Faunula

by Anastasia Marchenko

Pocket Bee Free amigurumi crochet pattern

Illustration: a butter-yellow crocheted bee with two brown stripes lying on its belly on a weathered wooden plank in front of a sunlit stone wall and green leaves, seen low from the front-left, with two glossy black eyes on its round face and two cream wings standing on its back.
A small crocheted bee in butter yellow with two brown stripes, seen from the front, with two glossy black eyes on its round face and two cream wings standing on its back.
The bee lying on an open palm, an arm extending into the frame from the lower left.
A crocheted bee with two dark stripes and two cream wings lies on a weathered wooden ledge among flowering lavender and thyme, a terracotta pot behind it, in warm low sun.
Page 1Look inside

A butter-yellow bee resting on its belly, with two cocoa-brown stripes round its middle, a round face at the front and two cream wings standing up on its back.

  • About 5.5 cm (2¼ in) long
  • Confident beginner
  • 3 pieces
  • About 3 hours
  • 7 languages
  • DK cotton, 3.25 mm hook

Free pattern

Free

Every round and every diagram is here on the page, free to read with no sign-up.

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The same pattern laid out for print: numbered pages, and each diagram beside the rounds it explains.

  • In 7 languages details
    • English A4, 12 pages · US Letter, 13 pages
    • Deutsch A4, 14 pages
    • English (UK) A4, 12 pages
    • Español A4, 13 pages
    • Français A4, 14 pages
    • Nederlands A4, 13 pages
    • Українська A4, 14 pages
  • 8 illustrations · 3 diagrams · 12 pages on A4

Made by hand

Photographs of real makes, crocheted from the written pattern.

  • Photograph: the finished bee peeking out of a pot of lavender, its round yellow face with two black eyes, a brown stripe at the edge and two beige wings standing up behind.
    Made by Anastasia in Círculo Amigurumi cotton on a 3.25 mm hook.
  • Photograph: the bee from a front three-quarter angle, sitting among pink and white blossoms, its two brown stripes around the yellow body and two beige wings standing up on its back.
    From the side: the two stripes around the body, the wings standing up behind them.
  • Photograph: two bees in the leaves of a potted plant, the larger one in soft yellow plush yarn with fluffy cream wings in front, the smaller cotton bee above it.
    The same counts worked in a plush yarn on a 4.5 mm hook, beside the cotton one. Outside the pattern's yarn class, and not a substitution it offers: the bee comes out about 7 cm long and 5 cm across.
  • Photograph: the plush bee and the smaller cotton bee side by side on a white surface, both with black eyes, two brown stripes and two standing wings.
    Side by side: the plush bee and the cotton one from the same pattern.

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Pocket Bee to colour by number, with answers and a gift card. Print at home, no sign-up.

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A4 · 6 pages

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About this amigurumi pattern

How it is made
The body is one continuous spiral from the face to the tail, and the stripes are colour changes in the rounds rather than bands sewn on. Only the wings are sewn: small flattened shells joined by their open rims, so that they stand and lean. There is no wire and no hard part but the safety eyes, and the pattern shows how to embroider the eyes instead.
Who it is for
A good first friend to make: none of the eight has less to sew.
Skills
  • magic ring
  • spiral rounds
  • increases and invisible decreases
  • changing colour at the end of a round
  • fitting safety eyes
  • sewing two small flattened pieces to a stuffed body by their open rims
In the wild
A bee has four wings, not two: in flight, the front and hind wing on each side are linked by rows of hooks called hamuli.Source: Hymenoptera — Royal Entomological Society

Materials

A 3.25 mm hook and smooth cotton, one strand throughout. Suggested yarn: DROPS Muskat (50 g, 100 m a ball), or any smooth cotton of about 2 to 2.5 m per gram, in shades close to these. A finer yarn makes a smaller bee; a worsted or aran yarn on a 3.5 mm hook makes a slightly larger one.

