Crocheting an Adorable Knotted Leg Snuggler Monkey Toy

Meet my latest crochet creation! This cute Monkey I made for a friend's 2-year-old.

In today’s blog, I’ll guide you through crafting this adorable monkey while sharing key tips I’ve picked up from creating it—plus insights gained from the many other toys I've been making lately.

Background Story

I initially crocheted a bunny for this toddler’s birthday, but I soon realized it was too small for him—thanks to my overly tight stitches (a tale for another day). At the last minute, I switched gears and made this monkey instead. After staying up a bit late, I managed to finish it in just a few hours.

I crocheted it using yarn I had left over from making a Giraffe for my nephew. I don't recommend using this yarn and I won't be buying it again - see section on yarn. Given I had the yarn on hand - I used it.

This Giraffe was made using a free pattern

Find the free pattern for the Giraffe here. This website is great and has lots of tutorial videos I have found helpful.

What is a Knotted Snuggler?

A knotted leg snuggler toy is a cozy hybrid between a stuffed toy and a cuddly blanket, designed for comfort and play. It typically features a soft, plush head and body—often shaped like an animal, such as a monkey—paired with long, knotted legs that add texture and make it easy to grasp. The "snuggler" part comes from a flat, blanket-like section attached to the toy, perfect for wrapping around or cuddling close, blending the huggable appeal of a stuffed animal with the soothing warmth of a small blanket.

Snugglers form part of what is called crocheting Amigurumi.

What is Amigurumi?

Amigurumi is a Japanese art form and technique of crocheting or knitting small, stuffed yarn creatures, typically characterized by their cute, whimsical designs. The word itself combines "ami" (meaning "crocheted" or "knitted") and "nuigurumi" (meaning "stuffed doll"). Amigurumi projects often feature animals, characters, or objects with exaggerated, adorable features like big heads and tiny bodies, crafted using tight stitches to create a firm, durable shape that holds stuffing well. Popular for toys, decorations, or collectibles, amigurumi is beloved for its versatility and charming, handmade appeal.

So, if you're searching for patterns to crochet cute toys for littles - you can search terms like snuggler or knotted lovely or amigurumi. I have found the best search platform for great patterns to be Pinterest.

Back to the monkey.

The Pattern

While most of the items I crochet are from free patterns, the Monkey is not. I recently treated myself to my first crochet pattern book and I LOVE IT.

Mamma Made Minis Knotted Loveys by Alyson Dratch and Lindsay McNutt

It has 16 patterns inside and lots of tips. I initially purchased it to make the frog and the elephant, and I am loving it so much I intend to make most of the animals. It is available on Amazon to get the physical book (my preference), but you can also buy bundles or individual patterns from their website.

My recommendation - get the physical book if you can and want to make a few of the items rather than the individual patterns or even the bundles.

Is the book worth it?

I love it, but here are some things worth noting. All of the animals are made in a similar style with adaptations to the pattern to create their unique feature. That means if you don't like this style of making toys, you won't like any of the patterns.

This style differs somewhat from other Snuggler Knotted Leg toys I have made. The most notable difference is that to be "low sew" projects, the body is crocheted onto the head not sewn onto the head. I find doing this a bit tricky to get it in the right spot, but I am getting better.

The leg (one of them) is also made from the body going down, where usually with these types of toys the legs are made from the bottom up and sewn on. For these patterns the first leg is done with the body, and the second leg is done attaching the yarn and then crocheting it. I haven't read all the patterns in detail, but so far none of the feet are stuffed. I assume because they don't think it is necessary, but also it won't be easy to stuff them given how they are made.

Another difference is that the head features are also often crocheted on and not sewn on - I like this. So far, I've done the frog and the monkey using this technique and it turns out nicely. It adds minor complexity to it, but it looks nice and is very sturdy.

Overall: The book is really nice quality and provides all the information you would want. It has loads of tips and shows how to do all the different things you need to do for the patterns. If you like this style of crocheting and you intend to make more than one of the items - then yes, I think the book is worth it. I intend to make all (or most) of them.

Here is the frog I am working on - you can see the eyelids were crocheted on and the leg was also done as part of the body. The other leg will be crocheted from the body by re-attaching the yarn and then the hole between the legs is sewn closed for a neat finish. The only sewing for the frog is the arms and closing the leg hole.

The material and tips

For this project and similar ones, you will need:

1. Super Bulky Blanket Yarn (but see my notes, because you can use other yarn)

   1. About 150g of the main colour and 60g or so of the other colour.

2. Crochet hooks - 7mm and 8mm

3. Fill - this is the one I like to buy.

4. A yarn needle

5. Optional: Safety eyes - these are the ones I use

The yarn

Like I mentioned, I don't recommend the yarn I used - let me share why.

