Octopus Amigurumi

Just in time for the holidays, it’s… an octopus. Merry Octopusmas?

I had scrap yarn left over from making these cozy legwarmers and decided to play around and come up with a new pattern. I’ve made octopi before but all the patterns I could find online were chibi… not that there’s anything wrong with that.

What you’ll need:

• worsted weight yarn in whatever colour you want your octopus to be (Caron Simply Soft in Pagoda used here)
• contrasting colour for suction cups, if you want to make suction cups (I used scrap pink fuzzy yarn of mysterious provenance)
• size F/3.75mm crochet hook
• 15 mm safety eyes
• yarn needle

The octopus is made in 2 pieces: top and bottom, which are sandwiched together with stuffing in the middle. The top and bottom of the legs don’t match perfectly: this is deliberate and makes them want to curl.

Abbreviations: stitches used are single crochet (sc), increase (inc), invisible decrease (invdec), slip stitch (sl st), chain (ch), and half double crochet (hdc).

First make the top, starting with the head, working in the round:

• 1) sc x 6 in magic ring (6)
• 2) inc x 6 (12)
• 3) (inc, sc) x 6 (18)
• 4) (inc, sc x 2) x 6 (24)
• 5) (inc, sc x 3) x 6 (30)
• 6) (inc, sc x 4) x 6 (36)
• 7-11) sc around x 5 rounds (36)
• 12) (invdec, sc x 4) x 6 (30)
• 13) sc around x 1 round (30)
• 14) (invdec, sc x 3) x 6 (24)
• 15-16) sc around x 2 rounds (24)
• 17) sc x 8, hdc x 8, sc x 8 (24)
  • these steps make the head angled instead of straight on
• 18) sc x 6, hdc x 12, sc x 6 (24)
• 19) sc x 4, hdc x 16, sl st x 4 (24)
• 20-22) sl st x 4, hdc x 16, sl st x 4 for 3 rounds (24)
• 23) sl st x 4, hdc x 16, sc x 4 (24)
• 24) (sc x 2, inc) x 8 (32)
  • these steps make the tops of the 8 legs rounded
• 25) (sc x 2, inc x 2) x 8 (48)
• 26) (sc x 4, inc x 2) x 8 (64)
• 27) (sc x 6, inc x 2) x 8 (80)
• 28) (sc x 8, inc x 2) x 8 (96)

You have a head with a fluttery border. Now make legs, one at a time, working back and forth instead of in the round:

• sc x 6 (aligns you to start the first leg) then…
• ***sc x12
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 11
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 10
• ch 1, turn, sc x10 for 2 rows
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 9
• ch 1, turn, sc x 9
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 8
• ch 1, turn, sc x 8
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 7
• ch 1, turn, sc x 7
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 6
• ch 1, turn, sc x 6 for 3 rows
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 5
• ch 1, turn, sc x 5
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 4
• ch 1, turn, sc x 4
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 3
• ch 1, turn, sc x 3 for 7 rows
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 2
• ch 1, turn, sc x2
• turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 1, FO and leave tail***

 

To make 7 more legs, flip your octopus over. Start with a sl st on the left side of previous leg (on underside), then repeat the leg pattern above from *** to ***. The top half is done.

Now start a new piece and make the bottom half, starting with the centre, working in the round:

• 1) 6 sc in magic ring (optional: use a contrasting colour for this round to make a mouth)
• 2) change to your regular colour, (inc) x 6 (12)
• 3) (inc, sc) x 6 (18)
• 4) (inc, sc x 2) x 6 (24)
• 5) (inc, sc x 3) x 6 (30)
• 6) (inc, sc x 4) x 6 (36)
• 7) (inc, sc x 5) x 6 (42)
• 8) (inc, sc x 6) x 6 (48)
• 9) (inc, sc x 7) x 6 (54)

You’ll have a hexagon with a mouth in the middle. Make the bottom of the first leg:

• inc, sc x 6, inc along edge of bottom piece
• ch 1, turn, sc x 8 (8) for 3 rows
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 7 (7)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 7 (7)
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 6 (6)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 6 (6)
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 5 (5))
• ch 1, turn, sc x 5 (5)
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 4 (4)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 4 (4)
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 3 (3)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 3 (3) for 7 rows
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 2 (2)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 2 (2) for 5 rows
• turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 1 (1)
• ch 1, turn, sc x 1 (1) for 3 rows, FO and leave tail

Repeat this 7 more times around until you have 8 leg-bottoms.

You now have 2 pieces:

Attach the safety eyes. If you’re making suction cups, sew them to the bottom of the legs before you sew the octopus together. Suction cups are just 6 sc in a magic ring for the most proximal (then 5 sc, 4 sc, 3 sc for smaller ones), and french knots for the tiniest ones at the ends. Here’s a video tutorial for french knots if you’d like one.

Now all you need to do is sew the 2 pieces together, stuffing as you go. I’d suggest attaching the tips of the legs together first and working your way in (it’s easier to stuff that way).