If you are just joining us, welcome to my Under the Sea Puppet Crochet-a-Long! Our first puppet was the beautiful Mermaid. You are, of course, welcome to join in the fun at any time! Come join the Facebook group for connecting with and support from other makers!
This week, our mermaid meets her friend, the crab! These puppets can be made in worsted weight yarns OR cotton for bath mits! Being an under the sea collection, bath mits would be fantastic!
Be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns on Instagram to showcase your finished puppets!
You can also purchase an ad-free, printer-friendly PDF of this pattern in my Ravelry or Etsy shops! Notes: This pattern is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, hair, and accessories are made separately and sewn on. The eyes are embroidered on with black worsted weight yarn; the nose with matching skin color. Pictures below can give more details into the process.
Size: This is one size, fitting child through adult, but if you wish to make it smaller for a smaller child to play with, simply tighten gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 7 sts across and 8 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Materials:
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Cranberry – approximately 136 yds
Small amount of worsted weight black and white yarns for the eyes and mouth.
Crochet hook size G – 4.25mm
Tapestry needle
Terms and abbreviations to know:
Magic ring
Rnd, rnds – round, rounds
Ch, chs – chain, chains
St, sts – stitch, stitches
Sl st – slip stitch
Sc – single crochet
Hdc – half double crochet
Dc – double crochet
Inc – increase, 2 sts in same st
Dec – decrease
Sc2tog – basic decrease, turning 2 sts into 1
Invsc2tog – invisible single crochet 2 together; this is essentially a decrease, but done in such a way as to make the continuous stitching smoother, and the decrease not as noticeable.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second stitch.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
Body, in Cranberry
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnd 6: (3 inc, sc in next 12 sts)2x; 36 sts
Rnds 7-10: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 11: (invsc2tog, sc in next 16 sts)2x; 34 sts
Rnds 12-13: sc in each st around; 34 sts
Rnd 14: (invsc2tog, sc in next 15 sts)2x; 32 sts
Rnds 15-16: sc in each st around; 32 sts
Rnd 17: (invsc2tog, sc in next 14 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnd 18-19: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 20: ch 4, sk next 4 sts, inc in next st, (sc in next 4 sts, inc) 2x, ch 4, sk next 4 sts, inc in next st, (sc in next 4 sts, inc in next st)2x; 36 sts, counting the chs
Rnd 21: (sc into each of the 4 chs (using the back loop under the chs will create a neater look in the sts for sewing on the arms later), sc in next 14 sts)2x; 36 sts (see picture 1)
Rnds 22-35: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 36: (invsc2tog, sc in next 4 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnd 37: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Fasten off and weave in ends.
Claw Arms, in Cranberry, make 2 (see pictures 2-4)
Arms are made by making 2 separate claws, and joining them, as instructed below.
Claw 1
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring; 4 sts
Rnd 2: inc, sc in next 3 sts; 5 sts
Rnd 3: inc, sc in next 4 sts; 6 sts
Rnd 4: inc, sc in next 5 sts; 7 sts
Rnd 5: inc, sc in next 6 sts; 8 sts
Rnd 6: 2 inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts; 9 sts
Fasten off.
Claw 2
Rnds 1-5: repeat rnds 1-5 of claw 1
Rnd 6: 2 inc, sc in next st, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next st; 8 sts
Rnd 7: sc in next st, 2 inc, sc in next st, 2 invsc2tog; 8 sts
Rnd 8: sc in next 2 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog; 9 sts
Do NOT fasten off, but continue connecting to claw 1. Place a st marker in the last st of
claw 2.
Rnd 9: sc in next 4 sts of claw 2, join with sc to first st of last rnd of claw 1, sc in
remaining 8 sts around claw 1, join with sc back to the next unworked st of claw 2, and sc in remaining 4 sts of claw 2; 18 sts
Rnd 10: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts
Rnds 11-15: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Use the loose tail from claw one to sew closed the small hole between the claws, and weave in that end. Then sew the arm to the hole in the puppet.
Eyeballs, in White, make 2
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnds 3-5: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Backs of eyes, in Cranberry, make 2
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 24 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing
Assembly of the eyes (see pictures 5-6)
Using your tapestry needle, sew the black pupil onto the white of the eye. Sew it over and
single st in rnd 4. You can make this as small as or as big as you’d like. I sewed the black over about 4 times. Knot it off, inside the white of the eye.
Then, sew the whites down to the top of the head, at about rnds 2-5.
Then, sew the red backs over the backs of the eyes, WS against the back of the eye. Be sure it is covering all of the white in the back, sewing it onto the back of the head, as well as over the top of the eyeball. Weave in ends.
Legs, in Cranberry, make 6
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 3 sc in magic ring; 3 sts
Rnd 2: inc, sc in next 2 sts; 4 sts
Rnd 3: inc, sc in next 3 sts; 5 sts
Rnd 4: sc in each st around; 5 sts
Rnd 5: inc, sc in next 4 sts; 6 sts
Rnd 6: 2 inc, sc in next st, invsc2tog, sc in last st; 7 sts
Rnd 7: sc in next st, inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog, sc in last st; 7 sts
Rnd 8: sc in next 2 sts, inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog; 7 sts
Rnd 9: sc in next 2 sts, 2 inc, sc in next st, invsc2tog; 8 sts
Rnds 10-12: sc in each st around; 8 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew 3 to each side of the puppet, below the clawed legs, as pictured.
