
• 10mm safety eyes*
• Stitch markers

Techniques and Tips

• magic circle
• sc – single crochet
• ch – chain
• 2sc – put two single crochets into one stitch
• sc2tog – join two stitches with one single crochet
• surface crochet
• sk – skip the next stitch along
• slst – slip stitch

Head to Tail

This section will create from your axolotl’s head to the tip of their tail.

Round 1

Make a magic circle of eight stitches (8)

Round 2

2sc x 8 (16)

Round 3

(1sc, 2sc) x 8 (24)

Round 4 – 5

1sc x 24

Round 6

(1sc x 2, 2sc) x 8 (32)

Round 7

(1sc x 3, 2sc) x 8 (40)

Round 8 – 10

1sc x 40

Round 11

(1sc x 3, sc2tog) x 8 (32)

Round 12 – 13

1sc x 32

Round 14

(1sc x 2, sc2tog) x 8 (24)

Round 15 – 16

1sc x 24

Insert safety eyes at round 6 level.

Round 17

(1sc, sc2tog) x 8 (16)

Round 18 – 20

1sc x 16

Fill with toy stuffing.

Round 21

sc2tog to close

Detailing the Tail

Continue working in your 2.5mm crochet hook, but this time you’ll switch to surface crocheting.

Cast onto your hook, and slip stitch into a point equivalent to exactly between the axolotl’s eyes but 15 rounds back, then working directly towards the point of the tail make 1sc in each stitch. Continue around the underneath of your axolotl until you are directly under your first stitch. Then slip stitch to join, and weave the loose tail back into the body.

Crochet Axolotl Gills

I switched it up for the gills, because they need to really stand out. You’ll need your 3mm crochet hook and some darker pink cotton blend yarn.

Make two of the following:

Row 1

Ch6, sk, 1sc x 5

Row 2

Ch7, sk, 1sc x 5

Row 3

Ch7, sk, 1sc x 5

Once you have made your two gil sections, hand sew them to either side of the eyes using the same colored yarn.