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! 

Eevee Amigurumi Pattern

Hey everyone!  I'm really proud of this pattern, it's taken me two entire weeks to get it right.  Eevee is my favorite and I wasn't very happy with any of the patterns I could find for her, so I made my own!  She stands about 8" high without the ears, and 10" long.

The following pattern reads as such:

SC - Single Crochet
DC - Double Crochet
TC - Triple Crochet
DEC - Decrease
INC - Increase
F/O - Finish off
MR - Magic Ring

The number in the "(x)" is the complete number in the round or row.  Work in rounds unless indicated otherwise.

This is a bit more of an advanced crochet project, with double and triple crochet stitches.

You will need:
Brown yarn
Cream yarn
Crochet hook
Yarn needle
Brush (I use a pet brush)
scissors
Needle felting tools and wool for details (optional)
Hair straightener (optional)


I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn for this project and a 3.75mm crochet hook.

Head

1.      MR 6 (6)

2.      INC (12)

3.      SC, INC (18)

4.      SC 2, INC (24)

5.      SC 3, INC (30)

6.      SC 4, INC (36)

7.      SC 36 (36)

8.      SC 36 (36)

9.      SC 36 (36)

10.  SC 36 (36)

11.  SC 36 (36)

12.  SC 8, INC, SC, INC, SC 14, ICS, SC, INC, SC 8 (40)

13.  SC 40 (40)

14.  SC 11, INC, SC 6, INC, SC 2, INC, SC 6 , INC, SC 11 (44)

15.  SC 44 (44)

16.  SC 11, DEC, SC 18, DEC, SC 11 (42)

17.  SC 5, DEC, SC 5, DEC, SC 4, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 4, DEC, SC 5, DEC, SC 5 (36)

18.  SC 4, DEC (30)

19.  SC 3, DEC (24)
20. SC 2. DEC (18)

21.  SC, DEC (12)

22.  DEC (6)

F/O

--------------------------

Ears (make two)

1.      MR 4 (4)

2.      SC, INC (6)

3.      SC 2, INC (8)

4.      SC 3, INC (10)

5.      SC 10 (10)

6.      SC 4, INC (12)

7.      SC 5, INC (14)

8.      SC 14 (14)

9.      SC 6, INC (16)

10.  SC 7, INC (18)

11.  SC 18 (18)

12.  SC 7, DEC (16)

13.  SC 6, DEC (14)

14.  SC 5, DEC (12)

15.  SC 4, DEC (10)

16.  SC 10 (10)

F/O.  Leave a long tail for sewing.

---------------------------

Tail 

Begin with brown yarn.

1.      MR 6 (6)

2.      INC (12)

3.      SC, INC (18)

4.      SC 2, INC (24)

5.      SC 3, INC (30)

6.      SC 4, INC (36)

7.      SC 5, INC (42)

8.      SC 42 (42)

9.      SC 42 (42)

10.  SC 42 (42)

11.  SC 5, DEC (36)

12.  SC 36 (36)

13.  SC 4, DEC (30)

14.  SC 30 (30)

15.  SC, DC, TC, DC, SC (SIX TIMES) (30) – CHANGE TO CREAM YARN IN LAST CH

16.  DC, SC 2, DC, TC (SIX TIMES) (30)

17.  SC 3, DEC (24)

18.  SC 24 (24)

19.  SC 2, DEC (18)

20.  SC 4, DEC (15)

21.  SC 3, DEC (12)

22.  SC 4, DEC (10)

23.  SC 3, DEC (8)

24.  SC 2, DEC (6)

25.  SC, DEC (4)

F/O

What you're looking for in the SC, DC, TC rounds is shown below:

Eevee doesn't have a straight line on her tail, but a wiggly one!

-----------------------------

Front Legs (Make one leg A and one leg B)

1.       MR 6 (6)

2.       INC (12)

3.       SC, INC (18)

4.       SC 18 (18)

5.       SC 18 (18)

6.       SC 6, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 6 (16)

7.       SC 16 (16)

8.       SC 16 (16)

9.       SC 16 (16)

10.   SC 16 (16)

11.   SC 16 (16)

This is where the pattern differentiates for leg A and B of the front legs.  Continue below to step 12 for leg A.  You will now work in rows instead of rounds.

