Mini octopus keychain - beginner friendly free pattern

Mini octopus keychain - beginner friendly free pattern

This blog post consists of the easiest amigurumi pattern of an Octopus. This pattern is my absolute favorite because of how cute it looks. I have been crocheting for years now and I still like making an Octopus. Also, it takes like 30 mins to make it, no kidding!

Like always, I will tell you the use cases. You can turn it into a keychain, a bag charm, a fridge magnet, paper weight, a Christmas ornament, a crib hanging, or just a stand-alone plushie.

I mean, it's cute, and looking at it makes me happy, what better could be the use case?

MATERIALS REQUIRED

  1. Chenille yarn of 0.5mm width (any colour of your choice)
  2. Crochet hook size of 4.5mm ( I make tight stitches, you can also use a 5mm hook)
  3. 2 safety eyes of size 0.8 mm (diameter)
  4. Scissors
  5. Stitch Marker
  6. Tapestry needle
  7. Cotton or polyfill
  8. Keychain attachment (optional)

ABBREVIATION

  • R - round
  • MR - magic ring
  • sc - single crochet
  • inc- single crochet increase
  • sc-dec - single crochet decrease
  • BLO - back loop only
  • DC- double crochet
  • FO - fasten off
  • slst- slip stitch

Let's start!

This pattern will be crocheted in 2 parts. In the 1st part, I will tell you how to make the body of the Octopus, which is basically a ball. In the 2nd part, we are going to add tentacles to the body. 

PART 1: BODY

R1: MR 6

NOTE: Use a stitch marker at the last/first stitch of every so that you do not lose the count.

R2: inc x 6 [12]

R3: (sc, inc) x 6 [18]

R4: (2sc, inc) x 6 [24]

R5-R8: 24 sc [4 rounds]

Insert safety eyes between R5 and R6, with 4 stitches apart.

R9: (2 sc, dec) x 6 [18]

R10: BLO (sc, dec) x 6 [12] 

Start stuffing the Octopus body with cotton or polyfill from here on. 

R11:  dec x6 

Cut off the yarn and leave a really long tail for sewing. 

Use a tapestry needle to close off the end. Now, pull the tail using the needle through the head of the Octopus. 

Now insert the yarn back into the head (not through the same stitch) and pull it out from the base. make a knot at the bottom and cut off the excess. For reference, you can see the image.

This way your keyring will be tightly secured. (If you could not attach your keyring this way, I have another method mentioned at the end).

PART 2: TENTACLES

Now, start off with a fresh yarn to make the tentacles.

From round 9/10 of the body, you can observe some horizontal stitch lines, we need to crochet through those in the following manner-

( Ch 2, 2 DC in the next, Ch 2 in the same stitch, slst in the next stitch ) x 9

NOTE: slst the last tentacle into the first stitch where you started the Ch 2.

Cut off leaving a long tail to sew into the body. 

Using a pink yarn to your Octopus, you can now add a blush below the eyes. I think it makes the Octopus look cuter! Or you can embroider a mouth using a yarn of a contrast colour or you could go all in and do both.

Another way to add a keychain is using an acrylic yarn of the same/similar color as the Octopus. Why? because Chenille yarn breaks easily and you don't want that when one of your friends is spinning your keychain on their finger, lol! 

Insert the acrylic yarn using a tapestry needle from the bottom of the octopus, then pull through the top, insert the keyring, then pull it back from the head (not through the same stitch) into the bottom (through the same stitch).

Make a knot and cut off the excess. Stab the knot to insert it back into the body so that it looks seamless.

 

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