Pigeons might be the most underrated birds in crochet, and that is exactly why I love them. They have the soft grey feathers, the little strutting walk, the gentle cooing charm — and when you make one from yarn, all of that turns into something funny, sweet and surprisingly stylish. This roundup of crochet pigeon ideas gathers twenty genuinely free patterns for them and their close cousins, the doves: plump amigurumi pigeons, delicate appliqués, Christmas ornaments, a keychain or two, and even a shawl shaped like dove wings.
A quick honest note before we start, because I want you to know exactly what you are clicking: most of these are written patterns published free on the designers' own blogs, but a handful come with small conditions, and I have noted every one as we go. A few are free video tutorials rather than written patterns, one sits behind a free email sign-up, two are written in German and Russian, and a couple have an optional paid ad-free PDF for those who prefer to print. Nothing here is a surprise purchase, and every link below takes you to the real pattern from the real designer.
1. The Classic Grey Pigeon in Five Colours
We are starting with the pigeon most of us picture when we hear the word: soft grey, neat, and quietly handsome. The Gray Pigeon shared on Yarn Gems, designed by Krelatie, is a beginner-friendly amigurumi worked in five colours with a 5 mm hook, so the body, wings and head all come together without any fiddly colourwork. The full written pattern is published free on the page, with the usual amigurumi shaping that keeps the little bird plump and round rather than lumpy. I love how the darker wing shading gives it that proper city-pigeon look, and because it is on the small side, it is a lovely weekend make. Perched on a bookshelf or a windowsill, it looks like it is just about to coo at you.
Pattern: Gray Pigeon by Krelatie at Yarn Gems — Get the free pattern
2. Percy, the Palm-Sized Favourite
If there is one pigeon pattern the whole crochet internet seems to have made, it is Percy. Ashley Parker of The Loopy Lamb designed this palm-sized fellow in three colours of worsted yarn with a 3.5 mm hook, and the complete written pattern is free on her blog, with a step-by-step video tucked in for the trickier bits. The feet are the detail everyone talks about — little orange toes that make him look ready to strut across your desk — and the pattern even includes a photo tutorial for getting them right. An ad-free PDF is sold in her Ravelry and Etsy shops for anyone who likes to print, but the blog version is the whole pattern, free. Make one in classic grey and blue, or go wild: Ashley herself has made Percy in mint, teal, dark pink and light pink.
Pattern: Percy the Pigeon by Ashley Parker at The Loopy Lamb — Get the free pattern
3. A Flat Pigeon Appliqué in Three Sizes
Not every pigeon needs to be a stuffed toy, and Kerri Brown's pigeon appliqué is the proof. This flat little bird is worked in crochet cotton in three sizes — small with a 1 mm hook, medium with a 1.5 mm hook, and large with an 8-ply yarn and a 3 mm hook — so you can sew it onto anything from a baby cardigan to a tote bag. The full pattern is free on Kerri's Crochet, with an embroidered eye and markings that give the appliqué all its character, and there is a video tutorial on her channel if you like to watch a motif come together. An ad-free PDF is available for $1 on Ravelry and LoveCrafts, but the page version is complete and free. I keep thinking how sweet a row of these would look across a cushion cover or a denim jacket pocket.
Pattern: Pigeon Appliqué by Kerri Brown at Kerri’s Crochet — Get the free pattern
4. The No-Sew Pigeon for Beginners
If sewing pieces together is the part of amigurumi you dread, this one was made for you. The no-sew pigeon from 53stitches is worked as one continuous piece with simple stitches and easy colour changes for the wings, beak and feet, and it is genuinely pitched at beginners. The full written pattern is free on the blog, with helpful pictures for the beak, and the little pops of green and purple in the feather colours are what make it instantly recognisable as a pigeon rather than just a grey blob. An ad-free PDF of this design and eleven others is sold on Etsy and Ravelry, but the single pattern on the blog is free and complete. This is the pigeon I would hand to a friend who has only just learned the magic ring.
