Description
It is a clear spring morning. The footpath is empty, the sun is shining, and somewhere above you a black-and-white missile has just locked onto your hat. Crochet the legend himself with our Swooping Magpie crochet pattern — frozen forever mid-dive, beak open in mid-scold, ready to hang over the hat rack and defend your hallway like he owns it. (He does. It’s his hallway now.)
Our magpie is built exactly as shown: a black body with the white belly worked right into the rounds, a round black head with bold white cheek patches and a fierce little yarn crest, a long charcoal beak sewn permanently open, and exactly two wings — each one a black panel carrying five long white flight feathers with embroidered black shafts. Behind him fans a tail of five black feathers with white tips, and underneath trail two short grey legs with eight tiny toes between them. He hangs from a simple loop at the balance point, nose-down in the classic swoop.
📏 FINISHED SIZE
About 22.3 cm (8.8 in) from beak tip to tail tip, with a spread wingspan of about 31.4 cm (12.4 in), in DK (8 ply) cotton with a 3.00 mm hook. Body about 6.9 cm long; head about 5.6 cm across; beak about 5.4 cm.
📦 WHAT YOU GET
A 16-page PDF crochet pattern in US terms with every round counted and every piece photographed: body with in-the-round white belly, head, 2 cheek patches, crest, upper & lower beak (sewn open), 2 wing panels, 10 graded flight feathers, 5 tail feathers, 2 legs and 8 toes — plus full assembly, face embroidery, hanging-loop placement, posing ideas and variations. Instant download, print-friendly A4.
🧶 MATERIALS
DK cotton: Black 25 g (52 m), White 10 g (22 m), Charcoal Grey 5 g (11 m) — worked out stitch by stitch in the pattern, with a yarn totals table up front. Plus a 3.00 mm hook, toy stuffing, yarn needle, stitch markers, scissors and pins.
📊 SKILL LEVEL
Intermediate. Confident single crochet in the round, simple colour changes, flat row-work and basic embroidery (backstitch feather shafts, satin-stitch eyes). Every round’s stitch count is printed, so you always know you are on track.
✅ HONEST DETAILS, BECAUSE WE MAKE THESE OURSELVES
– The eyes are embroidered in yarn — this pattern uses NO plastic safety eyes, no plastic beak, no plastic parts anywhere. One honest note: our listing photos are styled concept images, and in a couple of them the eyes catch the light and read a little glossy. The pattern itself embroiders the eyes in matte yarn, exactly as written — what you make will have soft stitched eyes.
– The anatomy is counted and checked: exactly 2 wings, 10 flight feathers, 5 tail feathers, 2 legs and 8 toes. He is a display piece with a hanging loop, not a baby toy.
– The white belly is worked as a segment of the body rounds (no sewing a patch on afterwards), and the beak’s downward hook comes from two special curve rounds, both fully written out.
– This is a digital pattern only — no finished magpie, yarn or hook is posted to you.
🚫 PLEASE NOTE BEFORE YOU BUY
This listing is for a digital PDF pattern ONLY — no physical item will be shipped. All sales are final on digital downloads, but if you get stuck on any round, message us: we would much rather help you finish him than leave you with a half-swooped magpie.
❤️ FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS
We’re Al and Tina, an Aussie family shop making original patterns for the animals we grew up dodging, feeding and admiring. Every pattern is counted, checked and written to be genuinely makable at a kitchen table — no guessing rounds, no mystery stitch counts.
🔍 MORE FROM THE SHOP
Also in our Funny Aussie series and friends: Brush-Turkey Amigurumi Crochet Pattern Vol 1 — the other great garden menace, with her mound nest and speckled eggs; the Koala & Friends Ornament Set for your Christmas tree; and our Crochet Hand Puppet Patterns — 6 Aussie Animals, which includes a magpie with a talking mouth.
Questions before you buy? Send us a message — we answer personally, usually within a day, and we love seeing where our magpies end up on guard duty.
Listing photos are AI-generated concept images.
Created with the help of an AI generator.
Find more patterns from our Aussie family shop at alandtina.com
Learn the techniques in this pattern
New to a stitch or technique this pattern uses? Our free Stitch Library guides walk you through it, step by step:
How your download works
- ⚡ Instant download — as soon as your order completes, your files are waiting in My Account → Downloads.
- 📱 Read it anywhere — your pattern opens on phone, tablet and computer.
- 🖨️ Printing — print at 100% scale so templates and gauges come out true to size. Full printing & download help
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