Jun
Getting Started with the Purple Ghost Guy
So I made this Gengar back in summer 2022 when my roommate wouldn’t shut up about Pokemon Go and I needed something to do with my hands while binge-watching The Office for like the millionth time. The whole thing took maybe three evenings but I wasn’t really timing it.
You’re gonna want worsted weight yarn in purple obviously. I used Red Heart Super Saver in Soft Navy because the actual purple they had was too bright and looked ridiculous. For the mouth and eyes you need white and maybe some black or dark gray. The cheaper yarn actually works better for amigurumi stuff because it’s stiffer and holds the shape better, which sounds backwards but trust me on this.
What You Actually Need
Here’s the supply list but like don’t stress if you don’t have everything exactly right:
- Worsted weight yarn in dark purple (I used about half a skein maybe)
- White yarn for the eyes and teeth
- Black embroidery floss or thin yarn
- Size G hook, that’s 4.0mm I think
- Polyfil stuffing or whatever you have around
- Yarn needle for sewing
- Stitch markers if you’re the organized type
- Safety eyes if you want, but I just embroidered mine
The thing that annoyed me most was getting the spikes on his back to look even. They never came out quite right and I redid them like four times before I gave up and decided asymmetrical was his personality now.
The Body Part
Start with a magic ring. If you don’t know what that is just YouTube it real quick, it’s way easier than trying to explain in text. You’re basically making a ball shape that’s gonna be his main body.
Round 1: 6 single crochet in the magic ring
Round 2: increase in each stitch so you get 12
Round 3: single crochet, increase, repeat around for 18
Round 4: 2 single crochet, increase, repeat for 24
Round 5: 3 single crochet, increase, repeat for 30
Keep going with this pattern until you hit about 48 stitches. Gengar’s pretty round so you want a decent sized sphere. Then you crochet even without increases for like 15-20 rounds depending on how tall you want him. I made mine kinda squat because I thought it looked cuter but whatever you prefer.
When you’re ready to close up the body you just decrease the same way you increased. My cat kept trying to steal the polyfil stuffing while I was working on this part which was super annoying.
Arms and Legs Situation
Gengar has those stubby little arms and legs that are honestly pretty easy. For each arm start with a magic ring again, 6 stitches, then increase to 12 in the next round. Crochet even for about 8-10 rounds. Don’t stuff them too firmly or they’ll stick straight out weird.
The legs are basically the same but slightly shorter. Magic ring with 6, increase to 12, crochet even for maybe 6 rounds. You need four of these total obviously, two arms two legs.
I used Lily Sugar’n Cream for a different project once and that would probably work too if you want a cotton feel but it might be too thin, you’d have to hold it double or… actually nevermind that’s too complicated just stick with Red Heart or whatever.
Those Annoying Spikes
Okay so the back spikes. Gengar has like this row of spiky things down his back and they’re the worst part honestly. You can make them separate and sew them on or crochet them directly into the body. I tried both ways and sewing them on looked cleaner.
For each spike: chain 2, then work 3 single crochet in the second chain from hook, slip stitch back down. That makes a tiny triangle spike. Make like 6 or 7 of these depending on how big your Gengar is. Sew them in a line down the center of his back.
The pattern I loosely followed said to make them bigger but they looked goofy so I went smaller. Do what looks right to you.
Ears That Are Actually Kinda Important
Gengar’s ears are those pointy triangle things on the sides of his head. Start with a magic ring, 4 stitches. Then increase every other stitch to get 6. Next round increase every third stitch for 8. Keep going til you get to about 12 stitches then crochet even for a few rounds to make them stick up.
Flatten them and sew them to the sides of the head. Position matters here because if you put them too high he looks like a bat and too low he looks like he’s melting.
The Face Which Makes or Breaks It
This is where Gengar actually starts looking like Gengar instead of just a purple blob. His eyes are those creepy red ones but I couldn’t find red safety eyes at the craft store so I used white felt circles and embroidered red centers with some DMC floss I had lying around. You could also crochet little white circles and sew them on.
