Edit: I actually wrote this post in April 2017 but for some reason never published it! So here it (finally) is 🙂

After Dick Bruna died last month, I made this little Nijntje/Miffy pattern to honor his memory! Nijntje is the Dutch name for Miffy and is a shortening for the Dutch word for “little bunny”.

And something I like a lot: this whole pattern is made without a lot of sewing. You start by making the arms and attach them as you crochet (just like with the rooster pattern). The only sewing needed is for the bottom of the legs (and the embroidery of the face of course)!

Miffy

Arms (make 2)

1. sc6 in ring (6)
2-5. sc6 (6)
Fold the arm and sc3 in two stitches at a time to close the hole

Ears (make 2)

1. sc4 in ring (4)
2. [inc, sc] 2x (6)
3. [inc, sc2] 2x (8)
4-9. sc8 (8)
Leave a yarn tail about 20 cm and cut the yarn. Make another ear similar to the first one.
DO NOT BIND OFF THE SECOND EAR, we immediately go on to do the body.

Body

10. Now join the two ears. While using the yarn of the second ear do inc, [sc, inc] 4x in the 9 stitches of the first ear. Continue by doing sc, [inc, sc] 4x around the second ear. In the end of the round you have joined the ears into one piece and you have 24 sc.
11. [inc, sc3] 6x (30)
12-18 sc30 (30)
19. [dec, sc3] 6x (24)
20. [dec, sc2] 6x (18)
21. [dec, sc] 6x (12) This was the head. We immediately go and do the body!
22. [inc, sc] 6x (18)
23. [inc, sc] 6x (24)
24. sc3, inc, sc3 through both the body and the arm, inc, sc7, inc, sc3 through both the body and arm, inc, sc4 (28)
25. sc4, dec, sc, dec, sc9, dec, sc, dec, sc5 (24)
26. sc24 (24)
27. [dec, sc2] 6x (18)

And now we’ll immediately go on to do the legs!
28. sc9 (9), now for the next stitch we will move to the other side of the body where we started this row to make a little circle
29. sc9 (9)
30. sc3, inc3, sc3 (12)
31. sc5, inc2, sc5 (14)
32. chain 5 and sc5. Sew this little “flap” so it’s the bottom of the foot.
finish off

Repeat row 28-32 on the empty stitches of row 27 so you get your other leg!

Shirt

chain 24
1. [inc, sc7] 3x (27)
2. [inc, sc8] 3x (30)
3. chain 2, your next stitch will be in the 6th stitch (see picture below), sc10, ch2, again skip 6 stitches, sc10 (24)
4-8. sc24 (24)
finish off