Following On From Sidney The Giant Squid – Oscar The Giant Octopus Crochet Pattern

 

I have a feeling the sea is going to start getting a bit crowded with all these sea makes! Joining Sidney the squid is Oscar the crochet Octopus, designing this pattern was quite a challenge! 

After finishing my squid I have been thinking of some other sea makes to complete, and decided to make an octopus! Similarly to the squid I didn’t want it to be too cartoony – which was quite a challenge when doing the pattern, but after a few attempts at getting it right and a lot of unraveling and re-writing I have finally got the look I was wanting.

I really couldn’t decide what colour wool to go for, and then came across some wool right at the bottom of my stash which was a mixture of reds, creams, and greys which I thought would be perfect, although it wasn’t until I finished that I knew I had made the right choice! It’s hard to tell how it’s going to come out while you are making it, it’s only once all the stuffing is in you can see how it has come together with the colour choice and I am really happy with it.

For the suckers I decided to do surface stitch ones, as I didn’t want them to stand out too much, however, if you want more of a 3d effect you could do a chain of 10, slip stitch into the starting chain to make a round and then dc another round before fastening off. These would then need to be sewn on to the legs.

This very lovely octopus will soon be off to join his friend Sidney the squid and I am sure they will be enjoying a lot of adventures together! Now I will have to think of some more sea creatures to do, maybe a jellyfish or even a shark!

Oscar the giant Octopus pattern:

• Final size of octopus is 70cm from the top of the head to the end of the front tentacles.
• I used 3x100g balls of a chunky knit wool and a 5mm hook, but you could always use a DK wool and drop the hook size down to a 4mm – however, doing this will reduce the final size of the octopus.

For the giant octopus body:

Make a magic ring, ch1.
Round 1: 8sc into ring.

Round 2: 2sc into each sc (16).

Round 3-4: sc around (16).

Round 5: 2sc into same stitch,sc. Repeat around (24).

Round 6: 2sc into same stitch, 2sc. Repeat around (32).

Round 7: 2sc into same stitch, 3sc. Repeat around (40).

Round 8: 2sc into same stitch, 4sc. Repeat around (48).

Round 9-10: sc around (48).

Round 11: 30sc, (2sc into same stitch, 2sc) six times (54).

Round 12-13: sc around (54).

Round 14: (2sc into same stitch, 5sc) 4 times, (2sc into same stitch, 3sc) seven times, 2sc (65).

Round 15: sc around (65).

Round 16: 2sc into same stitch, 6sc. Repeat around, sc into last 2sc of the round (74).

Round 17: 2sc into same stitch, 7sc. Repeat around, sc into last 2sc of the round (83).

Round 18-21: sc around (83).

Round 22: sc2tog, 7sc. Repeat around, sc into last 2 sc (74).

Round 23-33: sc around (74).

Round 34: 36sc, (sc2tog, 3sc) rest of round until 3 stitches remain, sc2tog, sc (66).

Round 35: sc around (66).

Round 36: 34sc (sc2tog, 2sc) rest of round (58).

Round 37: sc around (58).

Round 38: (sc2tog, 8sc) repeat around until 8 stitches remain, sc2tog, 6sc (52).

Round 39-43: sc around (52).

Round 44: sc2tog, 3sc) 4 times, sc rest of round (48).

Rounds 45-47: sc around (48).

Round 48: 22sc, turn leaving remaining stitches unworked. Now working on these 22 stitches in rows.
Row section:

Row 1: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc2tog, 18sc, sc2tog (20).

Row 2-4: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc along row (20).

Row 5: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc2tog, 16sc, sc2tog (18).

Row 6: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc2tog, 14sc, sc2tog (16).

Row 7: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc2tog, 12sc, sc2tog (14).

Row 8-11: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitches) sc along row.

After completing this last row, continue down the side of the previous rows (11sc) and around the head (26sc) and back up the rows on the other side (11sc). Fasten off with a slip stitch in to the last row.

    
Tentacles:

First tentacle: 

With the row section facing you, fasten on into last sc on the right.

Round 1: 7sc, ch7 then slip stitch into the first sc to make a round of 14sc. Now working on these 14sc only:
Stuff legs as you go.

Round 2-42: sc around.

Round 43: (sc2tog, 3sc) 2 times,sc2tog, 2sc.

Round 44-50: sc around.

Round 51: (sc2tog, 2sc) twice, 3sc.

Round 52-59: sc around.

Round 60: sc2tog 4 times.

Fasten off.

Second tentacle:

Fasten on into the sc to the left of the previously completed tentacle, and complete rounds 1-60 of the first tentacle.

Fasten off.

Third tentacle:

Skip 3sc then Fasten on into the next sc, complete rounds 1-60 of the first tentacle.

Fourth, Fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth tentacles:

Repeat process completed for the second tentacle, leaving the last 3sc unworked after the 8th leg. 

Infill piece for base of head:

Make a magic ring ch1, 6sc into ring.

Round 1: 2sc into each sc.

Round 2: 2sc into same stitch, 1sc. Repeat around.

Round 3: 2sc into same stitch, 2sc. Repeat around.

Round 4: 2sc into same stitch, 3sc. Repeat around.

Round 5: 2sc into same stitch, 4sc. Repeat around.

Round 6: sc around.

Round 7: 2sc into same stitch, 5sc. Repeat around.

Round 8: 2sc into same stitch, 6sc. Repeat around.

Round 9: (2sc into same stitch, 7sc) twice, turn leaving remaining stitches unworked.

Row 1: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) 8sc, 2sc Into same stitch, 8sc.

Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) 18sc.

Fasten off.

• Stuff head and sew closed top of tentacles, next sew the infill piece onto the base of the head, with the row section of the infill piece lining up with the row section on the head. Make sure you add extra stuffing in the row section while sewing this infill piece in.

Eyes – make 2:

In cream:

Make a magic ring, ch1, 5sc into ring.

Round 1: 2sc into each sc.

Round 2: 2sc into same stitch, sc. Repeat around.

Round 3-4: sc around.

Fasten off leaving long thread to attach to octopus.

Eyelid: 
In octopus colour – make two.

ch11.

Row 1: sc into second ch from hook, sc along rest of row.

Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch)sc2tog, 6sc, sc2tog.

Row 3: ch1 (doesn’t count as stitch) sc along row.

Fasten off leaving long thread to attach.

• Sew white eyes on the side of the head on the flap section, put some padding in while sewing to make them stand out.
• Sew the lid over the eye so it covers the top quarter, with the longest side along the eyeball and the shortest onto the octopus flap section.
• Finally, ch8, then sew this chain underneath the eyeball.
• For the pupil detail sew on a black line onto the cream pupil to make the pupil. Make one long stitch and repeat a few times to make it really stand out.

The Suckers :

Surface stitch in dc circles of different sizes at random locations down all legs and also place some in the middle infill section lining up with the legs.

All Finished!