Victor Nikiforov Crochet Pattern: Amigurumi Skater Doll

Project details

Use this Victor Nikiforov crochet pattern to make a compact amigurumi skater doll with swept silver hair, a two-tone formal jacket, black trousers, shoulder details, and coat tails. The project uses small pieces, color changes, embroidered hair, and careful assembly, so read each color-placement note before beginning the body.

Make the head first, then the arms, joined legs and body, costume pieces, and final assembly. Read the body notes before Row 4 so the undershirt colorwork stays centered.

• Techniques used: spiral amigurumi, color changes, popcorn stitches, joined legs, embroidered hair, and multi-piece costume assembly
• Crochet terminology: US-style terms, plus the pattern-specific htc abbreviation defined below
• Finished height: Not independently verified; the supplied draft gives conflicting measurements of 17.5 cm and 12 inches
• Yarn weight: Australian 8-ply, described in the supplied draft as DK-equivalent; changing yarn weight will change the finished scale
• Gauge: 22 stitches × 30 rows
• Hook: 3.00 mm crochet hook

Materials and tools

• Beige yarn
• White yarn
• Purple yarn, called dark purple in the instructions
• Dark pink yarn
• Pink yarn, called light pink in the instructions
• Gold yarn
• Light gray yarn
• Black yarn
• Optional silver yarn for the duet-version shoulder pads
• Two 7.5 mm safety eyes
• Polyester filling
• Yarn needle
• Black embroidery or cross-stitch thread
• 3.00 mm crochet hook
• Fabric glue
• Pins and two bobby pins for positioning and stitch marking

The yarn fiber and exact quantities are not specified. Worsted weight is an optional substitute, but it may change the finished scale.

Abbreviations

Numbers in parentheses give the stitch count at the end of the row.

Victor Nikiforov crochet pattern instructions

Head

Row 1: In beige, MR 6. (6)
Row 2: [inc] × 6. (12)
Row 3: [inc, sc] × 6. (18)
Row 4: sc, inc, [sc 2, inc] × 5, sc. (24)
Row 5: [inc, sc 3] × 6. (30)
Row 6: sc 2, inc, [sc 4, inc] × 5, sc 2. (36)
Rows 7–12: sc 36. (36)
Row 13: sc 2, dec, [sc 4, dec] × 5, sc 2. (30)
Row 14: [dec, sc 3] × 6. (24)
Row 15: sc, dec, [sc 2, dec] × 5, sc. (18)

Finish off, leaving a tail approximately 20 cm or 7.5 inches long. Place the safety eyes between Rows 9 and 10 with approximately 5 stitches between them, then stuff the head firmly. Embroider the mouth with a few strands of black embroidery or cross-stitch thread. Yarn may be used for a thicker mouth, while felt is an optional choice for a more detailed expression.

Hair cap

Row 1: In light gray, MR 6. (6)
Row 2: [inc] × 6. (12)
Row 3: [inc, sc] × 6. (18)
Row 4: sc, inc, [sc 2, inc] × 5, sc. (24)
Row 5: [inc, sc 3] × 6. (30)
Row 6: sc 2, inc, [sc 4, inc] × 5, sc 2. (36)
Rows 7–12: sc 36. (36)

Finish off, leaving a tail approximately 20 cm or 7.5 inches long. Fit the cap over the stuffed head and use the tail to secure it in 4 or 5 places; it does not need to be sewn through every stitch.

Ears—make 2

Row 1: In beige, ch 3. (3)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sl st, sc, sl st. (3)

Finish off each ear, leaving a tail for attachment. Pin the ears before sewing and curve them slightly. Align the top of each ear with the middle of the corresponding eye. Position it approximately 5 stitches from the eye, or where the ear meets the edge of the hair cap, then sew it in place with its tail.

PSave Pin

Embroider the hair

Use the same light gray yarn as the cap. Begin with a couple of fringe strands at the top front of the head, then work the shorter strands at the lower back. Fill the bottom section and close visible gaps before returning to the front.

Mark the desired lower edge of the hair with pins around the head. From the front center, embroider outward, making each strand long enough to reach the pinned guide. Keep filling the marked area while preserving the swept fringe. If the fringe does not sit correctly, remove those strands and work them again. Continue until the cap is evenly covered and the hairstyle is complete.

PSave Pin

Left arm

Row 1: In beige, MR 6. (6)
Row 2: [inc, sc 2] × 2. (8)
Row 3: sc 8. (8)
Row 4: In dark purple, sc 8. (8)
Row 5: sc 3, 4sc popcorn, sc 4. (8)
Rows 6–8: sc 8. (8)
Rows 9–15: In light pink, sc 8. (8)

Do not stuff the arms. Leave a tail approximately 20 cm or 7.5 inches long and finish off. The popcorn forms the thumb; for an optional straight arm, replace it with one sc.

