Hello again!
As I mentioned in my last post, my niece just turned 2 years old and, after a great suggestion from my sister (her momma), I decided to get to work on crocheting the characters from one of her favourite TV shows, Puffin Rock as a birthday gift.
Puffin Rock features Oona, an Atlantic puffin, and Baba, Oona’s adorable little brother, as they explore the world and have adventures! Here’s the picture I used as inspiration for my design:
You can check out the free pattern for Oona here. This post contains the pattern for Baba, the little white puffin.
Let’s get started! (Or Pin for later!)
As usual, this pattern is made in the same style as our Ragdoll patterns; separate pieces worked in flat rows and then joined together to give them that unique 2-D look. Baba has 7 separate pieces (not including the eyes).
Unfortunately, I totally forgot to measure Oona and Baba before I gifted them to my niece! But I would guesstimate the finished measurements of Baba are approximately 13cm/5″.
Here’s what I used:
**If you’d prefer a downloadable or printable version of this pattern, an inexpensive, formatted, and ad-free PDF can be purchased HERE.**
- 3.5mm hook (I use THESE hooks!);
- Bernat Handicrafter in White
(100g);
- Bernat Handicrafter in Overcast
(less than 50g) for legs and beak;
- Black crochet thread for mouth and around the eyes;
- Felt in white, yellow, and black for eyes (or alternatively, safety eyes);
- Sewing needle and sewing thread in white and black;
- Stuffing;
- Tapestry needle
(100g);
(less than 50g) for legs and beak;
Stitches and Special Terms (US Terminology):
Ch – Chain
Slst – Slipstitch
Sc – Single crochet
Inc – Increase. Work 2 sc in the same st.
Dec – Decrease. Work a regular sc decrease.
Body (make 2 panels) with 3.5mm hook:
The panels are worked from the bottom up. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row.
Row 1: Ch 12, sc across (11 sts)
Row 2: Inc twice, sc 7, inc twice (15 sts)
Row 3: Inc, sc 13, inc (17 sts)
Row 4: Inc, sc 15, inc (19 sts)
Row 5: Sc 18, inc (20 sts)
Row 6: Inc, sc 18, inc (22 sts)
Row 7: Sc, slst 3, sc 18 (22 sts)
For the next row, we will not be crocheting all the way across. You will stop just before the 3 slst of the previous row. This creates the tail.
Row 8: Inc, sc 17 (19 sts)
Rows 9-18: Sc across (19 sts)
Row 19: Sc 17, dec (18 sts)
Row 20: Sc across (18 sts)
Row 21: Sc 16, dec (17 sts)
Row 22: Dec, sc 13, dec (15 sts)
Row 23: Dec twice, sc 9, dec (12 sts)
Row 24: Dec, sc 6, dec twice (9 sts)
Tie off. Repeat rows 1-24 for back body panel and set these aside for assembly later.
Feet/Legs (make 4 panels but work in twos as explained below) with 3.5mm hook in Overcast:
Row 1: Ch 3, sc 2 (2 sts)
Rows 2-3: Sc across (2 sts)
Row 4: Dec (1 st)
Rows 5-6: Sc 1 (1 st)
Tie off.
Repeat rows 1-6 for second panel but do not tie off second panel. Place both panels together, matching up all sides, then join the panels by ch 1 and sc around both panels. I didn’t stuff the legs. (Sc, ch, sc) in each corner. Slst to first st to close. Tie off and poke the yarn tails back inside the piece.
Repeat for second leg.
Beak (make 1) with 3.5mm hook in Overcast:
Row 1: Ch 9, sc across (8 sts)
Row 2: Dec twice , sc 2, dec (5 sts)
Row 3: Dec, dc, dec (3 sts).
Tie off and weave in ends.
Move on to assembly below!
Assembly:
Step 1: Face
The first thing we need to do is add our facial features to the front panel. I wanted to recreate the characters as closely as I could to the show, so I decided to cut felt pieces and sew them together to make the eyes and match them as best I could. However, you could easily use safety eyes and brightly coloured thread to outline the eyes if you want, which would look equally as adorable. This would also be a great project for needle felting the eyes, but since I haven’t ventured much into needle felting yet, I decided to leave that for another day. If you’re doing felt eyes as well, this is going to be the fiddliest and perhaps most time-consuming part (Sorry! I hope you like hand-sewing!).
Since I was making Baba in the ragdoll-style, I knew he would be more-or-less flat but I still wanted to maintain that 3-D appearance, so I cut the eye pieces to give this illusion. As you can see from the photo, the eye pieces are not quite even. They are set-off to make it appear as though the left eye (as you look at it) is further away. To do this, the felt pieces for the left eye will need to be a little narrower than the right eye. Here is a comparison of the felt pieces I cut:
First, for the right eye, cut the white felt piece in a circle (I traced a circle on the felt and cut it out). Keep trimming it down until it is the right size for the body panel. Next, grab your yellow felt and trace the exact same shape as the white piece. Trim it on the bottom so that it is slightly smaller than the white piece, so that the white piece underneath is showing. Finally, repeat with the black felt.
The left eye pieces will be done the same way, but trim these to be slightly narrower than the right eye.
Next, with a sewing needle, hand-stitch the yellow felt to the white felt, using white thread. Then hand-stitch the black felt on top of the yellow using black thread.
Hand-stitch both eyes to the front panel.
Next, you will sew the beak down with Overcast yarn. The edge of the beak will overlap slightly onto the left eye. Tie knots in the back to secure.
Finally, using black crochet thread, stitch around the eyes to outline them and make them pop! I also added a small stitch over each eye to match the picture (I think it must be a singular eyelash?).
Also using the black crochet thread, stitch a mouth across the beak.
Step 2: Body
Yay! Time to start attaching things! Here are the pieces you should now have (I accidentally started assembling before I remembered to take this photo so the back panel is perfectly lined up underneath):
Cut a length of White yarn approximately 30cm/15″ long and set it aside for later.
Place the two body panels together, matching up all sides.
**Make sure the front of Baba is facing you as you crochet around the outside.**
Starting on the left side of the head, begin attaching the panels together by chaining one and single crocheting around the outside of the panels in White.
Crochet down the side of the head and body.
Stop before you get to the bottom. Pull up a long loop and leave this for now.
With the length of yarn that you set aside earlier, place the first leg between the panels and attach by sewing through all three pieces, the back panel, the leg and the front panel. Do the same for the second leg. Tie the yarn tails in a knot inside the panels of the body to secure.
Continue crocheting around. When you get to the legs, simply crochet in the stitches of the front panel only, since this portion is already sewn shut.
(Sc 2, ch 1, sc 2) in the tip of Baba’s tail.
Stuff when you get to the top of the head. Continue crocheting across the top of the head, topping up stuffing as you go. Close with a slst to first st and tie off. Poke the yarn tails back inside the piece.
That’s it! Enjoy!
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I am going to make one for my grand kids. Thank you for the pattern.