Mini Squirtle Squad Crochet Pattern

I haven't been crocheting so much lately, I've actually been on a cross stitching kick - but during Squirtle community day I had to make a pattern!  I've got it pretty much perfected (I think!).  I forewent safety eyes on this one, and instead used stiff felt and felt glue to make him those classic Squirtle Squad sunglasses!  I had to make Ash's squirtle, of course, because his glasses are way cooler than the round ones.  You can make whatever shape glasses you'd like, as well as use safety eyes instead!  

Materials

White felt

Stiff black felt

Felt glue

Scissors

Poly-fil or other soft toy stuffing

Yarn needle

3 mm crochet hook

Brown yarn*

Cream yarn*

White yarn*

Sky blue yarn*

*These colors are for a regular squirtle.  For shiny squirtle you will need green, very light blue, white and cream yarn.  All yarn used was Red Heart brand, worsted weight.

Crochet Terms

MR- Magic Ring
SC - Single crochet
INC - Increase
DEC - Decrease
PC - Popcorn Stitch
F/O - Finish off
Sl St - Slip Stitch
DC - Double Crochet
FLO - Front loops only
Number in "( )" at the end of each line is the total number of stitches that should be on that row

Work this pattern in ROUNDS.

Head (in BLUE yarn)

Row 1: Magic Ring 6 (6)

Row 2: *INC* 6 times (12)

Row 3: *SC, INC* 6 times (18)

Row 4: *SC, SC, INC* 6 times (24)

Row 5: 24 SC (24)

Row 6: 24 SC (24)

Row 7: 24 SC (24)

Row 8: *SC, SC, DEC* six times (18)

Row 9: *SC, DEC* 6 times (12)

Finish off leaving sphere open, with a tail to sew the head to the body later.

Arms (in BLUE yarn)

Row 1: MR 4 (4)

Row 2: SC, INC, SC, INC (6)

Row 3: SC 6 (6)

Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing later.  Make two arms.

Feet (in BLUE yarn)

Row 1: MR 4 (4)

Row 2: *INC* 4 times (8)

Row 3: *SC, INC* 4 times (12)

Row 4: SC 12 (12)

Row 5: *SC, DEC* 4 times (8)

Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing later.  Make two feet.

Shell (in BROWN yarn *GREEN if shiny*)

Row 1: MR 5 (5)

Row 2: *INC* 5 times (10)

Row 3: SC 10 (10)

Switch to WHITE yarn

Row 4: Work in FLO *SC, INC* 5 times (15)

Row 5: *SC, SC, INC* 5 times (20)

Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing later.

Tail (in BLUE yarn)

Row 1: MR 6 (6)

Row 2: *INC* 6 times (12)

Row 3: *SC, INC* 6 times (18)

Row 4: SC 18 (18)

Row 5: SC 18 (18)

Row 6: SC 18 (18)

Row 7: *SC, DEC* 6 times (12)

Row 8: SC 12 (12)

Row 9: SC 12 (12)

Row 10: SC 12 (12)

Row 11: SC 12 (12)

Row 12: SC 12 (12)

Row 13: SC 12 (12)

Row 14: SC 12 (12)

Finish off, leaving a tail for sewing later.

Body (in CREAM yarn)

Row 1: MR 6 (6)

Row 2: *INC* 6 times (12)

Row 3: *SC, INC* 6 times (18)

Row 4: *SC, SC, INC* 6 times (24)

Row 5: SC 24 (24)

Row 6: SC 24 (24)

Row 7: SC 24 (24)

Row 8: *SC, SC, DEC* 6 times (18)

Row 9: SC 18 (18)

Row 10: *SC, DEC* 6 times (12)

Row 11: SC 12 (12)

Finish off

Assembly

Stuff both the head and body firmly (but not overstuffed!).  Use the tail of yarn you left on the head to sew the head to the body.  

Take the shell and use the tail of yarn on the shell to sew it to the body.  Use a bit of stuffing to fluff up the shell middle before sewing it completely closed.  I place the shell top a row or two below the neck, and make the bottom of the shell almost even with the bottom of the body.