The smile is the important part. Gengar has that big creepy grin with the triangular teeth showing. I cut triangular teeth from white felt, like 4 or 5 of them, and glued them on with fabric glue. Then I embroidered the mouth line in black, making it curve up in a smile shape.
Some people crochet the whole mouth piece separately in white with the teeth built in but that seemed like too much work and I was already getting tired of this project by that point if I’m being honest.
Assembly Time
So you’ve got all these pieces laying around and now you gotta put them together. I always mess up the placement at first so maybe pin everything in place before you start sewing.
Attach the arms about halfway down the body on either side. The legs go on the bottom obviously but angle them slightly forward so he can stand up on his own. The ears go on the upper sides of the head. Make sure the face is centered before you commit to sewing.
I use a whip stitch to attach everything because it’s simple and I’m lazy. Some people do invisible stitches or whatever but honestly who’s gonna look that close at it.
Details Nobody Tells You About
The original Gengar is supposed to have this like shadowy wispy thing going on but that’s basically impossible to do with crochet unless you wanna get into wire armatures and stuff. I just accepted that mine would be a simplified chunky version.
If you want him to be poseable you can put pipe cleaners in the arms and legs before stuffing but be careful because they can poke through. I didn’t bother with that.
The color is really important though. I tried making one with actual bright purple yarn from Caron Simply Soft and it looked like a kids toy instead of the ghost type Pokemon. The darker navy-purple is way better. Gengar’s supposed to be kinda menacing not cute, even though he ends up cute anyway because amigurumi is just inherently cute I guess.
Sizing Stuff
With a G hook and worsted weight yarn mine came out about 6 inches tall sitting down. If you want bigger use a bigger hook or bulky yarn. Smaller would need a smaller hook and maybe sport weight yarn but that sounds tedious.
The gauge doesn’t matter that much as long as your stitches are tight enough that the stuffing doesn’t show through. That’s the main thing with amigurumi, you want it kinda stiff and dense.
Common Problems I Had
The body kept getting lopsided because I wasn’t counting my stitches properly. Use stitch markers seriously, even though I hate them they actually help. Just mark the beginning of each round.
Getting the limbs to stay in place while sewing was impossible. I ended up using straight pins to hold them and still managed to sew one arm on backwards the first time and had to redo it.
The stuffing amount is tricky too. Too much and he’s rock hard and the stitches stretch weird. Too little and he’s floppy and sad looking. Aim for firmly stuffed but still slightly squeezable.
Variations You Could Try
Some people make shiny Gengar which is just the same pattern in white or light gray instead of purple. That actually looks pretty cool.
You could also make him holding a little Pokeball or something if you wanna get fancy. I saw someone who made a mega Gengar with extra spikes and white accents but that’s beyond my skill level honestly.
Adding embroidered shadow effects with darker purple thread around the bottom could look good but I never tried it.
Final Random Tips
Work in good lighting because dark purple yarn is impossible to see your stitches in. I was working on this at night and kept losing count.
If your tension is inconsistent the whole thing will look wonky. Try to keep your stitches the same tightness throughout even when you’re switching between increasing and decreasing rounds.
The yarn ends are gonna be everywhere. Weave them in as you go or you’ll hate yourself later when you have like 20 ends to deal with at once. I speak from experience on this one.
Don’t be afraid to freehand stuff if the proportions look off. Patterns are more like guidelines anyway especially for something like this where there’s no official crochet pattern from Pokemon company or whatever. Everyone’s Gengar looks slightly different and that’s fine.
Oh and one more thing, if you’re making this as a gift make sure the person actually likes Gengar because not everyone is into the ghost type Pokemon and you’ll have spent all this time on something they’re just gonna be polite about. My roommate loved it though so that worked out.