Right arm

Row 1: In beige, MR 6. (6)
Row 2: [inc, sc 2] × 2. (8)
Row 3: sc 8. (8)
Row 4: In dark purple, sc 8. (8)
Row 5: sc 3, 4sc popcorn, sc 4. (8)
Rows 6–8: sc 8. (8)
Rows 9–15: In dark pink, sc 8. (8)

Arm band—for both arms

Pick up stitches in dark purple between Rows 8 and 9, at the transition from dark purple to light pink or dark pink. Work two rows around each arm:

Row 1: Pick up 8 stitches. (8)
Row 2: sc 8. (8)

Legs—make 2

Row 1: In black, MR 6. (6)
Row 2: [inc] × 6. (12)
Row 3: [inc, sc] × 6. (18)
Row 4: BLO sc 18. (18)
Rows 5–7: sc 18. (18)
Row 8: sc 3, dec 6, sc 3. (12)
Rows 9–19: sc 12. (12)

Finish off the first leg; no tail is necessary. Leave the second leg on the hook. Working Row 4 in the back loops helps define a flatter foot base.

Join the legs

Set the legs side by side with both feet pointing in the correct direction. The right leg must be the leg still on the hook so the later color change at the beginning of the row falls at the doll’s back.

Mark both joining points by placing two bobby pins across the stitches where the legs will meet. Usually, work four more stitches on the right leg; the fifth stitch crosses to the left leg. Make one sc in the right-leg stitch marked by the first bobby pin, then make the next sc in the marked stitch on the left leg. Continue around and cross back at the opposite bobby pin in the same way. This joined pass is Body Row 1.

PSave Pin

Body

Read both color-detail notes before starting Row 4.

Rows 1–3: In black, sc. (24)
Rows 4–7: In dark pink, sc 24. (24) Color Detail A

Row 8: In light pink, sc 3, dec, [sc 6, dec] × 2, sc 3. (21) Color Detail A
Row 9: [dec, sc 5] × 3. (18) Color Detail B
Row 10: sc 2, dec, [sc 4, dec] × 2, sc 2. (15) Color Detail B
Row 11: [dec, sc 3] × 3. (12) Color Detail B
Row 12: In white, sc 12. (12) Color Detail B
Row 13: In beige, [sc, inc] × 6. (18)

Color Detail A: On Rows 4–8, work 2 stitches in white at the middle of the body. For the duet version, replace the white undershirt with black, including Row 12.

Color Detail B: On Rows 9–12, work 2 stitches in beige directly above the earlier contrasting stitches. The center pair is white through the dark-pink rows and the first light-pink row, then switches to beige. If a decrease would fall in the middle of a color change, move that decrease one stitch earlier or later in the row so the 2 white or beige center stitches remain intact.

Finish off and stuff the rest of the body. With white yarn—or black for the duet version—embroider a line down the chest so the undershirt appears beneath the jacket.

Shoulder pads—make 2

Row 1: In gold, ch 3. (3)
Row 2: ch 2, turn, hdc 3. (3)

For the duet version, make the shoulder pads in silver. Finish off, leaving a tail long enough to attach each pad to an arm later.

Coat tails—make 2

Row 1: In dark pink, ch 4. (4)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc, hdc, dc, tr. (4)

The supplied draft called the final stitch “htc” but described a yarn-over-twice setup. This edition resolves it as a standard US treble crochet (tr) and gives the complete stitch method in the abbreviations table. Finish off, leaving tails long enough to attach the pieces to the body.

PSave Pin

Assembly and finishing

Complete the assembly in this order so the costume details remain accessible.

1. Attach the arms. Pin both arms to check their placement. Flatten each arm and sew it to the body with its yarn tail.

2. Make the jacket collar. In dark purple, make two short chains and two long chains:

   • Short chain—make 2: ch 2. (2)
   • Long chain—make 2: ch 4. (4)

   Place each long chain along a jacket edge, beginning at the top of the trousers and ending where the body changes to light pink. Angle each short chain from the end of a long chain toward the shoulder, then attach all four pieces.

3. Attach the coat tails. Use their yarn tails to sew both pieces to the back of the body.

PSave Pin

4. Add the shoulder details. Sew one shoulder pad to each arm. In the same color as the pads, loosely embroider two loops hanging around the left shoulder. Secure the loops firmly with knots inside the body so they cannot be pulled out.

5. Join the head. The final head row and final body row each contain 18 stitches, so they align evenly. Position the head and use colored pins to match the front stitches. Count around to determine where to begin at the back, then whipstitch the opening closed.

PSave Pin