Yarn Used for Buy Uses
A Butter yellow face, the band between the stripes, tail end 1 ball (50 g, 100 m), or a leftover about 9 m (4 g)
B Cocoa brown the two stripes 1 ball (50 g, 100 m), or a leftover about 4.5 m (2 g)
C Warm cream the wings 1 ball (50 g, 100 m), or a leftover about 4.5 m (2 g)

Try it in other colours →

You will also need:

  • one pair of 6 mm glossy black half-dome safety eyes, with no iris
  • about 4 g polyester toy filling
  • a blunt tapestry needle
  • two removable stitch markers, and pins
  • a short scrap of yarn in a contrasting colour, and contrasting sewing thread for a basting line
  • a little black cotton, only if you embroider the eyes instead
  • scissors
Overhead view of yellow, brown and cream balls of cotton yarn, a hook, two safety eyes with washers, toy filling, a needle, two stitch markers, pins, a scrap of blue yarn, a reel of red thread and scissors.
Illustration 1Materials and tools. The yarn, the safety eyes with their washers, filling and tools.

Tension and size

About 20 dc and 23 rounds to 10 cm, worked firmly. A dense fabric matters more than the exact figure: filling must not show through it.

The finished bee is about 5.5 cm long from its face to the tip of its tail, about 3.5 cm tall at the top of its body and about 4.8 cm to the tips of its standing wings, and anywhere from 5 to 6 cm long depending on your yarn and how tightly you work. Change the size with your hook, never by adding or removing rounds: the rounds make the shape.

Check at body R4. Lay the face flat: it is about 3.7 cm across. Hold a little filling behind the fabric without stretching it. If gaps show, start again with a 3 mm hook; if the fabric is stiff and hard to work, use 3.5 mm.

A small crocheted bee in butter yellow with two brown stripes, seen from the front, with two glossy black eyes on its round face and two cream wings standing on its back.
Illustration 2The finished bee. From the front.
The same bee in profile, lying on its belly, its body tapering to a short pointed tail and a cream wing standing on its back.
Illustration 3The bee in profile. The round face, the two stripes and a wing leaning back.

Abbreviations and techniques

Original English pattern, UK crochet terms. If you learned from American patterns, the dc used here is the short stitch with no yarn over before the hook goes in, not the taller American double crochet.

ch
chain
dc
double crochet
st, sts
stitch, stitches
inc
2 dc in one stitch
invdec
invisible decrease
R
round
(24 sts)
the count at the end of the round
[ ] 2 times
work what is inside the brackets that many times.
R3–R5
rounds 3 to 5, each worked the same way.
Magic ring
make a loop with the tail behind the working yarn, insert the hook, pull up the working yarn and ch 1 (not counted). Work the first round over the loop and the tail, then pull the tail to close the ring.
Spiral rounds
no joining and no turning. Mark the first stitch of each round and move the marker up as each round begins.
Changing colour
work the last stitch of the round until two loops are left on the hook, drop the old colour to the inside of the piece, yarn over with the new colour and pull it through both loops. Carry the colour you are not using loosely up the inside until you need it again; do not cut it. The small step where the colours meet sits at the start of the round, along the belly.
Holding the loop
when the pattern stops mid-body, slip the loop from your hook onto a spare stitch marker so nothing unravels, and put it back on the hook to carry on.
Invisible decrease (invdec)
insert the hook under the front loop only of each of the next 2 stitches, yarn over, pull through both front loops, yarn over, pull through the 2 loops on the hook.
Safety eyes
the post goes through the fabric from the outside, between two stitches; the washer is pressed onto the post from the inside, ridged side towards the fabric, until it clicks. Once the washer is on it does not come off again, so every eye is placed and looked at before its washer goes on.
Fasten off and secure
cut the stated tail and pull it through the last loop. Pass it through the backs of at least five stitches on the inside, back through three, and trim.

Order of work. Make the two wings at any time: they go on last. The eyes go in at the R5 pause, while the face is still a shallow cup, and the body is filled at the R14 pause, before its last two rounds.

Body — make 1

Yarn A Butter yellow B Cocoa brown

Start with a magic ring. Work in spiral rounds.

  1. R1A6 dc in the magic ring.6 sts
  2. R2Ainc 6.12 sts
  3. R3A[dc, inc] 6 times.18 sts
  4. R4Adc, [inc, dc 2] 5 times, inc, dc.24 sts

Next round: finish its last stitch in B, leaving a 10 cm tail of B inside the body (Changing colour). Do not cut A.

