Brady the Snowboarding Penguin: A Free Crochet Pattern for Your Next Cozy Project
There is something undeniably charming about a penguin on a snowboard. Maybe it is the contrast between a creature built for waddling and the sheer ambition of hitting the slopes. Maybe it is the little goggles, the tiny board, the determined expression stitched into a face made entirely of yarn. Whatever it is, Brady the Snowboarding Penguin has captured the hearts of crochet enthusiasts everywhere, and today you are getting the full free pattern, tips, troubleshooting advice, and everything else you need to bring this adventurous little guy to life.
Whether you are a seasoned crocheter looking for a fun weekend project or a confident beginner ready to tackle your first amigurumi, this pattern is designed to walk you through every step clearly and without confusion. So grab your hook, settle into your favorite chair, and let us make something wonderful together.
Why Brady? The Story Behind the Snowboarding Penguin
Every crochet character worth making has a personality, and Brady is no exception. He is the kind of penguin who wakes up every morning and looks at a snowy mountain the way most of us look at a warm blanket — as an irresistible invitation. He is plucky, a little reckless, and absolutely convinced that if he leans just right on the downhill, he will stick the landing this time.
Brady was designed with cold-weather gift giving in mind. He makes a perfect holiday ornament, a shelf companion, a stocking stuffer, or even a playful addition to a winter-themed nursery. He is compact enough to finish in an afternoon or two, expressive enough to feel genuinely alive, and just challenging enough to keep things interesting without becoming frustrating.
The pattern uses basic amigurumi construction techniques, meaning the pieces are worked in continuous rounds and then assembled. If you have made a stuffed animal or any crocheted toy before, you will feel right at home. If this is your first amigurumi, Brady is a great place to start because his shapes are mostly simple ovals and circles with a few flat pieces added on.
Materials You Will Need
Before diving into the pattern itself, let us make sure you have everything on hand. Nothing is more frustrating than getting halfway through a project and discovering you are out of the right color yarn.
Yarn: You will need a worsted weight yarn (Category 4) in the following colors — black, white, orange, and your choice of bright accent color for the snowboard and goggles (red, yellow, teal, and electric blue all look fantastic). You do not need large quantities of any color except black and white. Small amounts of the accent colors will do.
Hook: A 3.5mm or 4.0mm crochet hook works well with most worsted weight yarns for amigurumi. You want to work slightly tighter than the yarn label suggests so that the stuffing does not show through gaps in your stitches.
Stuffing: Polyester fiberfill, enough to fill the body and head firmly. Brady holds his shape best when stuffed fairly firmly, particularly in the torso.
Safety eyes: Two 9mm or 12mm black safety eyes, depending on how large and expressive you want Brady’s face to be. If you are making this for a child under three, embroider the eyes instead for safety reasons.
Additional supplies: A yarn needle for assembly and weaving in ends, stitch markers, scissors, a small amount of black embroidery floss or black yarn for the smile, and optional craft foam or stiff felt if you want to give the snowboard a little extra rigidity.
Abbreviations Used in This Pattern
This pattern uses US crochet terminology throughout.
MR — Magic ring
ch — Chain
sc — Single crochet
inc — Increase (two single crochets in the same stitch)
dec — Invisible decrease (insert hook through the front loops of the next two stitches and single crochet them together)
sl st — Slip stitch
FO — Fasten off
BLO — Back loop only
[x] — Work the stitch or instruction within the brackets the indicated number of times
( ) — Stitch count at the end of the round
Pattern: Brady the Snowboarding Penguin
Head
Using black yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
Round 2: [inc] x6 (12)
Round 3: [sc, inc] x6 (18)
Round 4: [sc x2, inc] x6 (24)
Round 5: [sc x3, inc] x6 (30)
Round 6: [sc x4, inc] x6 (36)
Rounds 7–12: sc around (36)
Before continuing, switch to white yarn for the face patch. You will crochet the white section directly into the piece using a surface technique or by working the next rounds with a color change. An easier approach for beginners is to crochet the white belly patch as a separate flat oval and sew it onto the face at the end, centering it between where the eyes and beak will go.