Next, sew on the legs and arms.  I place the arms 3-4 rows down from the neck, and the top of the legs 7-8 rows below the neck.  Just sew them wherever it looks right!

Before you sew the tail to the body, you have to tack it into place to make the swirl.  Stuff the end ball of the tail lightly, but not the shaft of the tail.  Leave that empty. Take a bit of matching blue yarn and tack the ball of the tail to the shaft.  I usually place my tack in the second or third row down of the tail, and roll it down the shaft to a place it looks right.  It should look like the photo above with a straight length left on the tail.  Once the tail is tacked into place for the swirl (sometimes I tack in two or three places to make sure it stays), sew the end of the tail to the back of the squirtle under the shell.  

For the glasses, use the black stiff felt to cut out whatever shape glasses you want.  To add the reflection, cut out strips or triangles of white felt and use felt glue to glue it on.  I let it dry with the strips too large, then trim them down.  Use felt glue or black thread to attach the glasses to your squirtle.  

Voila! Squirtle! 

Mushroom Scarf Pattern

I have seen versions of this scarf every where.  Some great, some... need a little guidance.  But I couldn't find any patterns that I actually liked what the finished product looked like.  So, I made my own!

Stay warm this winter with this cute, nerdy scarf!  If you need further explanation, I made a video tutorial.  Part one is underneath the instructions for part one, and part two can be found at the bottom!

For this, I used:

Red colored Red Heart Super Saver yarn
White colored Red Heart Super Saver yarn
Black colored Red Heart Super Saver yarn
yarn needle
3.75mm (size F) crochet hook
scissors

Mushrooms (make 12 - work in rows)
Begin with white yarn

1.       Ch 9, turn

2.       Start in 2^nd chain from hook, SC 8, turn

3.       INC, SC 6, INC, turn

4.       SC 10, turn

5.       SC, DC 8, SC, turn – change to red yarn

6.       3 DC in the first SC, SC 8, 3 DC in the last SC, turn

7.       SC 14, turn

8.       SC 14, turn

9.       SC 14, turn

10.   SC 14, turn

11.   DEC, SC 10, DEC, turn

12.   SC 12, turn

13.   DEC, SC 8, DEC, turn

14.   DEC, SC 6, DEC, turn

15.   CH 2 on your hook, DEC into the 3^rd SC, SC 2, CH 2 on your hook and DEC into last stitch (skipping 3)

16.   F/O with slip stitch

Outlining:

      Work with black yarn.  Begin at the bottom of the mushroom face in a corner and single crochet in black yarn around the entire border of the mushroom, crocheting your yarn tails into the border as you go.  I crochet two SC in the area where you did a DEC of 3 at the top.

The Spots:

Work with white yarn.  There will be whole spots, and half circle spots.  If you are doing a double sided scarf, like I did in the videos, you will need 24 whole spots, and 48 half circle spots.

Whole Spots:

1. MR 5

2. INC in every stitch for a total of 10 stitches

F/O leaving a tail for sewing on later

Half circle spots;

1. MR 3, turn and work in rows

2. INC in every stitch for a total of 6 stitches

F/O leaving a tail for sewing on later

Details (eyes and sewing on the spots)

Sew on the spots like the photo above shows.  The whole spots will be in the center of the red, one on the front and one on the back of each mushroom.  Simply sew using the yarn tail you left on the spot with your yarn needle.   Repeat the same process with the half circles, just placing them on each side of the whole spot, one on the front and one on the back for each side.  You will use a total of two whole circles and four semicircles on each mushroom if you are making it double sided.

Eyes:

You will use black yarn to embroider the eyes on.  I place the eyes between stitch 3-4 and stitch 6-7 on the double crochet white row, then weave the tails in.

Assembly:

All 12 of your mushrooms should be complete at this point.  They will go one on top of the other.  I do mine first in two rows of 6, then take the top mushroom of each group of 6 and sew the tops together (to make the two groups of six face opposite directions).  They will then always be right side up when you are wearing them. Just use your black yarn and sew them together!

