Bess

O wlishly
by
Mia
Zamora
Johnson

A n A m i g u r u m i
C o w G i r l P a t t e r n
Moooo-ve it along!

O
by
Mia Zamora Johnson
wlishly

owlishly.typepad.com 2009
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
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- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Materials
•Worsted weight yarn in a flesh color, white & black
•Sizes C/2.5 & E/3.5mm crochet hook
•Locking stitch markers
•Yarn & embroidery needles
•DMC Embroidery floss in- Black(310), V DK Raspberry (777) & MD LT Shell Pink (152)
•Black & pink felt, DMC Perle cotton in tan
•Set of Craft/Animal eyes 6 mm with safety backing (not rec. for children under 3)
•Poly-fil/Wool roving to stuff doll

Finished Size Abbreviations

approx. 6 inches tall ch- Chain
dc2tog Double Crochet 2
Crochet Techniques Needed together
(a decreasing st)
• Adjustable ring
• Half Double & Treble crochet dec- Decrease
• Increasing and decreasing inc- Increase
• Single crochet hdc- Half double crochet
• GAUGE- none in particular, just be sure that
you crochet tight enough that the stuffing will rnd- Round
not come out, and that the doll feels sturdy. rep- Repeat
sc- Single Crochet
About the Pattern sc2tog- Single Crochet 2 together
• Bess is crocheted in continuous spirals without join- (a decreasing st)
ing the rounds. You will need a stitch marker to sl st- Slip Stitch
keep track of where the beginning of each round
st(s)- Stitch(es)
starts; move the marker up to the first stitch of the
next round after finishing the previous one. [ ]- Sets apart a group of
stitches to be repeated as
• When you are changing yarn color, begin the sc
with the first color. After the yarn over grab the a whole.
second color with the hook and bring it through
both loops on the hook to complete the stitch, thus
allowing the next stitch to be entirely the second • I also prefer turning all the pieces of my dolls inside
color. out while I make them- they’re easier to embroider
since the outside fabric of each doll is a lot more
• When using pictures as reference, I want you to uniform & smooth!
know that I am left handed so the direction in
which the rounds are going, and the way the hook • The yarns used for this project are listed in the Final
is positioned is opposite for those of you that are Notes section on the last page, near the images if
right handed. you’re interested in using the same yarns that made
this little girl.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Pattern

Head
•Reminder- do not join the rounds crocheting will be in a continu-
ous spiral, the rounds will increase and decrease in increments of 5.

Round 1 In a flesh color, make an adjustable ring and work 5

sc in the ring, do not join, using the stitch marker to
mark the first stitch of the next round ----- 5 sts.
Round 2 [2 sc in each st] 5 times ----10 sts.
Round 3 [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 5 times -----15 sts.
Round 4 [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 20 sts.
Round 5 [sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 25 sts.
Round 6 [sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 30 sts.
Rnds 7-12 sc in each st around ----- 30 sts. Put the eyes in before it gets to tight. I put the eyes 6 sts apart, in
Rnd 10.
Round 13 [sc in next 4 sts, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 25 sts.
Round 14 [sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 20 sts.
Round 15 [sc in next 2 sts, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 15 sts. Stuff the head with poly-fil/wool as tightly as you can
get it, since you’re making a ball and won’t be able to stuff again.
Round 16 [sc in next st, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 10 sts.
Round 17 [sc2tog] 5 times ----- 5 sts. Using the yarn and a yarn needle close up the hole by stitching back
and forth across the opening.
Hood
• The hood will be crocheted to be pulled on around the head finishing right before you get to the point where
you start decreasing.

Round 1 In white, make an adjustable ring and work 5 sc in the ring, do not join, using the stitch marker to
mark the first stitch of the next round ---- 5 sts.
Round 2 [2 sc in the next st] 5 times ----10 sts.
Round 3 [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 5 times -----15 sts.
Round 4 [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 20 sts.
Round 5 [sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 25 sts.
Round 6 [sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st] 5 times ----- 30 sts.
Rnds 7-13 sc in each st around ----- 30 sts. Insert the head into the hood and stuff in there as tightly as you
can. You’ll begin decreasing rounds and it’ll be very difficult to stuff the head in afterwards, just
make sure that the eyes are facing outward, or make sure that you’ll be able to turn it so that
the eyes are correctly placed.
Round 14 [sc in next 4 sts, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 25 sts.
Round 15 [sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog] 5 times ----- 20 sts. Fasten off, and using a
length of yarn, sew the hood to the head going around the
face, then weave in the remaining yarn.

