Meet the Tsukimi Bunnies! (September buns; pattern)

Hello world! Here I am again with another monthly bunny – this time I drew inspiration from the tsukimi festival in Japan which shares many similarities with other Asian autumn festivals. Traditionally for tsukimi, dango/mochi are made and arranged onto a special dish which are then eaten as one watches the harvest moon. Unfortunately, just like with my previous month’s bunny, I did not have the time/energy to make this just as I envisioned as I did originally want to make 2 bunnies sitting by a tsukimi dish and snacking on some dango, but I just didn’t get around to doing this. I really hope my pregnancy side effects will fade away soon now that I’ve entered the 2nd trimester, so here’s hoping that I will have more energy for the October bun! But now without much more blabla, enjoy this month’s buns!
PS: There won’t be a pattern coming in 2 weeks as we’re going on vacation and I didn’t quite manage to finish the upcoming pattern, but I will upload it as soon as I can when I’m back! ❤

Pattern

Materials
To make the tsukimi bunnies you will need:
– A 2.5mm Crochet hook
– Yarn in whatever colors you’d like for the bunnies and the dango; I used white for the bunnies and yellow for the dango (optional black thread for the eyes and some pink for the cheeks)
– A tapestry needle and scissors
– Stuffing
– A stitch marker to help you keep track of the start of the round
– Safety eyes if using
Please note that you can make the beach bunny using any size crochet hook and yarn weight for a smaller or bigger result. I like using DK as it’s most commonly available. If you make amigurumi, it is usually recommended to go down a bit from the recommended hook size for the yarn to allow for a no-hole look (we don’t want to see the stuffing show through in between stitches)! Using DK yarn and a 2.5mm crochet hook, the bunnies should be about 15cm tall.

Stitches & Abbreviations
The pattern is written using US crochet terms in continuous spirals. You will need to know the following kinds of stitches to make him:
– Magic Ring (MR)
– Single crochet (sc)
– Decrease (dec); preferably using the invisible decrease method
– Increase (inc)
And now, let’s get started!

Head
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) around (18)
Round 4: (Sc 2, inc) around (24)
Round 5: (Sc 3, inc) around (30)
Round 6-11 (6 rounds): Sc around (30)
Round 12: (Sc 3, dec) around (24)
Round 13: (Sc 2, dec) around (18), stuff and insert safety eyes if using
Round 14: (Sc, dec) around (12)
Round 15: Dec around (6), fasten off and sew closed

Body
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) around (18)
Round 4: (Sc 2, inc) around (24)
Round 5: (Sc 3, inc) around (30)
Round 6-7: Sc around (30)
Round 8: (Sc 3, dec) around (24)
Round 9-10: Sc around (24)
Round 11: (Sc 2, dec) around (18)
Round 12: Sc around (18), stuff
Round 13: (Sc, dec) around (12)
Round 14: (Sc 2, dec) around (9), fasten off

Tail
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: (Sc, inc) around (9)
Round 3: (Sc, dec) around (6), fasten off

Ears (make 2)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3-10 (8 rounds): Sc around (12), fasten off

Arms and legs (make 4)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: (Sc, inc) around (9)
Round 3-7 (5 rounds): Sc around (9)
Round 8: (Sc, dec) around (6), fasten off, stuff arms lightly but leave legs unstuffed and sew them closed (do not sew the arms closed!)

Dango
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3-4: Sc around (12)
Round 5: Dec around (6), fasten off and sew closed

Assembly
Assembly is very easy: Sew the body to the head first, then fold the ears in half at the bottom and sew them to the head. Afterwards, sew on the tail. Then, sew on the legs, and lastly, the arms. Now all that’s left is to sew the dango to the hands of the bunny to make it look like the bunny is eating it. If you want to, you can add a bit of a blush to the cheeks. Make a second one and you’re done!

And that’s it! Enjoy your new little friend! You may post pictures of your tsukimi bunnies online as well as sell amigurumi made from this pattern, but I ask that you credit me as the creator of this pattern. Please do not redistribute the pattern.
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