I used the Baby Snuggle and Toucan Yarn from Hobbii.

As I learn to crochet and improve my knowledge and skill I have been experimenting with different yarn. Mostly I crochet using thrifted yarn, but every now and then I buy new yarn. I placed my first order from Hobbii because I wanted the merino wool they had for another project, and this Snuggle & Toucan yarn was on sale so I thought it would be nice to try.

Note on Hobbii - my experience with them was fantastic and I will definitely purchase yarn from them again, just not the Snuggle or Toucan. My order came quickly, except for one of the packages (they sent it in 3 packages). The one that didn't come quickly was declared "lost in customs" and they quickly sent me a replacement.

Also, the merino wool I bought from them is amazing. It is soft and not scratchy. Silky feel when crocheting with it (and I used it with mohair & silk).

My issue is really only with the Snuggle and the Toucan. Here is my issue:

Although it is classified as Super Bulky it is thinner than the other Super Bulky Blanket yarns I have used. I used the Snuggle yarn from Hobbii for this bunny, but I used Bernat Blanket Yarn for the eyes. You see the difference in size, even though those are both classified as super bulky.

Now I do understand that this does happen quite often (different size yarn being classified as the same weight because there aren't that many classifications), so let me share my other reasons why I don't recommend this yarn.

The Snuggle and Toucan yarn from Hobbii is low quality and it is really difficult to frog (pull out) if you make a mistake. It doesn't glide nicely - which makes closing the magic circle quite frustrating and I snapped the yarn a few times. It also feels almost sticky to work with (in Afrikaans I would say "hakerig" - it means to get stuck at places). I only realized how much nicer the experience can be when I used the Bernat Blanket Yarn.

My recommendation is definitely to use Bernat Blanket Yarn or something similar from Loops & Threads (I've only used their Sweet Snuggles Doux Calins for a Hippo, and I liked the yarn, but it was Jumbo which is a lot bigger than Super Bulky).

This frog is being done in Bernat Blanket yarn that I thrifted. It is much nicer to crochet with (glides and pulls out easily) and it has a neater look to it.

With this type of project (unlike clothing items) you can use bigger or smaller yarn, and the project will still work. Just adjust the hook size.

The eyes

For the Monkey I embroidered on eyes rather than using safety eyes. For the frog above I used safety eyes.

While I mostly prefer the look of safety eyes, they are a risk for young kiddos. When locked into place they are incredibly sturdy and I don't see them pulling apart, BUT the yarn can break, and they can come out like that. It is unlikely, but not a risk worth taking with small kiddos who are still prone to putting things in their mouth. In this case this Monkey was for a 2-year-old who has a newborn sister - I felt it best to embroider on the eyes.

Embroidering on the eyes

Because I've now made a few of these toys I have used different techniques for making eyes. The pattern and book for the Monkey recommends their way of doing the eyes, but I think you can also "shop around" to decide how you like to do eyes since it isn't project specific.

I found the tutorials by the friendly red fox to be helpful with doing eyes.

I recommend playing around with what you like. If you scroll through the pictures in this post, you'll see that most of my projects have different eyes because I am experimenting and wanting to see different looks that I like.

What to use to make eyes?

Some patterns recommend embroider thread. I have used this in several smaller projects, and I like it for smaller items, but for these big ones I prefer to use yarn. For the monkey I used the Bernat Super Bulky Yarn for the black part and a medium size white yarn for the reflection part.

Notes on making the Monkey (or similar items)

Your monkey will look neater than mine if you use a better-quality yarn (see my frog), but enough about the yarn.

There isn't anything particularly difficult about this project. Like I said, I completed it in a few hours. The only parts that are sewn on are the arms, the tail and the hole between the legs are closed (and if you're making eyes - then the eyes).

Because it is a paid pattern, I do find they make sure that all the instructions are very clear with lots of photos. Sometimes I struggle with free patterns because they lack photos or some instructions (I am saying that while being grateful that people put out free patterns).

The only specific stitch in this project is a Bobble (for the nostrils and toes). These types of toys also use an invisible decrease which is slightly different to a normal decrease, but not difficult.

Since the project is worked in continuous rows, I recommend using a stitch marker and I also like to use an app to keep count of the rows (mostly because I work on several crochet projects at the same time and easily forget where I was).

Overall, this was a fun project, it didn't take very long and even with my yarn frustrations I think it turned out well and I am pretty proud of it :) I am not an expert in crocheting, but I am learning so much with each project. Since I thrift most of my yarn I typically have the yarn and then I decide on the project, rather than the other way around. This has resulted in some funny "mistakes" (my HUGE hippo I made), lots of learning and fun projects (like the frog - he came from me thrifting that interesting colour yarn).

Check back in because I will share more of my projects, tips and recommendations.

Carmen

See my Learning to Crochet page

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