The drawing below is the one that started my amigurumi journey. I can’t explain why, but that little ladybug drawn by my 5 year old Kenji just pulled on my heart strings and I HAD to make it a tangible, huggable friend.
It was mid-February, 2018 and I decided I would finally pick up a crochet hook and learn how so many people create such wonderful things which are so much beyond what I can accomplish with my sewing machine. I had tried to learn crochet before, but all the ladies in my family either made doilies or afghans. My tension is WAY too tight for those things, even though my husband wears the probably way too stiff scarf I made him every single winter. When I discovered that tight tension was ideal for amigurumi, I found my confidence to give it a try.
Yes, we know ladybugs have 6 legs, but apparently Spotty was born with 4 legs and we love him just as he is.
Spotty’s head proved to be a bit of a challenge for me. I had to research and learn how to do the techniques I wanted to get the results I felt I NEEDED to make it a success. I really wanted to have that clean line separating the white from the black. I really wanted it to keep the asymmetrical triangular shape in the drawing. All that added up to several days of searching and learning new techniques for a practically new crocheter like myself.
Kenji’s Spotty – part one
Stitches used in American terminology:
MR – magic ring
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
sl st – slip stitch
inc – increase by creating 2 stitches into the same stitch
dec – decrease by joining 2 stitches together with a single stitch
BLO – back loops only
I used worsted weight yarn and a 3.0 mm hook and wound up with a 7.5” tall Spotty. Use whatever yarn and hook that works for you. Gauge doesn’t matter for this project. There are times I use [ … ] to group stitches. This is how I personally keep track of where I am in long and unusual rounds. I hope you find it useful too.
Head – make one
Begin with white
1) 6 sc in MR (6)
2) inc in each st (12)
3) 2sc, [4sc in next st, sc, sc], [4sc nxt st, sc, sc,sc], [4sc nxt st, sc, sc] (21)
4) 4sc, [4sc nxt st, 4sc], [4sc nxt st, 6sc], [4sc nxt st, 4sc] (30)
5) 6sc, [4sc nxt st, 6sc], [4sc nxt st, 10sc], [4sc nxt st, 6sc] (41)
6) 8sc, [4sc nxt st, 8sc], [4sc nxt st, 13sc], 4sc nxt st, 8sc
Change to black
7) BLO sl st in each sc (49)
8) BLO 8sc, inc, 12sc, inc,15sc, inc, 10sc (51)
9) 8sc, inc, sc, inc, 10sc, inc, sc, inc, 15sc, inc, sc, inc, 9sc (57)
10) 57sc around (57)
11) 10sc, dec, 13sc, dec, 16sc, dec, 12sc (54)
12) 9sc, dec, 12sc, dec, 16sc, dec, 11sc (51)
13) 8sc, dec, 11sc, dec, 15sc, dec, 11sc (48)
14) 7sc, dec, 10sc, dec, 14sc, dec, 11sc (45)
15) 6sc, dec, 9sc, dec, 13sc, dec, 11sc (42)
16) 5sc, dec, dec, 7sc, dec, dec, 10sc, dec, dec, 7sc (35)
17) 5sc, dec, 7sc, dec, 10sc, dec, 7sc (32)
18) 5sc, dec, dec, 4sc, dec,dec, 7sc, dec, dec, 5sc (27)
19) 3sc, dec, dec, dec, sc, dec, dec, dec, sc, dec, dec, dec (14)
20) Sc, sc, dec, sc, dec, sc, dec, sc, dec, dec, sc, sc (12)
21) 6dec (6)
FO (finish off)
I’m also on Ravelry at Hateruma Handmade.
I decided to not offer Spotty for free anymore as my son wants to earn some money for his future in a toy design school. I still wanted to keep the head portion for free because it is the most difficult part and it makes a nice sample of the pattern. The head part is still included in the complete PDF.
