There’s a boutique café next to my son’s nursery where I go
to hide from my kids.
All I do whilst playing truant is crochet, create patterns,
write patterns, test out those patterns, and dream up new patterns. Plus I get peanut butter toast and lemon
tea. It’s heaven.
On one of those days, the café owner Mark told me he was
planning surprises for his wife’s birthday and their wedding anniversary. He asked me if I could crochet a tiny Elmo
key ring for him, as his wife is a huge Elmo fan.
 |
| "But Dorothy I swear! I didn't know Sushi was made of fish!" |
“Sure”, I said, “I’ll give it a go”. Not having seen much of Sesame Street for
like – decades – I did some research on YouTube, which took me to some pretty
inappropriate stuff… But anyway, I didn’t think Elmo or his friend Dorothy the
goldfish would be that hard to do. The
slight challenges were the limbs which had to be 2D in view of the size.
Here’s what I came up with, pattern is included below for
other Elmo fans courtesy of Mark’s romantic gesture. I figured cookie monster and accompanying
cookie might be possible with minimal adaptations. Tips on how on subsequent blog post.
What you’ll need:
You can pretty much use any type of yarn you like since
slight variation in size won’t matter. I
used a light weight yarn (that suggested a 3.5mm crochet hook) and a 2.5mm hook
for a mini Elmo that measures 8cm tall.
I find it easier to think about yarn weight and size according to hook
size. I.e. If you use a yarn that
suggests a 4mm hook then your Elmo will finish bigger than 8cm.
Here’s what I worked with:
- - Red and orange yarn (gauge 22sts x 28rows for 10cm swatch);
- - Super thin black yarn (or black embroidery floss);
- - Crochet hook 2.5mm;
- - 2x white pom poms (0.5mm);
- - Black felt;
- - Black/grey embroidery floss;
- - Tapestry needle;
- - Polyester filling; and
- - A key ring.
Abbreviations:
ch
chain stitch
sl st
slip stitch
sc
single crochet
sc inc
single crochet increase, i.e. work 2 single crochets into the same
stitch
sc dec
single crochet decrease, i.e. crochet 2 stitches together
dc
double crochet (yarn over hook once before inserting hook, then pull
yarn through 2 loops at a time, twice)
dc inc double crochet increase, i.e. work
2 double crochet stitches into the same stitch
dc dec
double crochet decrease, i.e. double crochet 2 stitches together
hdc half double crochet (yarn over
once, pull yarn through the loops once)
st
stitche(s)
( )
numbers in brackets denote total stitches for that row
* when a stitch pattern is repeated several times, it is enclosed by
asterisks.
E.g.
*2sc, sc dec* x2 - means single crochet twice, decrease, single crochet
twice,
decrease.
Head: (in red)
R1: magic ring, ch, 6sc into ring, tighten ring, join round
with sl st. (6) [remember to start with a ch st at the beginning of every row
AND end each row with a sl st into the first st to end for the rest of the
pattern]
R2: *sc inc* x6 (12)
R3: *sc, sc inc* x6 (18)
R4: *2sc, sc inc* x6 (24)
R5 to R7: 24sc (24)
R8: *3sc, sc dec* x4, 4sc (20)
R9: *2sc, sc dec* x5 (15)
R10: *sc, sc dec* x5 (10), end leaving a yarn tail at least
8cm long.
Body: (in red)
R1: 8ch (8)
R2: starting at 2nd ch from hook, work 7sc, sc
inc, 5sc, sc inc, sl st to join round. [remember to start with a ch st at the
beginning of every row AND end each row with a sl st into the first st to end
for the rest of the pattern] (16)
R3: 16sc into backloops only (16)
R4 to R5: 16sc (16)
R6: *3sc, sc dec* x3, sc (13)
R7: 13sc (13)
R8: *3sc, sc dec* x2, 3sc (11), end leaving a short yarn
tail to weave into body.
Arms: (make 2 in red)
R1: 8ch (8)
R2: starting at 2nd ch from hook, 7sc [this forms
the arm] (7)
R3: *3ch, then beginning at 2nd ch from hook, do
2 sl sts [this forms a finger], attach finger to palm by doing a sl st into the
last st of R2* repeat three times to make four fingers, end one arm by leaving
a short yarn tail and weave end into arm, end the other arm with a 15cm yarn
tail to weave into arm and attach both arms to the body.
Legs: (make 2 in red)
Left Foot:
R1: 12ch (12)
R2: starting at 3rd stitch from hook, 3dc, 2ch
6sc, sc inc, working back towards the foot, 7sl sts, end leaving a long enough
yarn tail to weave into leg.
Right Foot:
R1: 11ch (12)
R2: starting at 2nd ch from hook, 7sc, 2ch, 3dc,
2ch, 10 sl sts along starting ch sts, end leaving a 15cm yarn tail for
attaching both legs to the body.
Smile: (in black)
R1: using super thin black yarn, 7ch, starting at 2nd
ch from hook, sc, hdc, 2dc, hdc, sc, ch, sl st into starting ch, end leaving a
long enough yarn tail to attach smile to face.
Nose: (in orange)
R1: magic ring, 4sc into ring (4)
R2: *sc, sc inc* x2 (6)
R3: *sc dec* x3 (3), end leaving a long enough yarn tail to
attach nose to face.
Dorothy the goldfish: (in orange)
R1: magic ring, 1ch, 4sc into ring, sl st into first st to
end. (4)
R2: *sc, sc inc* x2 (6)
R3: *sc, sc inc* x3 (9)
R4: *sc, sc dec* x3 (6)
R5: *sc dec* x3 (3), end of body.
R6: [make tail] 3ch, dc into end of body, *ch, sc dec* x2,
3ch, sl st into body, weave in yarn tail to end. Sew on features with black embroidery thread on both sides to
finish.
Making up:
Stuff head and body before attaching head to body with yarn
tail. Sew arms onto body with the extra long yarn
tail from one arm. Sew right leg onto body, then
using the same yarn tail, attach left leg to body. Sew on smile. Stuff nose with a little bit of
stuffing if needed then attach nose to face.
I sewed the back of the nose onto the face for additional security.
Using the black felt, cut out two tiny black pupils then
glue onto the white pom poms. Glue pom
pom eyes to face just above the nose.
You can either attach Dorothy directly to Elmo’s hand or crochet
a long chain to attach Dorothy separately to the key ring.
Finally, attach key ring to Elmo’s head, I just opened the
loop of the key ring chain and attached it to one of the stitches near the crown of his
head.
Et voilà you’re done!
Check out my other tutorials and check back here for the Cookie Monster pattern!
.heic)