  1. R5Adc 24.24 sts

Slip the loop on your hook onto a spare stitch marker so it cannot unravel while you work on the face. Mark the top: counting the marked first stitch of R5 as 1, tie a short scrap of contrasting yarn through its 13th stitch. That stitch is the top centre, T. The line of first stitches, where every colour change sits, runs along the belly. Leave the scrap in. Fit the eyes now (Assembly step A), while the piece is still a shallow cup.

  1. R6Bdc 24.24 sts

Next round: finish its last stitch in A. Leave B hanging inside.

  1. R7Bdc 24.24 sts
  2. R8Adc 24.24 sts

Next round: finish its last stitch in B, bringing B up loosely inside the body.

  1. R9Adc 24.24 sts
  2. R10Bdc 24.24 sts

Next round: finish its last stitch in A. Its two decreases sit on the upper sides of the bee, either side of T, so the underside stays straight.

  1. R11Bdc 6, invdec, dc 9, invdec, dc 5.22 sts

Cut B, leaving a 10 cm tail, and knot it to the starting tail of B inside the body; trim both to 3 cm.

  1. R12Adc 7, invdec, dc 5, invdec, dc 6.20 sts
  2. R13Adc 4, invdec, dc 9, invdec, dc 3.18 sts
  3. R14Adc 2, invdec, [dc 4, invdec] 2 times, dc 2.15 sts

Stop here, with the tail end still open. Lay the basting line along the top (Assembly step B). Stuff the body: firmly into the face so it stays round, a little less firmly behind the first stripe. Then press the bee belly-down on the table for a moment so the underside flattens, and fill no further under the belly.

  1. R15Adc, invdec, [dc 3, invdec] 2 times, dc 2.12 sts
  2. R16Ainvdec 6.6 sts

Top up the filling through the small opening at the tail end so it is firm and round. Fasten off, leaving a 25 cm tail. Thread the tail through the front loop of each of the six R16 stitches in order, pull to close the hole, make one small stitch across the closure and bury the tail inside the body. R1 is the centre of the face; R16 is the tip of the tail end.

Wing — make 2

Yarn C Warm cream

Start with a magic ring. Work in spiral rounds.

  1. R1C6 dc in the magic ring.6 sts
  2. R2C[dc, inc] 3 times.9 sts
  3. R3–R5Cdc 9.9 sts
  4. R6C[dc, invdec] 3 times.6 sts

Fasten off, leaving a 30 cm tail for sewing. Pull the ring tail tight and weave it in inside the wing. Do not stuff. Press the wing flat: the closed ring end is its rounded tip, and the open 6-stitch rim of R6 is its base, which stays open and is sewn to the body. Make two the same.

Assembly

How positions are given. The first stitch of every round, where the colours change, runs along the bee's belly. The top centre, T, is halfway round from it: the stitch the scrap marks on R5, and the line the basting thread follows along the back. T+3 is 3 stitches towards the bee's left and T−3 is 3 towards its right. Left and right are always the bee's own: seen from the front, its left is on your right. Count from the scrap or the basting thread, never from the round marker, which drifts in a spiral. Diagram 1, Assembly order shows what happens at each pause and what waits until the body is closed.

  1. 1Body R1–R5 openThe face in A, from the magic ring out to R5 (24 sts), its last stitch finished in B; a scrap through the 13th stitch of R5 marks T. Make the two wings at any time.
  2. 2A. Eyes pausedBoth posts through R3, between T±3 and T±4, no washers; look from the front; washers on.
  3. 3Body R6–R14 openStripes in B on R6–R7 and R10–R11, A carried inside; B cut and knotted inside after R11.
  4. 4B. Basting line pausedA contrasting thread along T from the scrap on R5 to the edge of R14; the scrap out.
  5. 5Stuff, R15–R16, close closedFirm in the face, a little less behind the first stripe; the belly pressed flat on the table; R15–R16, topping up at the tail; gather the last 6 and bury the tail.
  6. 6C. Wings closedEach open rim, pressed into a narrow oval, pinned along R8 T±1 to R10 T±3, the wing leaning back and out over R11 T±6; look from above, the front and each side; rims sewn; tails buried.
  7. 7Finish closedRemove the pins and the basting thread, settle the filling and lay the bee on its belly.
Diagram 1Assembly order. The eyes go in at the R5 pause, while the face is a shallow cup; the basting line and the filling at the R14 pause; the wings on the closed, stuffed body.
  • open — the body is in progress and rounds continue after the step.
  • paused — crochet has stopped with the loop held on a marker; the inside is reachable through the open end.
  • closed — stuffed and shut; only surface stitches, with tails buried through the fabric.