Pattern: No-Sew Pigeon by 53stitches — Get the free pattern
5. The Birb With a Party Hat
Club Crochet's Pigeon Birbs are the comedians of this list, and I mean that as the highest praise. LouiesLoops' little birds stand about three inches tall, worked in worsted yarn with a G hook, and the full written pattern lives free on the Club Crochet lesson page, complete with a magnetic option and a party-hat variation for when your pigeon needs to celebrate. There is even a famously long version if you fancy a pigeon with extra length, which tells you everything about the sense of humour here. The same design also appears on Ravelry and has a video tutorial, but the lesson page is the one to bookmark — it is the designer's own home for the pattern, free and complete. A flock of these in different colours would be the best shelf display.
Pattern: Pigeon Birbs by LouiesLoops at Club Crochet — Get the free pattern
6. A Baby Pigeon, in Dutch and English
This one is a quiet treasure from the early days of crochet blogging. Grietje Karwietje's Young Pigeon is a small, soft amigurumi baby pigeon, and the pattern page carries the full written instructions in Dutch with a complete English translation on the very same page, so nobody is left guessing. It is a free pattern for personal use, with a link back to the designer, and the finishing touches are delightfully old-school: pipe-cleaner legs and little felt feet that give the bird its wobbly baby stance. The proportions are what sell it — a big round body, a small head, and that slightly puzzled baby-bird expression. If you love vintage blog patterns with real charm, this one is worth the dig through the archives.
Pattern: Young Pigeon by Grietje Karwietje — Get the free pattern
7. A Pigeon You Learn by Video
Some birds are easier to learn by watching than by reading, and this is one of them. Annie Carraway Art's Birdie Friends pigeon is a free video tutorial that walks you step by step through the whole bird, using the same friendly birdie base as her seagull, with a pigeon-specific beak detail that makes all the difference. The video is the pattern here, so it is the one to follow if you like to crochet along in real time, pausing and replaying as you go. Do note that the written version of her birdie collection is sold as a twenty-bird bundle, so if you want paper instructions, that is the paid route — but the pigeon video itself is free to watch and make from. It is a lovely choice for a cosy evening of stitching along with a maker you can see.
Pattern: Birdie Friends Pigeon video tutorial by Annie Carraway Art — Get the free pattern
8. The Dove, the Pigeon's Elegant Cousin
Let us be honest about this one: it is a dove, not a pigeon, but doves are the pigeon's closest cousins, and this pattern is far too pretty to leave out. Kerri Brown's dove appliqué is the companion piece to her pigeon appliqué, worked in the same three sizes — small, medium and large — with the same embroidered eye and soft, rounded shape. The full written pattern is free on Kerri's Crochet, and an ad-free PDF is available for $1 on Ravelry and LoveCrafts if you prefer a printable copy. In white or cream cotton, the dove reads as pure peace and weddings and christenings, while in grey it could pass for a plump little pigeon without anyone arguing. Sew it onto a card, a blanket corner or a gift bag, and it instantly looks like you meant it.
Pattern: Dove Appliqué by Kerri Brown at Kerri’s Crochet — Get the free pattern
9. A Mini Pigeon Keychain by Video
Keychains are the perfect excuse to make a pigeon you can actually carry around, and this beginner video tutorial from Seven Star Wool is exactly that: a mini pigeon keychain, made step by step on camera. Because it is a video rather than a written pattern, you can watch the shaping happen in real time, which is a real kindness when a bird is this small and every stitch shows. The finished keychain is tiny enough for a bag zip or a set of keys, and it uses so little yarn that it is a proper stash-buster. Clip one to your project bag and you will have a mascot for every crochet outing. Just be warned: once you have made one, you will want a whole flock in different colours.
Pattern: Mini Pigeon Keychain video tutorial by Seven Star Wool — Get the free pattern
10. Turtle Doves for the Christmas Tree
Turtle doves belong to Christmas songs, and Nicki's Homemade Crafts turns them into ornaments you will actually want on your tree. The full written pattern is free on her blog, covering the head and body, the tail, the wings and the little nose, plus a glue-and-water stiffening step that helps the finished dove hold its shape when it hangs. There is a video to go with it, and an ad-free PDF is sold on Ravelry and Etsy for printers, but the blog instructions are complete. I love the idea of making a pair in soft white and cream and hanging them together, like the song says, or scattering a few among the baubles for a woodland-tree feel. They are small, quick and unbearably sweet.