Ears
(make 2)
Round 1 In black, make an adjustable ring and work 5 sc in the ring, do
not join, using the stitch marker to mark the first stitch of the next
round ---- 5 sts.
Round 2 sc, sc, [sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc all in next st], sc, sc ----- 9 sts. Fasten

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Pattern

off & leave a length of yarn to sew the ears to the head. Cut a piece of pink felt to fit on the
inside of each ear and using a blanket stitch, attach it to each ear. You can either sew them to
the head now, or put them aside until you’ve finished the body.

Horns
(make 2)
Round 1 In the tan perle cotton and using the C hook, make an
adjustable ring and work 4 sc in the ring, do not join,
using the stitch marker to mark the first stitch of the next
round ---- 4 sts.
Rnds 2-5 sc in each st around ----- 4 sts. Fasten off and leave a
length to sew to the head, which you can either do now,
or after placing the felt spots on her head. When you do
attach the horns to the head, make sure that you do
NOT stuff them, and after attaching them, if you’d like
them to curve inward, just roll them towards the head in
the direction that each would face the other.

Body
• After making the arms, the body is going to be crocheted from the legs all the way up to the neck.

Arms
(make 2)
Round 1 Using black yarn, make an adjustable ring and work 6 sc
in the ring, do not join, using the stitch marker to mark
the first stitch of the next round ---- 6 sts.
Round 2 [sc, 2 sc in the next st] 3 times ----- 9 sts.
Round 3 treble crochet in the first st, sc2tog, [sc, sc2tog] 2 times
----- 6 sts. Change the color to white.
Rnds 4-8 sc in each st around ----- 6 sts. After completing Round 8
fasten off & leave a length of yarn to sew the arms to the
body. Put them aside until you’ve finished the body.

Legs/Torso
(make 2 legs)

Round 1 Using black yarn, make an adjustable ring and work 5 sc in the
ring, do not join, using the stitch marker to mark the first stitch of
the next round ---- 5 sts.
Round 2 [2 sc in each st] 5 times ----- 10 sts.
Round 3 [2 hdc in the next st] 3 times, sc in last 7 sts ----- 13 sts.
Round 4 [dc2tog in the inside loop only] 3 times, sc in the last 7 sts ----- 10 sts.
Change the color to white.
Rnds 5-8 sc in each st around ----- 10 sts. Stuff the feet, but not all the way
up the legs. Rnd 8 is the END OF THE FIRST LEG, fasten off & weave
in the remaining yarn.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Pattern

Round 9 join the 2nd leg to the first together and sc in each st around both legs, make sure both feet are
facing the same direction ----- 20 sts. *When you join the legs, you will be crocheting from the
back of the doll first, going towards the front of the body, and when you come around the first
leg to join again, that part will be in the front of the doll.
Round 10 2 sc, sc, 2 sc, sc in next 14 sts, 2 sc, sc, 2 sc, ----- 24 sts.
Round 11 sc next 10 sts, 2 sc, sc, sc, 2 sc, sc in last 10 sts ----- 26 sts.
Round 12 sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc in next 16 sts, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog ----- 22 sts.
Round 13 sc in each st around ----- 22 sts.
Round 14 sc in next 8 sts, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc in the last 8 sts ----- 20 sts.
Round 15 sc in next 7 sts, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc in the last 7 sts ----- 18 sts. Stuff the legs & body, but not
to capacity just yet.
Round 16 sc in next 6 sts, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc in the last 6 sts ----- 16 sts.
Round 17 sc in next 5 sts, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc in the last 5 sts ----- 14 sts.
Round 18 sc in each st around ----- 14 sts. Stuff the heck out of the body to finish it up. Fasten off and leave
a length of yarn to sew the body to the head after attaching the arms.

Tail

• Cut 3 strands of white yarn- 10 inches long. Hold all 3 ends together and make a loop, then using a hook, pull
them through one of the stitches on the back of the doll around where you’d place a tail. Only pull it through
about half way. Then holding the ends on either side, braid the tail with 2 pieces of yarn making up one of
each of the 3 sections to the braid.
• Fasten off by tying with a scrap of black yarn and then using a yarn needle pull the black ends through the
knot so that they face downwards. Trim the ends and separate the yarn to resemble the hair at the end of a
tail.

