Fight Club Conkers

Horse Chestnut Buckeye Fight Club Crochet Conkers Pattern

Crochet buckeye conker fighting amigurumi pattern from Cottontail & Whiskers. Have fun working up Ali, Rocky and Tyson crocheted bruisers fresh from a game of conkers. They’ve been patched up with bandages and band aid plasters. Thankfully, they live for the fight!

Born in Scotland, written in English, terms in US American

If you know nothing about the game, conkers was first recorded on the Isle of Wight in 1848. It’s thought that the name comes from ‘knockout’, ‘conquer’ or the French word for shell, ‘conch’. The story goes that the game was first played with snail shells. Either way, it’s popularity spread and is still played to this day when chestnuts fall from the trees in Autumn.

There are strict rules laid out by the World Conker Championships but here’s a simple guide for ‘friendly’ games from the Woodland Trust:

• Conkers is a game for two players
• Each player has their own conker with a hole through to hang from a threaded and knotted string or shoelace.
• Toss a coin to see who strikes first.
• Wrap the loose end of the string around your hand twice (have about 25cm of string between your hand and the conker).

• One player dangles their conker at arm’s length, keeping it as still as possible.
• The striker holds the string of their own conker and takes a swing at their opponent’s conker to try and bash it.
• If the attacking player misses, they have two more chances before it’s their opponent’s turn to strike.
• Keep taking turns until one of the conkers smashes and you have a winner!

A new conker is called a ‘none-er’ and when it wins its first fight it becomes a ‘one-er’. If it beats another, it becomes a ‘two-er’ and so on. In some areas, winning conkers gain the points of the losing conker. So if a ‘two-er’ beats a ‘six-er’, it wins a point for the victory plus the six points from the conker it beat, making it a ‘nine-er’.

Horse Chestnut Buckeye Fight Club Crochet Conkers Pattern

• Total pages: 28 pages
  • Main pattern: 18 pages
  • Printer section: 7 pages

Finished size

• 13 x 10 x 10 cm (5 x 4 x 4 inches)

Skill level

• Intermediate

Skills required

• Rows
• Chain (ch)
• Rounds (rnd)
• Single crochet (sc)
• Half double crochet (hdc)
• Bobble stitch (BOB) explained in pattern
• Increase (inc)
• Decrease (dec)
• Fasten off

Materials

One basic conker with shell:

• Green DK yarn – 40 g
• Brown DK yarn – 25 g
• Cream DK yarn – 5 g
• Beige DK yarn – 5 g
• Dark grey DK yarn – scraps
• White DK yarn – scraps
• Black DK yarn – scraps
• Black safety eyes – 18 mm
• Toy stuffing

Bandage:

• Cream DK yarn – 15 g
• Red DK yarn – scraps

Band-Aid/Plaster:

• Blue DK yarn – 5 g
• Optional Purple and red eyeshadow/pencil/pen

Black eye:

• Purple DK yarn – 5 g

Equipment

• Crochet hook – 3.0 mm
• Crochet hook – 4.0 mm
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors
• Stitch marker