Anders

A special treat for you all today: my favourite Dragon Age character of all time, THE character of all characters: Anders. What’s not to love? He has a cat, he provides free medical care, he lives in a sewer, he makes catty little remarks about all your friends, he’s 0 to 100 with no in between.I hope you enjoy this free Anders crochet pattern and can plot mage freedom and revolution with him!

What materials will you need?

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The colour codes in the brackets are for Stylecraft Special DK yarn, my preferred amigurumi yarn. You can use any DK weight yarn.

• 3.00mm crochet hook
• Beige yarn (1710 Stone)
• Light brown yarn (1420 Camel)
• Teal yarn (1062 Teal)
• White yarn (1001 White)
• Light grey yarn (1203 Silver)
• Yellow yarn (1856 Dandelion)
• Caramel yarn (1709 Gold)
• Brown yarn (1054 Walnut)
• Black yarn (1002 Black)
• Grey felt
• Black felt
• Black thread
• Stuffing
• 2 x 8.00mm safety eyes
• Scissors
• Pins
• Fabric glue

When finished, your doll should be about 17.5cm (or about 12 inches) tall. Your doll may have slightly different dimensions depending on the hook, yarn and your crocheting tension.

Quick reference for beginners

Check out some of the tutorials below if you get stuck, or want a refresher, on any of the stitches we use in this pattern! All of my human dolls, but particularly the detailed ones like Dragon Age characters, can be a bit tricky for beginners. So take it slow, and take a break if you find yourself getting frustrated!

• How to read patterns
• Magic ring (MR)
• Single crochet (sc)
• Increase (inc)
• Decrease (dec)
• How to change colours
• Chain (ch)
• Attaching amigurumi limbs
• Back loop only (BLO)
• Front loop only (FLO)
• Slip stitch (sl st)
• Popcorn stitch (e.g. 3sc popcorn)

If you get stuck anywhere else, check out the FAQ.

Anders – Dragon age free crochet patterns

HEAD

row 1: (in Beige) MR 6sc (6)
row 2: [ inc ]x 6 (12)
row 3: [ inc, sc ]x 6 (18)
row 4: [ sc, inc, sc ]x 6 (24)
row 5: [ inc, sc 3 ]x 6 (30)
row 6: [ sc 2, inc, sc 2 ]x 6 (36)
rows 7-12: sc 36 (36)
row 13: [ sc 2, dec, sc 2 ]x 6 (30)
row 14: [ dec, sc 3 ]x 6 (24)
row 15: [ sc, dec, sc ]x 6 (18)

Finish off with a slip stitch in the next stitch, and leave a tail approximately 20cm or 7.5 inches. Insert your safety eyes between rows 9 & 10, with about 5 stitches between them.

HAIR CAP

row 1: (in Caramel) MR 6sc (6)
row 2: [ inc ]x 6 (12)
row 3: [ inc, sc ]x 6 (18)
row 4: [ sc, inc, sc ]x 6 (24)
row 5: [ inc, sc 3 ]x 6 (30)
row 6: [ sc 2, inc, sc 2 ]x 6 (36)
rows 7-12: sc 36 (36)

Finish off, leaving a tail approximately 20cm or 7.5 inches. Use the tail to attach the wig cap to the stuffed head. I don’t go through every stitch of the wig cap, it only needs to be secured in 4 or 5 places to hold properly. 

TIP Depending on the yarn you use for the head and hair, you may need more than 12 rows, or less than 12 rows to find the right fit for the wig cap. Adjust as needed. 

EARS

row 1: (in Beige) ch 3 (3)
row 2: ch 1, turn, sl st, sc, sl st (3)

Embroider the mouth using a few threads of black embroidery or cross-stitch thread.

TIP You can also use yarn to sew on the mouth, though it makes it a bit thicker. For a more expressive or detailed mouth, try felt.

Embroidering the hair

Embroidering the hair can be a bit tricky, so I’ve tried to include plenty of pictures. I also find it helps to pull up a couple of reference pictures of the hairstyle I’m trying to create – looking at what hair does in real life can help a lot.

Cut a long piece of yarn in the same colour as your hair cap and thread it on your needle. How long depends on your preference – I usually have to cut a couple of lengths to finish the entire head, but I don’t mind since it’s easier to work with that slightly shorter yarn.

For Anders, he has half his hair up in a ponytail and half loose at the back. So we’re trying to imitate what real hair does when pulled into a ponytail by embroidering the top half of the hair towards one spot. I find the circle from the first row of the wig cap to be a good marker – I usually aim to have the ponytail entered a little below that marker (see the white pin in the picture to the right).

