Hepatocyte, the liver

cell
A crocheted amigurumi by Nunu Crochets

© 2021 Nunu Crochets

Hepatocyte, the liver cell

Information

Hepatocytes are liver cells which are responsible for saving us of all the toxic things that get inside of
our bodies, and they also produce cholesterol and other fats. Moreover, this cute, giant hepatocyte
will bring joy to any biologist, gastroenterologist or scientist who owns it!

What do you need?

- Yarn for the body and on a contrasting color for the eyes. For my sample, I used pink fingering
cotton yarn (Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 Solid in colorway 61) and black mercerized cotton
thread, size 5 (415 m per 100 g ball). I spent a total of 16 m of pink yarn and about 0.5 m of
the black thread, and a small scrap of white thread for the sparkles in the eyes.
- Two suitable hooks. I used a 2 mm hook for the body and a 1.5 mm hook for the eyes.
- Stitch marker or a contrasting piece of yarn to mark the beginning of each round.
- Polyester fibrefill stuffing.
- Sewing needle.
- Optionally, you can use security eyes of an appropriate size.

What do you need to know before starting?

- The basic crochet stitches used in amigurumi (see the section below).
- To start crocheting in the round with a magic ring (you can substitute it by 2 chains and make
the stated number of stitches on the second chain from the hook).
- To crochet in the round in a continuous spiral.
- To do triple decreases and to work in the back and 3rd loops (you can check the tutorials in the
“Helping materials and tutorials” section to learn how to do these techniques).

Gauge and measurements

Exact gauge is not important for this pattern, as long as you crochet thigh enough so there are no holes
between stitches, and the stuffing does not show.

Exact measurements will depend on the yarn and hooks used, and on your gauge. My sample is 5 cm
tall.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

Stitches and terminology

Here I use US terminology. Please, use the following table if you are used to UK terminology:

Abbreviation US UK
ch Chain Chain
sc Single crochet Double crochet
sl st Slip stitch Slip stitch
inc Increase (2 sc in one stitch) Increase (2 sc in one stitch)
triple inc Triple increase (3 sc in one stitch) Triple increase (3 sc in one stitch)
invdec Invisible decrease * Invisible decrease *
triple dec Triple decrease ** Triple decrease **

* You can substitute the invisible decreases by crocheting 2 sc together, or go to the “Helping materials
and tutorials” section to learn how to do invisible decreases.
** You can go to the “Helping materials and tutorials” section to learn how to do this decrease.

Notes

- Do not join at the end of each round unless stated; the pattern is worked in continuous spirals.
- All the pieces are started using a magic ring.
- All the stitches are worked through both loops, unless stated otherwise.
- You can use a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round and move it for each row
(you can also weave in and out a piece of yarn in another color when you start a new round).
- Stitches in parentheses are to be repeated as many times as indicated after the parentheses
(for example, “(1 inc, 1 sc) x6” means that you have to crochet 1 inc and 1 sc six times).
- Numbers in square brackets indicate the total number of stitches in that round.

Pattern

Body R6: (1 triple inc, 4 sc) x6. Join with a sl st to the

first stitch in R6. [42]
Make a magic ring, 1 ch.
If you prefer, you can sew now the eyes, or
R1: 6 sc in the magic ring. [6]
leave them until the end. If you are using safety
R2: 6 inc. [12]
eyes, place them now between round 2 and 3
R3: (1 inc, 1 sc) x6. [18]
and secure them.
R4: (1 inc, 2 sc) x6. [24]
R5: (1 inc, 3 sc) x6. [30]

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

R7: Work in back loop and 3rd loop at the same R16: 6 invdec. [6]
time: 1 ch, 42 sc. [42] Finish stuffing, close and fasten off, and hide
R8-11: 42 sc. [42] the tail inside the body.
R12: (1 triple dec, 4 sc in back loop and 3rd loop
at the same time) x6. [30] Eyes (make two eyes)

R13: (1 invdec, 3 sc) x6. [24] Make a magic ring, 1 ch.

R14: (1 invdec, 2 sc) x6. [18] R1: 6 sc in the magic ring. [6]
Stuff through the hole. Join with a sl st to the first stitch and fasten off.
R15: (1 invdec, 1 sc) x6. [12] Leave a long tail.

