Tiny Bulbasaur (Free Crochet Pattern)

I have just set up an Etsy shop for crochet/cross-stitch/art prints/pyrography/3D-printing (I have far too many ideas...) and to celebrate, here is a free crochet pattern of my favourite Pokémon, Bulbasaur!

If you'd like to support me or get the whole set, this pattern and the other Kanto starters can be found on my new Etsy:
Tiny Bulbasaur
Tiny Charmander
Tiny Squirtle
or save money and get the whole set!

As always, if you have any questions about the pattern or notice any problems with it please contact me through the comments section. I love to see pictures of the things people make with my patterns so if you make a Tiny Bulbasaur and post it online, send me a link.

Level: Beginner, but can be fiddly to sew together

Ingredients:
Small amounts of Bulbasaur-coloured wool (I used DK weight)
Crochet hook (I used 3.5mm)
Fiber fill or stuffing of your choice
Two safety eyes (I used 10mm)
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Abbreviations:
Sc - single crochet
Inc - increase (2 single crochet stitches in one stitch)
Dec - decrease (I recommend the invisible decrease method)
Sl st - slip stitch
Ch - chain, followed by a number indicating the number of chains to make

Pattern use:
You can do anything you like with the finished product, but please do not sell this pattern or redistribute it without credit. Please use your own photos to sell your products.

Bulbasaur is part of the Pokémon franchise and does not belong to me in any way; it belongs to Nintendo.

The pattern!

Head:
Using turquoise wool
Round 1) 8 sc in a magic ring (8)
Round 2) inc in each stitch around (16)
Round 3) *sc, inc*, repeat around (24)
Round 4-8) sc in each stitch around (24)
Attach the safety eyes between round 5 and 6, four stitches apart.
Round 9) *2sc, dec*, repeat around (18)
Round 10) *sc, dec*, repeat around (12)
Sl st to finish, leave a long tail and stuff the head


Body:
Using turquoise wool
Round 1) 6sc in a magic ring (6)
Round 2) inc in each stitch around (12)
Round 3) *sc, inc*, repeat around (18)
Round 4-6) sc in each stitch around (18)
Round 7) *5sc, inc*, repeat around (21)
Round 8-10) sc in each stitch around (21)
Round 11) dec in each stitch around to close, stuffing the body as you go
Finish stuffing, sl st to finish, and sew the body closed

Sew the head onto the body, using pictures as a placement guide. Get Bulbasaur's eyes as forward facing as you can so he's looking straight ahead.


Legs (make 4):
Using turquoise wool
Round 1) 10sc in a magic ring (10)
Round 2-5) sc in each stitch around (10)
Sl st to finish, leave a long tail

Stuff legs lightly and sew onto the body, using pictures as placement guide.


Ears (make 2):
Using turquoise wool
Round 1) 6sc in a magic ring (6)
Round 2) *sc, inc*, repeat around (9)
Round 3) *2sc, inc*, repeat around (12)
Sl st to finish, leave a long tail

Squish the ears flat and sew the ears onto the head, using pictures as placement guide.


Bulb:
Using green wool
(leave a long tail at the start for sewing)
Round 1) Ch 12, join to first ch with a sl st (12)
Round 2) inc in each stitch around (24)
Round 3-4) sc in each stitch around (24)
Round 5) *2sc, dec*, repeat around (18)
Round 6) *sc, dec*, repeat around (12)
Round 7) dec in each stitch around (6)
Round 8) sc in each stitch around (6)
Sl st to finish, weave in the tail. (You can sew the neck of the bulb tighter to give it more shape.)

Stuff bulb from the bottom and sew onto Bulbasaur's back.


You're almost there! Take some darker blue wool and embroider small triangles/squares on Bulbasaur's forehead, sides, and legs. You could also glue on small pieces of felt. This is the part that really brings it all together. Now hide the ends of your thread and enjoy your #001 brave boy Pokémon!

This crochet pattern is © Kate Tuck, 2020. This pattern may not be sold, re-written, or re-posted without the author's permission.

