The very hungry caterpillar
Author: Brigitte Muiller (Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/people/BriMue)
Material
Cotton yarn 125m/50g (e. g. Catania from Schachenmayr or Cotone from Lana Grossa) in green, red, brown, yellow and dark blue. Furry yarn (e. g. Salsa or Brazilia from Schachenmayr) in green. · Crochet hook size 2,5 (if you crochet yery tightly, perhaps you take size 3) ·Fiberfill ·Sewing needle
Abbreviations
st - stitch SC - single crochet sl st - slip stitch dc - double crochet hdc - half double crochet MR6 - magic ring with 6 sc FLO - front loops only tog. - together Inner part (in green) Note: Please try after a few rounds, if the inner part of the puppet fits on your finger. If not, perhaps you take a crochet hook of another size or increase a few more stitches. 1) MR6 2) 6 x (2 sc in next st) (12) 3) 3 x (3 sc, 2 sc in next st) (15) 4 - 24) crochet without increases (15) Fasten off and hide the yarn end.
Outer part (in red)
Note: If you have increased more stitches at the inner part, you also have to do this here. The smallest rounds of the body (green) should have at least 3 stitches more than the inner part. 1) MR6 2) 6 x (2 sc in next st) (12) 3) 6 x (1 sc, 2 sc in next st) (18) 4) 6 x (2 sc, 2 sc in next st) (24) 5) 6 x (3 sc, 2 sc in next st) (30) 6 - 10) crochet without increases (30) 11) 6 x (3 sc, 2 sc tog.) (24) 12) 6 × (2 sc, 2 sc tog.) (18) change colour to green (in the last stitch of round 12) 13) FLO: 6 x (2 sc, 2 sc in next st) (24) 14) again in both loops: 6 x (3 sc, 2 sc in next st) (30) 15) 6 x (4 sc, 2 sc in next st) (36) 16 - 18) crochet without increases (36) 19) 6 x (4 sc, 2 sc tog.) (30) 20) 6 x (3 sc, 2 sc tog.) (24) 21) 6 x (2 sc, 2 sc tog.) (18) Now crochet the rounds 13 - 21 again twice (totally 3 times). Don't cut the yarn. Stuff the head tightly, stuff the segments of the body only lightly (if you stuff too much, the opening for the finger is too small). Put the inner part inside the outer part and crochet the two parts together with one round of sc (outer part: BLO, inner part: both loops). Because the amount of stitches are not equal, you have to crochet together each 6th stitch of the outer part with each 5th stitch of the inner part. Before you cut the yarn, please try again, if the finger puppet fits on your finger. Perhaps you have to remove some fiber fill, so that the finger puppet fits loosely. Now cut the yarn and hide it.
Antenna (make 2, in blue)
1) Make 11 chains 2) beginning with the 3rd chain from hook crochet: 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, 6 sl st. Cut the yarn and leave a long yarn end. This yarn is needed for sewing the antenna to the head (see picture). Eyes (make 2, in yellow) 1) Make 5 chains 2) beginning with the 2nd chain from hook crochet: 3 sc, 3 sc in next st, continue on the other side of the chains: 2 sc, 2 sc in the last st (= the same chain as the first st of this round), join with sl st in the first sc. Cut the yarn, leave a long yarn end for sewing. Sew the eyes to the head. Perhaps you use pins to find the correct place for the eyes. After sewing the eyes, embroider the pupils in green (see picture) With brown yarn embroider a little nose below the eyes (see picture). Now take the furry yarn and embroider a line on the back of the caterpillar. In order to make the hairs stand away from the body, pull the fibers of the furry yarn outside. Legs (make 4, in brown) 1) MR6 2) 6 x (2 sc in next st) (12) 3 - 4) crochet without increases (12) 5) 1 sc, 3 x (2 sc tog.), 5 sc (9) 6) 3 x (1 sc, 2 sc tog.) (6) 7 - 8) crochet without increases or decreases (6) Cut the yarn and leave a long end for sewing. This yarn is used for sewing. Stuff the leg. Sew the legs at the lower part of segment 1 and 3 of the body (see picture). If yol want, you can crochet 2 more legs and sew them to the middle segment. So each segment has a pair of legs.