Here’s where pictures can demonstrate the hair embroidery process better than I can explain (remember, we’re pulling the hair towards the white pin):

Thread the yarn underneath a stitch of the wig cap to secure it in place – we’ve secured it where the pin marks, as this will be our ponytail. I remove the pin after I’ve done the first one, since we can just aim for that same spot again.

In the pictures above, we take the yarn from the front of the head to the ponytail and pull it tight. Then, coming back in the other direction and securing the yarn under one of the stitches of the wig cap again we head back to the front of the head. Instead of pulling this one completely tight, you want to leave a loop for the ponytail. I use my thumb to make sure all the loops are the same-ish size.

The last picture demonstrates what we want – loose yarn for the ponytail, tight yarn against the head – as you would see with real hair.

Keep doing this until the ponytail is as thick as you want. It doesn’t take long – I’ve shown a picture below of the point where I usually stop adding to the ponytail (first picture on the left below). As you can see I’ve hardly covered the top of the head, but the ponytail is already thick enough. After this point I stop leaving open loops and just embroider the hair as I would any other detail – going back and forth to fill in the gaps and pulling all of it tight against the head.

After I’ve finished the top half of the head which makes up the ponytail, I move onto the rest of the hair. We’re going to do a similar thing to get the loose strands of hair at the back – see the pictures below. Leave the loop a little longer than you want the hair – it’s easier to trim than it is to grow 😉

Finish off the rest of the head this way and then be sure to embroider the couple of loose strands of his fringe, then you’re done!Here’s what he looks like when it’s all finished. The last thing left to do is cut the loops and trim and tidy the hair to the correct length – I usually cut the loops and trim after the head has been attached to the body. That way it’s easier to get the correct length.

RIGHT ARM

row 1: (in Beige) MR 6 (6)
row 2: [ inc, sc 2 ]x 2 (8)
rows 3-4: sc 8 (8)
row 5: sc 3, 4sc popcorn, sc 4 (8)
row 6: sc 8 (8)
row 7-9: (in Teal) sc 8 (8)
rows 10-11: (in White) sc 8 (8)
rows 12-15: (in Teal) sc 8 (8) 

LEFT ARM

row 1: (in Beige) MR 6 (6)
row 2: [ inc, sc 2 ]x 2 (8)
rows 3-4: sc 8 (8)
row 5: sc 3, 4sc popcorn, sc 4 (8)
row 6: sc 8 (8)
row 7: (in Teal) sc 8 (8)
row 8: (in White) sc 8 (8)
rows 9-10: (in Brown) sc 8 (8)
row 11: (in White) sc 8 (8)
rows 12-15: (in Teal) sc 8 (8) 

The arms are so small there’s no need for stuffing. Leave a tail approximately 20cm or 7.5 inches long and finish off. 

Take a length of white yarn and embroider another strip underneath the white rows of the right arm.

TIP The popcorn stitch in the arm is the thumb. If it’s a bit tricky or you prefer straight arms, simply replace it with a sc.

LEGS (make 2)

row 1: (in Black) MR 6 (6) 
row 2: [ inc ]x 6 (12) 
row 3: [ inc, sc ]x 6 (18) 
row 4: BLO sc 18 (18) 
rows 5-7: sc 18 (18) 
row 8: sc 3, dec 6, sc 3 (12) 
rows 9-12: sc 12 (12) 
rows 13-19: (in Teal) sc 12 (12)

Finish off the first leg. Leave the second leg on the hook. This will make it easier to join.

Take the two legs and position them so that both feet are pointing correctly. I like to place two bobby pins or stitch markers across the stitches where the legs will join to make it a little easier to keep track of. Position both legs. Make sure the feet are pointing forwards, and the start of the round is at the back to avoid visible colour changes.

BODY

rows 1-2: (in Teal) sc 24 (24)
***IMPORTANT: please read note below before continuing.
rows 3-7: (in Light Brown and Light Grey) sc 24 (24)
(stuff the legs before beginning decreases)
row 8: sc 3, dec [ sc 6, dec ]x 2, sc 3 (21)
row 9: [ dec, sc 5 ]x 3 (18)
row 10: sc 2, dec, [ sc 4, dec ]x 2, sc 2 (15)
row 11: (all in Beige) [dec, sc 3 ]x 3 (12)
row 12: sc 12 (12)
row 13: [ sc, inc ]x 6 (18)

***NOTE: for rows 3-10 there are going to be 3 stitches in grey in the middle of every row. See the pictures below for help picking where they go.

