Coral the Strawberry Whale

 

• Puffy yarn is a high quality yarn you’ll fall in love with! It’s bouncy, tubular and beginner-friendly.
• Stitch markers help you keep track of where you are.
• Polyester stuffing is used to fill the amigurumi project.
• Crystal bead to go with your completed project (for the good vibes). We placed ours inside the amigurumi with the polyester stuffing.
• Tapestry needle to sew your project together and hide your yarn ends (also referred to as yarn tails).
• Scissors are not included, but will be needed.
• Crochet hook to, of course, crochet :O!
• P.S. give us a shout at learn@dosidiy.com if you're feeling stuck :) 

 How to hold your hook and adjust tension

• The first step to learning how to crochet is to understand how to hold your hook and adjust your tension. This comes with practice, so experimenting with different ways is highly encouraged!

How to make a magic circle

• Let's start crocheting the upper part of the whale using the red yarn. To start crocheting, we’ll be making a magic circle (also known as a magic ring or magic loop). At its basic form, a magic circle is a circle made with your yarn that is held together with a slip knot and is generally used as the foundation to help you create circular shapes (like amigurumi!). You’ll find that many amigurumi patterns start with a magic circle.

 

Tips and tricks

 

• Basic stitches: chain stitch and single crochet stitch (00:12)
• The importance of tensions (1:49)
• How to rotate your hook during stitches (4:00)
• How to leave your work when taking a break and how to come back to your project (6:37)
• Other stitches you might come across in amigurumi, and how it differs from a single crochet stitch (7:54)

How to single crochet (1st round)

• Let's learn how to single crochet by completing the first round in the magic circle. Make sure you have this stitch down before moving on! The single crochet stitch is one of the basic stitches you’ll need to know in order to crochet.
• We'll be crocheting "in the round".

 

How to single crochet increase (2nd round)

• A single crochet increase will be demonstrated in this next video. An increase, often notated in patterns as "inc", means that 2 stitches will be placed in 1 stitch from the previous round.
• As a result, if you start with 6 single crochet stitches in the 1st round, in the 2nd round you would now have 12 stitches when increasing. If you started with 7 single crochet stitches, you would now have 14, etc.
• In formal pattern terms, this is denoted as "inc x 6 [12]" or "6inc".

How to create the 3rd round

We want to make the circle larger while maintaining this circular shape. In order to do so, we'll be incorporating the single crochet and an increase stitch.

• For round 3, place 1 single crochet stitch in the previous round's 1st stitch, then 2 single crochet stitches in the previous round's 2nd stitch. This pattern will continue as "1 sc, 1 inc" until we have 18 stitches.
• In formal pattern terms, this is denoted as "(sc, inc) x 6 [18]"
• Another helpful way to understand this: the 2nd round took on a pattern of 2-2-2-2-2-2 (this is not how patterns are written, but I find this method is easier to understand as a beginner). The 3rd round will take on a pattern of 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2.

 

Before we go on, here's an important tip on differentiating between the right and wrong side of your work

Give the 4th and 5th increasing rounds a shot on your own :)

• For the 4th round: you should have a total of 24 stitches! The formal pattern is written as (2sc, inc) x 6 [24]. In beginner-friendly terms, this is a 1-1-2-1-1-2 pattern.
• For the 5th round: you should have a total of 30 stitches! The formal pattern is written as (3sc, inc) x 6 [30]. In beginner-friendly terms, this is a 1-1-1-2-1-1-1-2 pattern.

No increasing stitches for the 6th-9th rounds. I'll show you a couple stitches on the 6th round. Give the 7th-9th rounds a shot on your own, and meet me at the 2nd to last stitch on the 9th round.

• For the 6th-9th rounds, we'll start shaping the whale's circular body 
• Remember that you should be ending each round with 30 stitches. Don't forget to place your stitch marker on every first stitch so you don't lose track of where you are!
• The formal pattern is written as "30 sc".

 

Round 10: how to color change and work stitches in the back loops only. We will be working in the back loop for just this round. Have your white yarn ready!

• To shape the beginning of the whale's underbelly, we'll be working in the back loops only.

Round 11: the first decreasing round (using an invisible decrease)

• A decreasing round is when we decrease the number of stitches for that round. You're almost done with this project!
• For a decreasing round, we are joining 2 previous stitches (by going into the front loops only, also referred to as "FLO" in patterns, from the last round so they become 1 stitch in this new round.
• The formal pattern is written as (3sc, dec) [24]. The "dec" is short for decrease. You should have 24 stitches at the end!

 

Rounds 12 & 13

• Give the next 2 rounds a try on your own :O
• Round 12: (2sc, dec) [18]
• Round 13: (1sc, dec) [12]. Hint: you should end the round with 12 stitches.

Next, we'll work on Coral's tail (red yarn) and her leaves (green yarn)

• First, let's complete Coral's tail

• Next, let's crochet the leaves

 

Add the hearts, leaves, and eyes (don't forget the backs of the eyes)

Fill with stuffing and close up the hole. Congratulations on your new finished piece whoo!