#Crochetgo! Free Charmander Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

We're all obsessed with Pokemon Go right now, am I right?  Even if you aren't, you know what it is.  But have you heard of #Crochetgo? A bunch of crocheters from around the world (myself included) have started making up these little critters and leaving them at Pokestops around their towns with notes explaining #CrochetGo for other Pokemon masters to find while hunting!  It's seriously addicting, and a lot of fun.

A lot of the free patterns I have found for these guys are pretty big, so I have started writing some for myself with smaller critters in mind.  I'll post some up here when I get them right so we can populate the world with Pokemon!

A wild charmander appeared!  This pattern uses single crochet, increases and decreases, and you should know how to do the "magic ring".  There are great tutorials on Youtube for the magic ring - I highly recommend learning it if you do a lot of amigurumi!

Things I used are:

Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn in burnt orange, cream, red and yellow

Size F/5 (3.75mm) crochet hook

2 black 10mm safety eyes

Yarn needle

Poly-fil (stuffing)

Pet brush

Head and Body (orange)

1. Magic ring: 6

2. Inc around (12)

3. (Sc, Inc) around (18)

4. (Sc 2, Inc) around (24)

5. (Sc 3, Inc) around (30)

6-9. Sc around (30)

10. (Sc 3, dec) around (24)

11. (Sc 2, dec) around (18)

12. (Sc 1, dec) around (12)

Pause here.  Insert two 10mm safety eyes between rows 8-9, approximately 6 stitches apart.  Stuff head.

13. Inc around (24) 

14-15. Sc around (24)

16. (Sc 3, Inc) around (30)

17-18. Sc around (30)

19. (Sc 3, dec) around (24)

20. (Sc 2, dec) around (18) - Stuff body here if you haven't started to already.

21. (Sc 1, dec) around (12)

22. Dec around (6) (f/o)

Legs (Make two) (orange)

1. Magic ring: 6

2. (Sc 1, inc) around (9)

3-4. Sc around (9) (f/o) - Leave a tail for sewing onto the body later.

Arms (Make two) (orange)

1. Magic ring: 4

2. (Sc 1, inc) around (6)

3-4. Sc around (6) - Leave a tail for sewing onto the body later.

Tail (orange)

1. Chain 8 (leave a tail at the beginning of your ch to sew on later)

2. Connect the first chain of row 2 to the first chain of row 1 to create a ring. Sc around (8)

3-5. Sc around (8)

6. (Sc 2, dec) around (6)

7. Sc around (6)

8. Dec to (f/o) 

Tummy (cream)

1. Chain 4

2-3. Ch 1 to turn, ch 4

4. (dec, sc 2, sl st to f/o) Leave a tail for sewing on.

Note:  The tummy may seem a little confusing in the top row, but what you are going for is just two sc in the middle of the top row:  

OXXO

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

The dec and sl st help to "round out" the top.

Now you're ready to sew him all together! I put the tummy on first, so I knew it would fit between his legs and arms.  After you sew on his tail, arms, legs and tummy (stuffing the legs, arms and tail of course) you are ready to do the flame on his tail.

Flame (red and yellow):

Start off by taking your desired amount of red and yellow yarn and threading it through the tip of his tail.  I just used one string each, since he's small.  Knot it at the end to keep it from coming off - I double knotted.

Here is where the pet brush comes in.  I'm forever losing my cats' brushes, so I have one that hadn't been used by them yet.  It's now a craft creating accessory!  You'll want one with the little wire-like bristles that are close together, so you can separate and fluff up the yarn.

Just brush out the yarn to make it fluffy!  You're done!

Admire your handiwork, and then #Crochetgo!  I've been keeping track of my #crochetgo "adventures" via my Instagram if you're interested in it, check it out and jump on board!

Charmander is going to go find a new home today, I'm meeting the husbeast for lunch at a restaurant in our town that has a Pokestop attached to it!

Reading the pattern:
Sc - single crochet
sl st - slip stitch
f/o - finish off
dec - decrease
inc - increase