Felt embellishment
Tummy
•To make the template for the tummy, free hand an oval on a piece of paper. Make a rec-
tangle roughly 5/8” tall and 1” wide, then draw an oval within the rectangle. Cut the oval out
and hold it up to the body to determine if you’re satisfied with the size and placement. If not,
make slight adjustments before using your paper template to cut the felt to size.
•After completing the template and cutting the pink felt accordingly, using an-
other strand of the pink embroidery floss, embroider 4 teats onto the udder by
making 4 detached chain stitches. Then place the felt piece on the tummy and
blanket stitch around the edge of the felt to attach it to the body of the doll.
Fasten off by tying a tiny knot, and work the remaining floss between the felt and
the crocheted tummy.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Pattern

Inner Ears
•To make the template for the ears, freehand an oval on a piece of paper.
Make a rectangle roughly 1/2” wide and 1/2” tall, then draw an oval
diagonally within the rectangle. Cut the oval out and hold it up to the ear
to determine whether you’re satisfied with the size and placement. If not,
make slight adjustments before using your paper template to cut the felt to
size. Try to get the felt cut down to smaller than the outer part of the ears
so that when you attach the pink felt, it looks like it’s inside each of the ears.
•Complete the template and cut 2 pieces of pink felt, then using a strand of the pink
embroidery floss, blanket stitch around the felt attaching it to the ear. Do this for each
ear, then fasten off the floss by tying a tiny knot and work the remaining between the
felt and each ear.

Spots
• These really are up to you since each cow has spots
that are unique and placed differently. Just get a
small piece of black felt- around 6” by 6” and cut some
rough shapes out. I ended up putting 2 spots on her
head, and 4 on her body.
• Trim and clean up the shapes, and hold each up to the
body to determine if you’re satisfied with the size and
placement. If not, cut the felt down more, or reshape it
a bit until you’re satisfied with the results, then attach
each piece to the body with black embroidery floss
and a blanket stitch.

Final Notes

• If you haven’t joined the arms, then just pinch the top of each one together and sew it closed, and then sew
the arms around the top of the body wherever you’d like them to be.

• Sew the body to the head, going around until you’re comfortable with the security of the stitching, when
you’ve used up most of the yarn, finish by by inserting the needle through the neck and pulling it out the
other side then doing that again and tugging tightly while you snip the remaining yarn as closely as you can
get to the neck, move the head around a bit and the end will work it’s way back into the body.

• Using the dark pink colored embroidery floss, embroider the mouth onto her face and little barrettes into her
hair when you’ve completed the hair portion of the doll.

• To make the hair, pull the hood back from the face slightly and with a knotted piece of embroidery floss, pull
the needle through part of the head from back behind where the hood would cover, and start to embroider
the hair. I start from right behind where the bands begin and work my way forward, being careful to not
stitch down too low on the face, and working from the middle towards the outside of the face, gradually
lengthening the hair to a bob length. When you’re satisfied with the hair, knot the floss behind the normal
hood placement, cut it close to the knot and pull the hood forward and back into place. Now is the time that

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!
 Pattern

you’d use that remaining piece of yarn to sew the hood into place so that it won’t get worked off, nor will it
reveal the part of the head that is not embroidered.

• Position the ears on the sides of the head, holding them in place with stitch markers or pins, and decide upon
ear placement. Using the remaining yarn, sew them to the head, making sure that you go around the ear a
couple of times to ensure their security.

• The yarns used for this project were:

RYC Baby Alpaca DK- 206 Herdwick for the flesh color
Malabrigo Worsted- 195 Black for the hooves, ears
Cascade 220 Worsted- 8505 White for the body/hood

• If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this pattern please email me at
owlishly.designed@gmail.com. To read a bit more about this pattern and all my others, and to find out where
they’re available come visit me at owlishly.typepad.com. I appreciate your support, and I am glad you like
Bess! - Mia Zamora Johnson

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, please visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
- Essentially meaning please don’t share/reproduce/sell this pattern, or dolls made from this pattern. Feel free to make as many as you’d like for yourself or to give
as gifts, but please respect my request as the designer. Thanks!