Mark the 3 stitches in the middle of the front of the body – I usually find the very middle stitch and mark the stitch either side. These stitches are going to be in Light Grey.

If you find you are having trouble getting the colour changes straight, refer to the techniques document – I describe the way I do my colour changes in there. 

If you get to rows 8 and onwards, and a colour change falls on a decrease, replace that decrease with a sc, and then complete the dec at the next sc. (Basically, move that decrease either forwards or backwards to keep the line of colour changes even). 

COAT BOTTOM

row 1: (in Light Brown) ch 22 (22)
rows 2-6: ch 1, turn, sc 22 (22)
rows 7-9: ch 1, turn, sc 11 (11)

Finish off.

Repeat rows 7-9 on the other half of the coat, picking up 11 stitches (starting from the outer edge) for row 7. Finish off.

Pick up stitches along the bottom edge of the coat, including the split, in Dark Brown yarn, as pictured on the right below. Then finish off and hide the tails.

JACKET

row 1: (in Teal) ch 26 (26)
row 2: ch 1, turn, sc 26 (26)
row 3: ch 1, turn, sc 9, dec, sc 4, dec, sc 9 (24)
row 4: ch 1, turn, sc 11, dec, sc 11 (23)
row 5: ch 2, turn, dc 4, ch 3, skip 3, dc 9, ch 3, skip 3, dc 4 (23)
rows 6-8: sc 23 (23)

Finish off.

Now for the coat trim. Take a length of yellow or gold yarn. This part can be a little fiddly. Alternatively, you can pick up stitches around the edge of the jacket in yellow/gold, but I find it’s slightly too thick that way.

Instead I take the yellow/gold yarn and glue it in place around the edge of the coat – how successfully this works depends on the strength of the glue you have and how precisely you can apply it. Having a slightly thicker yarn for the trim helps as well.

Next we’re going to cut some short lengths of light grey yarn for the feathery part of Anders coat. You will also need a pet brush or a fine toothed comb. I’ve managed to brush yarn out with a regular bristle brush before, but it takes a lot longer.

We’re going to cut about 24 lengths of grey yarn and attach them to the coat as shown in the pictures above – using the latch hook method to secure them between about row 6 & 7.

Once they’re all attached it’s time to get the brush out and brush to your hearts content – or until the yarn is soft and fuzzy. Trim the fluff as you go – I start off with it much longer than I’m aiming for to make sure I have room for adjustments. Once you’re happy with the fuzz level and the length you’re done! Pull the strands tightly to make sure they’re secure.

Putting it all together

Attach the bottom of the coat while you’re at it – this part should be simple enough, just make sure that the split at the back of the coat is centred at the back of the doll. Either use the tail of the coat if you left a long enough one when starting, or cut another length of the same coloured yarn.

Attach the arms. I like to pin them in place to get an idea of where they should be placed, then they are attached as a flattened piece using the tail. Next, taking a yellow/gold yarn, make 2 chains of 15. Attach these to the coat as pictured below (on the right).

Next, we’re going to create 3 chains in black: one is 18 stitches long, the other two are 15 stitches long. Adjust the length of them as needed for your doll if you find they’re too long/short. The two shorter ones go around the waist of the coat – covering the line where the coat bottom was attached. The longer one goes on the dolls right hand side, and is a lot looser, hanging down. (see pictures on next page)

Then take a length of gold/yellow yarn and embroider the circular buckles! One at the back of the doll, where the black chains meet. Three at the front of the doll – two smaller ones and one larger one where the chains meet. Take a length of black yarn and embroider the straps meeting the other two circular buckles (see picture on next page).

That’s the body done and dusted!

Finally, attach the head. There should have been 18 stitches in the last round of the head and the body, so they match up evenly. Simply align the head, and whipstitch closed. Sometimes I get halfway and then realise the head is off-centre. That’s fine, just undo the stitches and move it right or left as needed. 

Put on his jacket and congratulations, you’re done! Ready to show the world why mages are feared 🙂

For a fun added bonus, the costume Anders wears in Act III of the game is almost identical except for colour. Replace the teal with a darker green (almost black). Replace the light brown with black, and replace the light grey with a darker grey and boom! (pun intended) you have Act 3 Anders!

Other free Dragon Age crochet patterns in the series

What’s Dragon Age without an exciting cast of characters? There are other Dragon Age crochet patterns that I’ve made and are slowly being added to the website for free! Checkout out the Dragon Age collection for more patterns from this series, and as I get more into Veilguard, hopefully some new companions to join the roster! Don’t forget to tag @53stitches on Instagram or Tumblr if you share your work online, I love to see your creations!