Glow in the Dark Kodama Pattern

One day I discovered something special and unexpected. I found out that Glow-in-the-dark yarn existed! I thought it would be really fun to experiment with the yarn, and so I really racked my head to find something special to make from it.

I am a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki. In Princess Mononoke, the Kodamas (tree spirits) appear looking ghostly yet cute at the same time. They tilt their heads around and pop it back into place making these rattling noises. The more I thought about it, the more excited I became about what I thought would be the perfect combo of the ami and the yarn.

I went into my studio and I began making 2 different versions of the Kodamas: a sitting one, and a standing one.

The sitting one has a more round face and looks like its sitting with its knees up. The standing Kodama has a head more like an alien. The great thing about these Kodomas is that if you make the faces different, they look like different versions, so feel free to experiment with the faces!

If you don’t have Glow-in-the-dark yarn, you can still make them using any sort of yarn and it will still turn out quite spooky cute!

Check out the video here to see the Glow in the Dark Kodama in action:

I also have a Video Amigurumi Tutorial, showing how to crochet the Kodama from beginning to end:

Kodama Amigurumi Tutorial Video

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission if you decide to purchase anything by clicking on one of these links. Thanks for your support!

Glow in the Dark Kodama Pattern is copyrighted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This pattern is for personal use only.

Kodama #1 – Sitting Kodama

SKILL LEVEL: Easy

CROCHET HOOK:
Size H (5 mm)
Size G (4 mm)

YARN:
Glow in the Dark Yarn

NOTIONS:
Black Felt
Yarn Needle
Stitch Marker
Fabri-Tac Glue

HEAD & BODY
Round 1: 6 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around – 12 sc.

Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] around – 18 sc.

Round 4: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts] around – 24 sc.

Round 5-8: Sc in each st around.

Round 9: [Sc dec, sc in next 2 sts] around – 18 sc.

Round 10: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 12 sc.

Round 11: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 8 sc.

Round 12: Sc in each st around.

Round 13: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] around – 12 sc.

Round 14: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] around – 15 sc.

Round 15: Sc in each st around.

Round 16: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 st] around – 18 sc.

Round 17-18: Sc in each st around.

Round 19: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 12 sc.

Round 20: Sc dec around – 6 sc.
Fasten off, leaving a long tail.
Stuff and sew closed

LEG (make 2)
Round 1: 6 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2-4: Sc in each st around.

Round 5: Hdc in next 4 sts, sc in next 2 sts – 6 sts.

Round 6: Sc in each st around.
Fasten off, leaving a tail.

ARM (make 2)
Note: Switch to smaller size hook – Size G (4 mm)
Round 1: 5 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2-6: Sc in each st around.

Round 7: Sc dec in next st, sl st to fasten off – 4 sts.
Do not stuff.

ASSEMBLY
1. Stuff the HEAD and BODY.

2. Stuff the LEGS loosely. Do not stuff the ARMS.

3. Sew HEAD onto BODY. Sew LEGS into the Body 3 rows down from the top of the body. It should look as if its knees are bent and it is sitting down. Sew arms onto the side by lining it up to look like a vertical line at the side. You can sew the both hands together so they look like they’re touching or the arms can be free. See photos below.

4. Cut 3 circles of various size from black felt for the eyes and mouth. Glue the eyes and mouth on with Fabri-tac Glue. You can also embroider French knots instead.

Hands Free

Hands Together

________________________________

Kodama #2 – Standing Kodama

The standing Kodma might be a little more trickier to make because you need to join 2 different body parts by using sc. I will try and get a tutorial up on it soon.

HEAD
Round 1: 6 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around – 12 sc.

Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] around – 18 sc.

Round 4: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts] around – 24 sc

Round 5: Sc in each st around.

Round 6: [Sc dec, sc in next 2 sts] around – 18 sc.

Round 7: Sc in each st around.

Round 8: [Sc dec, sc in next 4 sts] around – 15 sc.

Round 9-10: Sc in each st around.

Round 11: [Sc dec, sc in next 3 sts] around – 12 sc.

Round 12: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 8 sc.
Fasten off, leaving a long tail.

LEGS and BODY
Round 1: 4 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around – 8 sc.

Round 3-7: Sc in each st around.
Fasten off.

You have created LEG A. Repeat Rounds 1-7 to create LEG B, but do not fasten off. Join LEGS A and B by joining across 2 sts of both LEG A and LEG B with sc. (Another option: You may create the 2 legs first and then sew them together across 2 sts) You should now have 12 sts around when the legs are combined. We will now work on the body.

Round 8: [2 sc in the next st, sc in next 3 sts] around – 15 sc.

Round 9-14: Sc in each st around.

Round 15: [Sc dec, sc in next 3 sts] around – 12 sc.

Round 16: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 8 sc.
Fasten off.

ARMS (make 2
Note: Switch to smaller size hook – Size G (4 mm)
Round 1: 6 sc into adjustable ring.

Round 2-6: Sc in each st around.

Round 7: [Sc dec, sc in next st] around – 4 sc.
Fasten off, leaving a tail. Do not stuff.

ASSEMBLY
1. Stuff everything except for the ARMS.

2. Sew HEAD onto BODY. Sew ARMS onto Body near neck.

3. Cut 3 circles of various size from black felt for the eyes and mouth. You can also embroider French knots instead.

4. Glue eyes and mouth on with Fabri-tac glue. Glue the eyes lopsided (not symmetrical) to give it that Kodama look!

If you enjoyed this Kodama pattern, please check out my larger Kodama Amigurumi Pattern.

Kodama - Tree Spirits