Finishing

Place the eyes on the top half of the body, between rounds 2 and 4, and sew them using the long black
tails; hide them inside the body. With a scrap of white yarn, embroider the white sparkle in each eye.

Where can you find more of my patterns?

Visit my Ravelry shop: https://www.ravelry.com/stores/nunu-crochets-designs

And you can follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nunucrochets/ (@NunuCrochets)

1 © 2021 Nunu Crochets

Hepatocyte, the liver cell

Helping materials and tutorials

Here you can see where I placed the eyes.

1 © 2021 Nunu Crochets

Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to invisible decrease (right-handed version)

1. Identify the front loop of the first stitch (the front loop is highlighted in blue, and the back loop
is highlighted in red), and of the second stitch (the front loop is marked in purple) that you are
going to decrease.

2. Insert the hook only in the front loop of the first stitch to decrease and do not yarn over (you
will have 2 loops on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook in the front loop of the second stitch to decrease (you will have 3 loops on your
hook); you will need to swing your hook to get it under the front loop.

4. Yarn over and draw through the first two loops, i.e. the two front loops (you will have 2 loops
on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

5. Yarn over and draw through the two loops to complete the invisible decrease.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to invisible decrease (left-handed version)

1. Identify the front loop of the first stitch (the front loop is highlighted in blue, and the back loop
is highlighted in red), and of the second stitch (the front loop is marked in purple) that you are
going to decrease.

2. Insert the hook only in the front loop of the first stitch to decrease and do not yarn over (you
will have 2 loops on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook in the front loop of the second stitch to decrease (you will have 3 loops on your
hook); you will need to swing your hook to get it under the front loop.

4. Yarn over and draw through the first two loops, i.e. the two front loops (you will have 2 loops
on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

5. Yarn over and draw through the two loops to complete the invisible decrease.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to triple decrease (right-handed version)

1. Identify the back loops of the first (the back loop is highlighted in red), second (blue) and third
stitches (purple) that you are going to decrease.

2. Insert the hook only in the back loop of the first stitch to decrease and do not yarn over (you
will have 2 loops on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook in the back loop of the second stitch to decrease (you will have 3 loops on your
hook); you will need to swing your hook to get it under the back loop. Then insert the hook in
the back loop of the third stitch to decrease (you will have 4 loops on your hook).

4. Yarn over and draw through the first three loops, i.e. the three back looks (you will have 2
loops on your hook). Yarn over and draw through the two loops to complete the decrease.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to invisible decrease (left-handed version)

1. Identify the back loops of the first (the back loop is highlighted in red), second (blue) and third
stitches (purple) that you are going to decrease.

2. Insert the hook only in the back loop of the first stitch to decrease and do not yarn over (you
will have 2 loops on your hook).

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook in the back loop of the second stitch to decrease (you will have 3 loops on your
hook); you will need to swing your hook to get it under the back loop. Then insert the hook in
the back loop of the third stitch to decrease (you will have 4 loops on your hook).

4. Yarn over and draw through the first three loops, i.e. the three back loops (you will have 2
loops on your hook). Yarn over and draw through the two loops to complete the decrease.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to crochet in the back loop and 3rd loop (right-handed version)

1. Identify the front loop (blue) and the back loop (red) of the stitch.

2. Turn the piece a little bit and you will find an horizontal bar just sitting below the back loop
(purple). In sc and hdc there is only one 3rd loop; taller stitches have more of these bars.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook both in the back loop and in the third loop of the stitch (highlighted in red and
purple).

4. Crochet the stitch indicated in both loops. I have made several sc; the front loop (highlighted
in blue) is still free.

13 © 2021 Nunu Crochets

Hepatocyte, the liver cell

How to crochet in the back loop and 3rd loop (left-handed version)

1. Identify the front loop (blue) and the back loop (red) of the stitch.

2. Turn the piece a little bit and you will find an horizontal bar just sitting below the back loop
(purple). In sc and hdc there is only one 3rd loop; taller stitches have more of these bars.

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Hepatocyte, the liver cell

3. Insert the hook both in the back loop and in the third loop of the stitch (highlighted in red and
purple).

4. Crochet the stitch indicated in both loops. I have made several sc; the front loop (highlighted
in blue) is still free.

15 © 2021 Nunu Crochets