Finding the rounds. On the face, R1 is the ring at the centre and each round is the next ring out. On the body, the stripes are the landmarks: R6 and R7 are the first stripe, R8 and R9 the yellow band between the stripes, and R10 and R11 the second stripe.

Sewing stitches:

  • Rim seam: catch both top loops of a rim stitch of the wing, then a shallow bar of the body stitch under it without going through to the inside, and go round the whole rim. Pull until the surfaces just touch.
  • Surface stitch: catch a stitch of the wing, then a shallow bar of the named body stitch. Pull until the surfaces just touch.
  • Bury a tail: needle into the body at the seam and out 3 cm away, tug so the end disappears, go back through a nearby stitch and trim flush.

The diagrams are flat drawings of a curved, stuffed surface: place, pin and look before you fix anything.

A. Eyes (at the R5 pause)

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 T — scrap on R5 belly: first stitches, colour changes bee's left eye R3, between T+3 and T+4 bee's right eye R3, between T−3 and T−4 Seen from the front the bee's left on your right
Diagram 2Face map. Each ring is one round, divided into its own stitches. T, the top centre, is straight up, on the line from the centre of the ring through the scrap on R5; the bee's left is on your right. The eyes go in at the R5 pause, before any filling. A flat schematic of a face that domes once stuffed — push the posts in, look from the front, then press the washers on.
  • Eyes — 6 mm, each post in the gap between the 3rd and 4th stitch from T on R3: between T+3 and T+4 for the bee's left eye, T−3 and T−4 for its right.
  • T — the top centre: the scrap tied through the 13th stitch of R5, and the line from it to the centre of the ring.

Hold the face towards you with the scrap at the top. The face is still a shallow cup, so you can reach the inside. Diagram 2, Face map shows the rings and both eye positions.

Seen from above, a small shallow yellow crocheted dome resting on an open palm, two black safety eyes in it, a blue yarn scrap tied at its edge and a stitch marker holding the working yarn.
Illustration 4The face at the first pause. From above: the face still a shallow cup, both eyes pushed in, no washers yet, the scrap at its edge.
Left eye Right eye
Post R3, between T+3 and T+4 R3, between T−3 and T−4
  1. Find T on R3: it is the R3 stitch on the line from the centre of the ring to the scrap. Count 3 stitches towards the bee's left (your right) and push an eye's post through the gap just past the third stitch, from the outside, without its washer.
  2. Place the other eye the same way on the other side. Look at the face from the front: both eyes level, the same distance from the scrap line, a little above the centre of the ring. Move a post one gap if they are not.
  3. Press both washers on from the inside. Put the loop back on your hook and carry on with R6.

The eyes sit wide apart, a little above the middle of the round face.

If you would rather have no plastic parts, embroider the eyes instead: at this pause, with black cotton, work small straight stitches over the same gap, one over another, until a round dot about 6 mm across stands, and knot the ends inside.

B. Basting line (at the R14 pause)

Hold the body with the scrap on top and the tail end towards you. The line of small colour steps on the belly is directly underneath.

  1. Thread a needle with contrasting sewing thread. Start at the scrap on R5 and run the thread straight along the top of the body to the edge of R14, in and out every round or two, halfway round from the colour steps all the way.
  2. Leave both ends of the thread long, and take out the scrap.
  3. Fill the body as R14 says, and carry on with R15.

The thread runs straight along the middle of the back, halfway round from the colour steps; if it wanders towards one side, pull it out and lay it again.