12.   SC 7 (7)

13.   DEC, SC 5 (6)

14.   DEC, SC, DEC (4)

F/O and leave a long tail for sewing.

Leg B. Repeat rounds 1-11 for leg A.  Continue to step 12 below for leg B.  You will not work in rows instead of rounds.

12. SC 15 (15)

13.  DEC, SC 5 (6)

14. DEC, SC, DEC (4)

F/O and leave a long tail for sewing

--------------------------------

Back Legs

There will be two back legs, one of each of the following (leg A and leg B).

1.       MR 6 (6)

2.       2 SC IN EACH SC (12)

3.       SC 1, INC (18)

4.       SC 18

5.       SC 18

6.       SC 6, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 6 (16)

7.       SC 6, DEC, SC 7, INC (16)

8.       SC 6, DEC, SC 7, INC (16)

9.       SC 6, DEC, SC 7, INC (16)

10.   SC 6, DEC, SC 7, INC (16)

11.   SC 3, INC (20)

12.   SC 4, INC (24)

13.   SC 5, INC (28)

This is where the pattern differentiates for each leg.  Continue to round 14 below for leg A

14.   SC 8, INC, SC 8, INC, SC 6 (26)

Do not chain one when turning for the following rows, begin in the 2^nd chain from hook to begin with a DEC

15.   DEC, SC 2, INC, SC 3, INC, SC 3 (13)

16.   DEC, SC 4, INC, SC 4, DEC (12)

17.   DEC, SC, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC, DEC (8)

18.   DEC, DEC, SC 2, DEC (5)

F/O and leave a long tail for sewing

Leg B

Repeat rows 1-13 above, the same as was for leg A.  Continue to round 14 below for leg B.

14. SC 2, INC, SC 2 (6)

Do not chain one when turning for the following rows, begin in the 2^nd chain from hook to begin with a DEC

19.   DEC, SC 2, INC, SC 3, INC, SC 3 (13)

20.   DEC, SC 4, INC, SC 4, DEC (12)

21.   DEC, SC, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC, DEC (8)

22.   DEC, DEC, SC 2, DEC (5)

F/O and leave a long tail for sewing

---------------------------

Body

1.       MR6 (6)

2.       2 SC in each SC (12)

3.       SC 1, INC (18)

4.       SC 2, INC (24)

5.       SC 3, INC (30)

6.       SC4, INC (36)

7.       SC 36

8.       SC 36

9.       SC 36

10.   SC 36

11.   SC 36

12.   SC 14, DEC, SC 4, DEC, SC 14 (34)

13.   SC 34

14.   SC 10, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 2, DEC, SC 10 (30)

15.   SC 30

16.   SC 30

17.   SC 30

18.   SC 30

19.   SC 30

20.   SC 30

21.   SC 30

22.   SC 3, DEC (24)

23.   SC 2, DEC (18)

24.   SC 1, DEC (12)

25.   DEC (6)

26.   F/O

------------------------

Assembly

I like to do my needle felting while the doll is still in pieces.  I did this step before sewing anything together.  This is optional.  You can always do felt piece and glue them, or embroider your face.

Use the photos of the finished product to help you with placement.

Sew the ears on to the head.  The ears should be flattened out instead of round.  If you need to, a very quick press (literally, a second) on very low heat iron will set it right if it doesn't want to flatten.  Hold the bottom halves together flat when you sew it to the head to help.

Now sew the legs onto the body.  I begin with the back legs.  You will notice that there is a "thigh bump" on the back leg.  That should go on the outside of the body.  Sew both in place.  The same is true of the front legs, with a lip on the outside of the leg.  Place that part on the side of the body and the rest underneath (see photos).  Pinning these in place before sewing is extremely helpful.

Attach the tail, and then the head.  The head should be attached with 3/4 of it resting on the body, and 1/4 of it hanging over, so the doll will stand on its own.


The neck fringe

The neck fringe or "poof" will be done in cream yarn.  Cut a 12" or so length of the cream yarn.  Then you will be cutting 30 or so smaller 6" lengths of yarn.  I simply wrap the yarn around something (in this case, my wallet) and make one cut so they are all even.

  


Lay your longest piece out flat, then slip knot all of the shorter pieces onto it.

It will look like this when you're done!