Pattern: Turtle Doves by Nicki’s Homemade Crafts — Get the free pattern
11. A Dove Behind a Free Sign-Up
Here is the one pattern on this list with a gate in front of it, and I am telling you about it upfront. Concrete Gems' dove is a lovely little hanging decoration, and the full written pattern is free on the blog — body, wing and embroidered eye all included — but it sits inside the site's free email sign-up area, so you will need to join the free list to read it. A premium ebook version is also sold, but the blog pattern itself costs nothing beyond that sign-up. If you are happy to trade an email address for a pattern, this dove is worth it: the shape is simple and clean, and it hangs beautifully as a decoration or a gift topper. Just go in knowing about the sign-up, and there will be no surprise.
Pattern: Dove by Concrete Gems — Get the free pattern
12. White Doves, auf Deutsch
This German-language pattern is a reminder that some of the prettiest free crochet lives outside English. Fingerbox's white doves are worked from a full written pattern on the blog, covering the head and chest, the back, the feathered tail, the wings, the legs and paws, the beak, and even the painted pin eyes that give the birds their expression. It is free to follow on the page, and if your German is rusty, a browser translator will carry you through the stitch instructions surprisingly well, since crochet abbreviations translate cleanly. The finished doves are small and white and soft, the kind of make that suits a wedding table or a peaceful windowsill. Do not let the language put you off — the pictures and the stitch counts do half the talking.
Pattern: White Doves by Fingerbox — Get the free pattern
13. The Lacy Bird Ornament Everyone Makes
This one comes with a small honesty note: it is a video tutorial for a lacy bird ornament that its creator presents and tags as a dove ornament, so I am including it as a dove-style make rather than a strict dove pattern. The video is aimed squarely at beginners and promises a quick, satisfying ornament — the kind of project you can finish in one sitting and immediately hang up to admire. Because it is taught on camera, you can see exactly how the lacy openwork forms, which is a gift when you are working with fine thread and small stitches. In white or cream, it looks like spun sugar on a Christmas tree, and in gold it would be pure festive glamour. Watch it once, make it twice, and you will have gifts sorted.
Pattern: Lacy Bird Ornament video tutorial — Get the free pattern
14. A Nordic Dove for a Scandinavian Christmas
Veronika Cromwell's Nordic Dove at Blue Star Crochet is the ornament I picture on a tree with wooden beads and paper stars. The full written pattern is free on the blog: a folded-circle body, a head worked right onto the circle, chain tail feathers and embroidered details, finishing at about nine and a half by six centimetres. It is reversible in red and white, which feels very Scandinavian, and an ad-free PDF with a step-by-step photo tutorial is sold for anyone who wants the printable version. The folded construction is clever without being complicated, and the finished bird has a lovely flat, folk-art quality that sits beautifully against greenery. Make a whole flock in red and white and your tree will look like a design magazine.
Pattern: Nordic Dove Christmas Ornament by Veronika Cromwell at Blue Star Crochet — Get the free pattern
15. A Dove Sachet That Smells of Lavender
This is the most useful dove on the list, because it is also a sachet. Lion Brand's Amigurumi Dove Sachet is an intermediate pattern, about four inches tall, worked in Vanna's Glamour yarn with a D-3 hook, and the finished dove holds dried lavender inside with a little hanging loop on top. The pattern is a free download from Lion Brand, and you will need a free Lion Brand account to download it — the usual arrangement for their free patterns, and worth it for a make this charming. Hang one in a wardrobe and your jumpers will smell of a summer garden, or tuck one into a drawer as a gift that is both pretty and practical. A dove that freshens your clothes is a dove earning its keep.
Pattern: Amigurumi Dove Sachet (L0262AD) by Lion Brand Yarn — Get the free pattern
16. A Twisted Turtle Dove, Taught on Video
Here is another video tutorial, and another turtle dove, but a very different shape from the one at number ten. Crochet Your Life's twisted turtle dove ornament is built from multiplied stitches worked onto a basic chain, which gives the little bird its spiral, twisted silhouette — very easy and very quick, in the maker's own words, and worked in white, silver or lurex mercerised cotton that you can starch for extra crispness. The channel is Romanian-language, so follow along visually and let the hands do the explaining; the technique is simple enough that the language is no barrier at all. In sparkly white, this dove looks like a frost ornament, and a row of them on a mantelpiece would be quietly magical. It is a lovely reminder that crochet is a visual language first.