GIR, Reporting for Duty!

GIR: Oh. I left that at home.
Zim: You left what at home?
GIR: The guidey chippy thingy.

Zim: You! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?

GIR: To make room for the cupcake!

GIR is a robot alien in a dog suit from 'Invader Zim,' a show that was unfortunately cancelled due to a lack of any educational value. He's not stupid, he's advaaaaanced. 

This pattern is wonderful and Gir looks just like his cartoon counterpart. Since he stores his cupcake in his head I also added that, because why not. The head is reinforced with card so he's still structurally sound without his cupcake inside, and the ears are kept up with some bent paperclips.

I have to say I'm beyond happy with how this turned out. Who couldn't love those boggley eyes?

Just going to skip over the fact that it's July and this is only my second post of the year!

Limpet x

Time and Space Squid

What kind of science fiction makes a grown woman invest emotion in a genetically enhanced squid?

The book is called Time by Stephen Baxter, and it's about space squid. No joke. It's great.

This book is called Time. I'm only half-way through it, and already it's managed to walk through the whole future of humanity up to 10¹⁷⁰ (that's 170 extra zeros) years away, past when the only light in the sky is the brief flickers of matter as it passes through the event horizons of black holes. Of course this kind of time is incomprehensible, that's the whole point of the book. Does it make life any more precious, any more different? Is it comforting if you knew that your descendants would be there right up until everything has just, sort of, drifted away and died. Such a long time away that even the protons and neutrons have decayed? Sometimes life feels like a struggle for meaning, and it goes back to what I've always thought. That there is no "meaning" to it all, we just exist. Sorry, not sorry. Religious ideals and other spiritual callings have never cut it for me. They seem cowardly, giving importance where there isn't any. We just survive and reproduce and then our children survive and reproduce, and try not to mess up the planet on the way to eternity. You can spin it in that depressive way, but it's also awesome. I mean that by the definition of the word, inspiring awe. There's so much around us, and it's refreshing sometimes to be reminded how small we are. Because in 10¹⁷⁰ years, who's going to know about it? Scrap that, even in 200 years I'll have faded out of memory. I exist for myself, and for my loved ones. We can comfort each other in the emptiness.

I crocheted some space squid on their space rocket, too. The rocket is a christmas present for a not-quite 2-year-old. I'm planning to start him thinking about this stuff early. So he's prepared, you know?

Limpet x

D&D Dice Bags

D&D, or Dungeons and Dragons, is a game that I got into completely by accident. A little group of the Physicists have been playing it for a while, and I went along with a friend because she liked a boy there and didn't want to go on her own. It took a little getting used to, but I loved it.

My first campaign is finished now, and I had an awful lot of fun with Nini the goliath barbarian. Imagine a huge ginger woman who thinks she's only ten because she only has ten fingers to count on. Nini believed she was raised by rabbits, but it turned out they were just small fur-cloaked people that raised her after her barbarian village was ransacked. It was a lot of fun sending her on a voyage of self-discovery from which she learned very little. (Good at swinging a great-axe though!)

Campaign number two is going to start soon, where I will be playing as Ib Layzafeyse, a goblin who calls herself a laser monk. To be honest I just wanted to be able to use the kung fu/tai chi motto -"You're f*cking with my chi."

Instead of borrowing dice from the DM (dungeon master), I decided to buy my own. And all dice need a dice bag!

Dragon egg dice bags! As always it's a free pattern on Ravelry. The one on the right I made first, and it's so big I can fit my fist in it. I did 3 rows of 8 crocodile scales following the pattern, two rows of 7, two rows of 6, then one row of 5. I did a row of hdc at the top. 

Let me tell you how to reduce by one scale neatly:

The usual v-stitch pattern is this: 

*(dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, skip 2 st*

To reduce a row by one scale: 

*(dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, skip 2 st, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, skip 3 st*

To reduce a row by two scales:

*(dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, skip 3 st*

Then just sl st to the first v-stitch as before and carry on with the scales like usual.