C. Wings (after the body is closed)

T — basting line R5–R14 belly belly rim R8 T+1 → R10 T+3 rim R8 T−1 → R10 T−3 R5 (24) R6 (24) R7 (24) R8 (24) R9 (24) R10 (24) R11 (22) R12 (20) R13 (18) R14 (15) R15 (12) R16 (6) ½ ¼ T ¼ ½ ← bee's right bee's left → ▽ a decrease Seen from above face tail
Diagram 3Wing placement map. Columns are the whole round, from the belly on the left edge through T, the top centre, to the belly again on the right edge; each round is drawn at its own stitch width and in its own colour. Rows run from R5, behind the face, to R16 at the tail. The triangles mark each decrease as the rounds print it. A flat schematic of a curved, stuffed body — pin the wings and look from above, the front and each side before sewing.
  • Wing rims — each open rim, pressed into a narrow oval, is sewn along a slanting line: R8 T+1, R9 T+2, R10 T+3 for the left wing, R8 T−1, R9 T−2, R10 T−3 for the right. T itself stays free between their front ends.
  • Wing tips — not sewn: each wing leans back and out over R11, T+6 on the left and T−6 on the right, about halfway between upright and flat. The small ring at R9 T±1 is a tack, only if a wing lies on the body.
  • Stripes — R6–R7 and R10–R11 in B. The decreases of R11–R13 sit on the upper sides, so the belly stays straight.
  • Seen from above: the shape the rounds and the wings are meant to give.

Each wing is sewn on by its open rim, pressed into a narrow oval, along a short slanting line on the back; the wing stands up from it, leaning back and out. Diagram 3, Wing placement map shows both wings on the body.

The bee from the side with one cream wing pinned upright on its back with two pins, a red basting thread along its back, and a second wing lying loose in front.
Illustration 5A wing pinned before sewing. Its open rim pinned and the wing leaning back; the other wing still loose.
Left wing Right wing
Rim, front end R8 T+1 R8 T−1
Rim, middle R9 T+2 R9 T−2
Rim, back end R10 T+3 R10 T−3
Leans towards back and out, over R11 T+6 back and out, over R11 T−6
  1. Press each wing flat, then open its rim just enough to make a narrow oval, about as wide as one stitch.
  2. Lay the bee on its belly. Pin the left wing's rim along the slanting line from R8 T+1 through R9 T+2 to R10 T+3, so that the flat faces of the wing look forward-out and back-in and the wing leans back and out, about halfway between standing upright and lying flat. Pin the right wing the same way on the other side.
  3. Look from the front: both tips show above the top of the body at the same height. From above, the wings make a V opening towards the tail, with T free between their front ends. From the side, the second stripe shows below the wing. Move pins until they do.
  4. Sew each rim all round with a rim seam, using the wing's tail. Bury the tail.

The wings stand clear of the body and lean back like a pair of small paddles. If a wing leans out so far that it lies on the body, take one surface stitch from the inner face of the wing, about 5 mm above its rim, down into the body at R9 T+1 or T−1, pulled just snug.

Close view of the bee from its tail end, two cream wings standing on its back between the brown stripes.
Illustration 6The wings from behind. Both stand on the yellow band between the stripes, their rims sewn close to the body.

Finishing

Remove the pins and the basting thread. Roll the bee gently between your palms to settle the filling, then press it belly-down on the table so the underside stays flat. Do not block, steam or starch.

Your bee should lie on its belly on its own, its round face forward, the two stripes around it and its wings leaning back from its back. If it rolls onto its side, press it belly-down on the table and roll it gently forward and back under your palm until the underside is flat.

Care: spot-clean only, and dry flat away from heat.

What is checked

passed

Stitch check: every round's count recomputed from the stitch record

passed

Placement check: every placement checked against the rounds it names

passed

Diagram check: every diagram checked against the same record

2

finished makes from the written pattern

4

photos of finished makes

How patterns are made

Using this pattern

The toys you make from this pattern are yours to keep, give or sell. The pattern itself is for your personal use: please do not share, copy or resell it.

Safety

This pattern uses plastic safety eyes, which are not suitable for toys for children under three. If you would rather have no plastic parts, embroider the eyes instead.

Not for children under three. A handmade toy has not been safety-tested, so sew every part on firmly, and check the seams and stuffing before you give it to a child and every so often after.

Illustrations are generated previews. Your finished piece will differ with yarn, hook, tension and stuffing. © 2026 Anastasia Marchenko