Round 13: [sc x4, dec] x6 (30)
Round 14: [sc x3, dec] x6 (24)
Attach safety eyes between rounds 8 and 9, spacing them about 6 stitches apart. Place the white face patch centered below the eyes at this stage if you are using the separate piece method.
Round 15: [sc x2, dec] x6 (18)
Round 16: [sc, dec] x6 (12)
Stuff the head firmly before closing.
Round 17: [dec] x6 (6)
FO, leaving a long tail for sewing. Close the opening completely with your yarn needle.
White Face Patch (worked separately and sewn on)
Using white yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
Round 2: [inc] x6 (12)
Round 3: [sc, inc] x6 (18)
Round 4: [sc x2, inc] x6 (24)
FO, leaving a long tail. Sew this oval onto the front of the head, centered between the eyes and covering the area from just below the eyes down to roughly where the beak will go.
Body
Using black yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
Round 2: [inc] x6 (12)
Round 3: [sc, inc] x6 (18)
Round 4: [sc x2, inc] x6 (24)
Round 5: [sc x3, inc] x6 (30)
Round 6: [sc x4, inc] x6 (36)
Rounds 7–16: sc around (36)
At round 7, work the front 18 stitches in white and the back 18 stitches in black to create the white belly. You can carry both colors or cut and rejoin — whichever you prefer. Alternatively, crochet a separate white belly oval (using the same instructions as the face patch but increasing to 30 stitches) and sew it on after assembly.
Round 17: [sc x4, dec] x6 (30)
Round 18: [sc x3, dec] x6 (24)
Round 19: [sc x2, dec] x6 (18)
Stuff the body firmly.
Round 20: [sc, dec] x6 (12)
Round 21: [dec] x6 (6)
FO and close.
Wings (make two)
Using black yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
Round 2: [inc] x6 (12)
Round 3: [sc, inc] x6 (18)
Rounds 4–8: sc around (18)
Round 9: [sc, dec] x6 (12)
Round 10: [sc x2, dec] x3 (9)
Do not stuff the wings. Flatten and close with 4–5 slip stitches through both layers, or sew shut. FO, leaving a long tail. These will be sewn to the sides of the body.
Feet (make two)
Using orange yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
Round 2: [inc] x6 (12)
Round 3: sc around (12)
For the toes, create three small extensions by chaining 3 and slip stitching back along the chain to create little webbed-looking points. You can do this at three evenly spaced points around the foot before fastening off. This gives Brady that classic penguin foot silhouette. FO, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Beak
Using orange yarn, make a magic ring.
Round 1: 4 sc in MR (4)
Round 2: [inc] x4 (8)
Round 3: sc around (8)
FO, leaving a long tail. Do not stuff. Flatten and sew onto the face centered below the eyes, just above the lower edge of the white face patch.
Snowboard
Using your chosen accent yarn (red and yellow work beautifully), chain 18.
Row 1: sc in second chain from hook, sc across (17), ch 1, turn
Rows 2–6: sc across (17), ch 1, turn
FO
To shape the board, round off the corners slightly with scissors if using craft foam inside, or simply accept the rectangular shape and embrace the handmade charm. If you want a more polished board, cut a piece of stiff felt or thin craft foam to the same dimensions and slip it inside before sewing the edges closed. You can also embroider a simple stripe or star design on top of the board for a sporty look.
Goggles (optional but highly recommended)
Using your accent color, chain 8, join into a ring with a slip stitch, then work 8 sc around the ring. This creates a small circle. Make two. Connect them with a short chain of 3–4 stitches in the same color to form the goggle frames. Using white or a contrasting yarn, add a tiny loop of 4 sc around each circle as the lens area. Sew the goggles onto Brady’s head just above the eyes.
Assembly
This is where Brady truly comes to life, and it is worth taking your time here.
Start by sewing the head securely to the body. Pin it in place first to check the positioning — you want Brady to look slightly forward and upward, which gives him that classic confident snowboarder attitude. Use the yarn tail and your needle to work through both pieces multiple times, moving in a circular pattern to distribute the tension evenly.
Next, attach the wings to the sides of the body, roughly at rounds 10 through 12. Angle them very slightly forward and downward, as though Brady is holding his arms out for balance on the board. This positioning reads as active and dynamic rather than stiff.