The first one I made I'm calling my prototype. I next made a smaller one which I much prefer (otherwise I'll be tempted to buy enough dice to fill it!) by discounting step 4 in the bottom. At the end of this one I did *dc, dc, skip 1 st* around the top and then threaded my string through the skipped spaces, which makes it look a bit more eggy when it's closed.

I hope my little modifications are clear enough. The big scaly bag I'm going to give to 'girl who fancied boy' to foster a new character alliance, although Miss Layzafeyse does not play well with others.

I'm excited for my dice to arrive! Expect more photos when they do! (They're so prettyyyyy.)

Limpet x

Luna the Crochet Dragon

Just wanted to share my latest project with you. I got commissioned for the first time! My best friend Tanya from secondary school asked me to make her a purple dragon. I sent her some photos of crochet dragons and she chose this one:

Luna the dragon in her new home.

I took a long-awaited trip to London to visit her and we had a really fun weekend. It was filled with calisthenics, old chick-flicks, food, and a Captain Morgan's themed night out where we got loads of freebies. Tanya was the envy of her whole student flat and Luna got lots of love and cuddles; she's practically a house pet.

Confession time: I thought it'd be really easy to put Luna together on the train up there but it ended up being quite an involved operation with lots of sewing. So after 4 hours of bumpy public transport her tail wasn't finished and she had no eyes! Tanya didn't mind me finishing her off though and was fascinated by the whole process. I'm really proud of Luna and a little sad to give her away.

The pattern can be found here on Ravelry. It's in Spanish but is easy to follow with Google translate. For more dragon-ness I added some small wings from the crochet cthulhu pattern here where they have a nice photo tutorial.

This is the second time I've finished my crochet at the last minute, but I'll try not to make a habit of it. Also, just look at Luna's eyes, she's so cute!

Limpet x

Crochet Cuttlefish

And now for something lighter! I tried out the free pattern I posted last month to make a crochet cuttlefish, and then made him a friend using a different pattern just to spice things up a bit. I chose these father fetching purple colours which don't have a name or a brand really they're just cheap from The Range. My frugal nature just winces at spending more than about £2.50 on a ball of wool, and the supermarket is good enough quality for me.

Two different patterns of crochet cuttlefish.

The dark purple cuttlefish I made using the pattern already posted on this blog here. It ended up a lot bigger than I was expecting, and the head and body don't really need to be done separately. I do like the almond body shape and the eye bulges though.

The light purple cuttlefish is also a free pattern here; he's a bit smaller and rounder. I slip stitched around the head and body join just to make it a bit clearer, and also added two tentacles. (Cuttlefish have six arms and two longer tentacles for grabbing food.)

What I've realised from making these cuties is that I think I could make my own patterns. I've got a good grasp of shapes now and tentacles especially are really fun to make. My next project is a dragon for a friend who'll be in the same purples. If anyone has any ideas or patterns you want to see me try just let me know.

Crochet is fun!

Limpet x

Free Cuttlefish Crochet Pattern

This is not my pattern. It was written by Steven Wyckoff of www.wyldscallyns.com, and I found it here on Ravelry. Unfortunately the pattern no longer exists anywhere on the internet, so I am posting it here as found originally. It's just too cute to be taunting so many people on the internet with no pattern.

Take it away, Steven!

Baby Octopus Crochet

On Sunday I went to the christening of my boyfriend's cousin's baby (1st cousin once removed?) and it was the first christening I've ever been to. I didn't even have one myself and my boyfriend had a naming ceremony instead because his parents are hippies. It was the first time I'd met this branch of the family and I can now proudly say I've met every single one of them. Boyfriend family challenge = complete!

Anyway, I wanted to make a good first impression so I thought I'd make a baby toy with my new-fangled crochet skills. I started it on Thursday and finished on Saturday morning as we were driving up in the car (I had to buy some black wool from ASDA on the way for the eyes.) Here he is, sitting on my knee in the car:

Cthulhu Crochet

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

This is the first time I've ever tried crochet, and this is what I made!

An adorable little Cthulhu!