Emperor Penguin Family crochet patterns
I’ve been planning this ambitious design for a couple of months, and it’s finally ready: a family of Emperor Penguins!
Emperors are the largest of the penguin breeds, and probably what most people think of when they hear the word penguin. They’ve seen some extra popularity in recent years as they feature in the cute animated movie Happy Feet and the stunning documentary movie March of the Penguins.
I’ve been wanting to make a proper, amigurumi-style penguin for years, but until recently, colour-changing tehcniques weren’t up to what I had in mind. If you look at other penguin designs, they either have a white back, or a white oval (crocheted or felt) stitched onto their tummy, and neither of those options appealed to me. I’ve pioneered a new technique for creating smooth colour changes between a tummy and back (debuted with my Kingfisher pattern) and the beauty of this technique is that all the magic is in the actual pattern – you don’t need to learn any new stitches or methods to be able to follow it! I love innovating 🙂
So now I have a clever emperor penguin design, but I couldn’t resist making a little fluffy baby penguin too. I love how they look so different to the adults, but equally distinctive. And, of course, brushed crochet is the perfect technique to bring this little one to life.
If you’d like to make your own sweet pengys, you can buy the Emperor Penguin and Baby Emperor Penguin crochet patterns from my shop, and I’ve also put them together as an Emperor Penguin Family multipack for a special price.
I hope you like my penguins!
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Rae said
I love these Empire Penguins, and would like to make one for an Ice Hockey Team, whose emblem is the Empire Penguin, to raffle in order to raise funds to assist those unable to afford their own jerseys. Could you please advise the height of these beautiful creatures. With thanks, Rae
June said
That’s a lovely idea, Rae! You can always find the size and all the other details about my patterns on their listing page in my shop, but to save you looking now: the adult penguin is about 8″ tall and the baby is about 4.5″ tall when made with worsted weight yarn and an E hook.
Miriam said
Dobry den ,ja ,by som potrebovala navod kde si ho mozem kupit ,alebo stiahnut ?dakujem pekne za odpoved.
June said
Miriam, you can buy my Emperor Penguin patterns here (but please note that all PlanetJune patterns are available in English language only).
muna nana saigol said
Hello June,
Thank you for the gorgeous pattern. I made two of the baby penguins as soon as I got the email from you. I would love to post some photos for you to see. how can I do that?
June said
Hi Muna, I’d love to see your photos!
Penny Sinclair said
Hi, please could I post your picture of the Family of Emperor Penguins on my blog with a link to your site for people who might want be interested in purchasing the pattern?
June said
Penny, of course you may! Thanks for checking with me 🙂
Penny Sinclair said
Thank you June 🙂
Angel said
Wow, those are beautiful!
One of my brothers adores penguins, especially emperor penguins. I’ve been trying to decide what pattern to use to make him cute-but-realistic penguin friends, and I’ve just found the one.
I adore your patterns, and I’m sure this one will be just the same. Thank you so much for taking the time to design these patterns for us!
Jack russel opvoeden said
I really like the design. I’m a little jealous. I wish I was this good with my hands :-).
maryangela said
Great job, as usual!
I`d like to know if there’s a place where you teach this color changing technique or is it included in the Emperor Penguin pattern?
Thanks!
June said
Maryangela, I do give lots of tips on making the neatest colour changes in the pattern, and you can use those tips for other patterns too.
However, my special new technique actually forms part of the pattern itself – it’s not a technique you can apply to other patterns to change how the colour changes look. The difficult part is done by me when I design it: figuring out where to place each stitch to make the colour changes look smooth. When you follow the pattern, all you’ll be doing is exactly what you always do with amigurumi: single crochet with increases and decreases 🙂
Monica said
So cute!!! I can’t wait to try them out myself!!! These are amazing!
Heather Hoover said
LOVE them! You are SO good!!
Shannon Lewis said
They’re very cute. Love the realism in your designs.
Pysselkiisen said
Lovely as always! Great job June 🙂
Lindy said
Your penguins are brilliant! I love them.
Love, Lindy xx
A Gamer's Wife said
Congratulations! I love the smooth color changes on the stomach; simply gorgeous.
CrochetBlogger said
Adorable. Genius! Wonderful.
wrchili said
Adorable!
Simone said
They are so cute! Brilliant design. <3
LilMissRedTShirt said
How cute! There’s no way I could muster up making one, but.. I wish. Fun!
Judy Carlson said
Love, love, LOVE!
Susan said
Just toooo stinkin’ cute!
Else said
These are amazing! Love them. Great job, June!
N said
What a cute family! What an artist you are! 😀
concretemoomin said
Omg, these are very cute! I’m just getting into crochet but I’ve not tried anything more complicated than a scarf yet – it would be lovely to make something like this. Thanks for sharing your photos 🙂
elizabeth said
Awwwww. Those are precious!
Margaret said
I just love them! What a perfect gift idea for my niece for Christmas! Can’t wait to try the pattern! 🙂
maryanne @ mama smiles said
Those are darling!!!