Attach the feet to the bottom of the body. Since Brady is standing on his snowboard, position the feet flat against the underside of the body and sew them on so they point outward at a slight angle. Then sew or glue the feet to the top surface of the snowboard so that Brady appears to be standing on it. You can add a tiny stitch or two through the foot and board to hold everything in position.
Embroider Brady’s smile using a small curved stitch of black floss or black yarn just below the beak. This one detail transforms a neutral expression into pure joy. If you want Brady to look more focused and competitive, make the mouth a straight horizontal line instead — the Determined Competitor look is equally charming.
Finally, attach the goggles just above the safety eyes, pressing them gently against the head so they sit naturally on the face. A drop of fabric glue can help keep them in place if your stitching alone does not feel secure.
Tips for Getting the Best Results
Tension matters more in amigurumi than in most other crochet projects. Work tightly enough that you cannot see stuffing through the stitches, but not so tightly that your hands cramp or your hook struggles to get through. If you find yourself fighting the yarn, go up half a size on your hook.
Stitch markers are your friends. In continuous rounds, it is easy to lose track of where you are, especially on the body which has many identical rounds in the middle. Mark the beginning of every round and move the marker up as you go.
When stuffing, add filling gradually rather than all at once at the end. This allows you to distribute it more evenly and avoid lumpy spots. Brady’s body in particular benefits from being stuffed in layers as you work the decreasing rounds.
If your magic ring is loose or tends to open up, try starting with two loops around your finger instead of one before working your first round of single crochets. This adds a bit of extra grip.
For the color changes on the belly, do not be discouraged if the line between black and white looks slightly uneven. The white belly patch sewn on separately actually gives a much cleaner, crisper edge and is worth the extra sewing time if tidiness is important to you.
Sizing and Customization Ideas
As written with worsted weight yarn and a 4.0mm hook, Brady will stand approximately 6 to 7 inches tall (not counting the snowboard). If you want a larger Brady, simply go up to a bulky weight yarn with a 5.5mm hook. For a smaller ornament-sized version, use fingering weight yarn with a 2.5mm hook — though the smaller size will require more patience with the tiny stitches.
You can customize Brady endlessly. Try a striped scarf wrapped around his neck before attaching the head. Give him a tiny knit-look hat in a contrasting color using a short tube of single crochets. Paint tiny numbers or a logo on his snowboard with fabric paint. Make a whole family of snowboarding penguins in different colors for a playful winter display. A brown penguin version of Brady could be reimagined as a different bird entirely — a snowboarding puffin, perhaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can beginners make this pattern? Yes, with confidence. The individual pieces are straightforward, and if you know how to work in the round, decrease, and increase, you have everything you need. The assembly takes a bit of patience but no special technique beyond basic sewing.
What is amigurumi? It is the Japanese art of crocheting (or knitting) small stuffed figures. The word combines the Japanese words for “knitted” and “stuffed doll.” Amigurumi typically uses the techniques in this pattern — magic rings, continuous rounds, and simple shapes that come together into something greater.
Can I sell finished items made from this pattern? This is a free pattern shared for personal use and small-scale handmade selling. Please credit the design if you post photos online and do not redistribute the written pattern itself as your own.
What do I do if my pieces look different from the pictures? Gauge variation between crocheters is completely normal. The important thing is that the proportions between pieces are consistent with each other. If your body is larger than expected, simply adjust the head size by adding an extra increase round.
A Few Final Thoughts
There is real satisfaction in finishing an amigurumi. The moment you position that last piece, give the whole thing a gentle fluff, and set Brady on your desk or shelf to regard the world with his goggled, snowboard-ready expression — that is a genuinely good feeling. It is the feeling of having made something from nothing, shaped entirely by the movement of your hands and a length of yarn.
Brady the Snowboarding Penguin is one of those projects that people tend to make more than once. The first time for themselves, or for a child who will absolutely love him. The second time as a gift, probably during the winter holidays. The third time because someone saw the first two and had to have one. He is the kind of finished object that travels well, photographs beautifully, and brings a small but reliable amount of joy wherever he ends up.
So whether Brady is already on your hook or still living in the wishlist phase of your crafting life, know that he is absolutely worth the yarn and the time. Happy crocheting, and may all your snowboard landings be clean.