Now take your brush and brush out all of the smaller pieces to make them poof.  You will lose what seems like a lot of yarn at this point, but it's ok.  Do not poof out the ends of your longest piece!

Tie it around your eevee's neck.  Then brush out more, including the ends of the longest piece.

At this point I use a hair straightener to quickly zap out the squigglier pieces of yarn.  Brush out more to get the ultimate poof!  Then I use scissors to trim it up to the desired length.  If yours isn't poofy enough to your liking, you can always add a second layer on the top to ultra poof!

And that's it!

Needle Felting Amigurimi Faces

Since I started participating in #crochetgo, I've been crocheting with a lot of my free time (of course I've been playing Warcraft Legion as well...). So, I decided it was time for my amigurumi's to get kicked up another notch, and started doing some more advanced patterns. I fell in love with the bulbasaur pattern I found by aphid777 on DeviantART (which can be found here!) so I decided to make him!  Overall, the pattern is well written.  It could use a bit of polish, but I got through it ok!  His face is needle felted and I liked the look, so I decided to needle felt mine as well!

There's a few problems with needle felting for me.  Firstly, I'm allergic to wool.  Hives are not fun. Gloves and tweezers make it harder to work, but for me they are a necessity. As long as I don't touch it much or for a prolonged period of time, I'm good!  Second, there is only one hobby store that carries the supplies in my town, so I have limited resources.  Online shopping fixes that, at least!

For felting you'll need wool roving, a needle felting tool (mine is called a needle felting pen), and your amigurumi!  I generally also like to have a photo reference of the character to get the expression right.

To begin, take the base color of your eyes and start there.  I take the wool and roll it into the general shape of the eye, then place is it on the plush and stab just a few times to be sure I like the placement.  Once I'm satisfied, I stab it in!  Don't worry about completely filling it in at this point.  You'll be layering.

You'll want to get both eyes even during the base color.  Otherwise, you'll have a lot of pain and suffering later trying to make your poor amigurumi not cross-eyed!  Here I have my bulbasaur's eyes shaped the way I wanted them.  Make note that when you stab in your wool, it will shrink a little bit as it's compacted.  Take your time, make your eyes bigger as needed.

Here's where the layering begins.  Bulbasaur has red eyes, with no black pupils, and white reflection in his eye.  So we'll start with red, then move on to getting the reflection correct after.  Just like with the base colors, do both eyes and make sure you like it before you move on! As you layer up, you'll notice that it is a little harder to push your needles in.  Use some force, you won't do any damage (except maybe to your fingers! Keep those out of the way!).  The barbs on the side of the needle is what makes the wool tangle and stay in place, so you need the needle to go in at least past the barbs.

Here you can see what I mean by rolling the wool into the right shape before you poke at it with your stabby tool.  This would be the last step for bulbasaur's eyes, but most characters would have a pupil and then the reflection.  Once this part is done, now would be the time to fill in any spots that are see-through, or fix any shapes the you are unhappy with in his eyes.  I decided to make his eyes larger at this point.

I also needle felted his spots, nose, and his toenails - his little toes are my favorite part!  When you're completely done, you'll need to reshape his head and legs a bit by smooshing them around.  Unless you pull hard at it, the wool should stay in place if it's properly stabbed in.

What if I mess up!?

That is the question! And, I did mess up.  The photos with the pattern show black outlining around his eyes, and I wanted to do the same.  I felt like it gave him more expression.  So, I tried it!  Guess what?

BULBASAUR HAS EYELINER!

I hated it.  It had to come off, but I had never taken off anything I had felted before.  I took a chance, grabbed my seam ripper and a pair of tweezers, and carefully took off all the black with no problems.  I had to clean up and restab the eyes a bit, but they looked better than before I had even put the black on.

Exercise Eggs Pokemon Go Free Cross Stitch Pattern

I have been busy #crochetgo -ing a lot, and working on a new pattern for amigurumi to post, and I thought it would be great to have the cross stitching crowd jump in on the Pokemon Go crafting fun!  

This pattern uses 5 DMC colors, full and back stitches, and 14 count aida.  It measures about 2" x 3" when done, so it's a quick fun stitch!

Download it HERE!

This is for fun and learning purposes only, it's fan art and not an official Pokemon product.  This pattern and resulting finished product is not meant to be sold.

Happy stitching! (And egg hatching!)

#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