Pattern: Twisted Turtle Dove Ornament video tutorial by Crochet Your Life — Get the free pattern
17. A Beginner Pigeon Video, Taught Step by Step
Lousy Llama's pigeon video tutorial is the one to watch if you have never made an amigurumi bird before and want someone to walk you through it slowly. The step-by-step tutorial is free to watch, and it builds a cheerful little pigeon from medium-weight yarn in blue, grey and yellow, with safety eyes and stuffing — the classic city-pigeon palette that makes the finished bird instantly readable. Do note the honest split here: the video itself is free, while the written pattern is sold through the designer's shop with her kits, so follow along on screen rather than looking for a printable version. The finished pigeon is a sturdy, huggable size, perfect for a desk or a child's shelf, and the tutorial pace is genuinely beginner-friendly. Put it on, hook in hand, and just follow along.
Pattern: Pigeon Bird Animal Tutorial video by Lousy Llama — Get the free pattern
18. A Shawl Shaped Like Dove Wings
Now for something completely different: not a bird at all, but a shawl shaped like a dove's wings. Andrea Crețu's Dove Wings shawl, shared on KnitterKnotter, is a beginner-friendly design worked mostly in treble stitches, in two sections that are crocheted separately and then sewn together into one long, wing-like sweep. The free written pattern is on the blog, with a thick yarn and a large hook giving a finished sample of about two hundred and thirty centimetres long by forty-five deep — a proper wrap-yourself-up shawl. An ad-free PDF is sold on Ravelry and the designer's own site, but the blog version is the complete pattern. Draped over a plain dress, the wing shape falls so gracefully that you will understand the name at once. This is the dove idea for when you want to wear the bird, not shelve it.
Pattern: Dove Wings Shawl by Andrea Crețu at KnitterKnotter — Get the free pattern
19. A Tiny Pigeon Charm, in Russian
Our second non-English pattern is also our smallest bird. VikGoldFish's mini pigeon — or dove, since Russian uses one word for both — is a free PDF pattern of a tiny bird about four and a half centimetres tall, worked in fine openwork yarn with a 0.9 mm hook and finished with a little hook sewn onto the belly, so it hangs as a keychain or bag charm. The PDF gives its abbreviations in both Russian and English, which makes it far friendlier than it first looks, and the body rounds are clearly charted round by round. It uses barely any yarn, so it is the ultimate scrap project, and a tiny pigeon dangling from a bag is the kind of detail that makes strangers smile. Small bird, big charm, and a pattern that proves crochet really is an international language.
Pattern: Mini Pigeon by VikGoldFish — Get the free pattern
20. The Delightfully Derpy Pigeon
We are finishing with the pigeon that made me laugh out loud when I first saw it. Mevlinn Gusick's Amigurumi Pigeon is, in the designer's own words, a cute and simple design that tries to capture the derpier characteristics of the bird — and it succeeds gloriously, with a slightly goofy expression and a plump little body about eleven and a half centimetres tall by twelve wide. It is worked in simple single crochet stitches with about forty-five grams of yarn, rated advanced beginner, and the pattern pairs step-by-step instructions with photos and tutorial links for the trickier techniques. It is listed as a free pattern on Ravelry, where the designer's page carries the full details. If your flock needs a class clown, this is the bird: slightly silly, completely lovable, and impossible not to smile at.
Pattern: Amigurumi Pigeon by Mevlinn Gusick — Get the free pattern
Conclusion
And there you have it — twenty pigeons and doves, my friend, from palm-sized Percys and no-sew beginners to lace ornaments, lavender sachets, a keychain charm and a whole shawl shaped like wings. Some are written patterns free on the designers' blogs, a few are videos to stitch along with, and every one of them is honestly free in the way I have described it. Whether you want a funny little desk companion or a whole Christmas tree of doves, your next flock is waiting in this list.
Now tell me — are you team plump amigurumi pigeon or team delicate dove ornament, and which of these twenty is going on your hook first? I read every comment, and I cannot wait to see your flock!
