Blinky – Love Monster Free Crochet Pattern

Hi, friends!

Do you know about Love Monsters? They’re voraciously lovable *and* loving! And since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, a Love Monster is also a fun little way to show some love to a little one, a friend, or family member! Just the right amount of quirkiness, fuzziness, and cuddliness!

This is one of two Love Monsters that I designed (find the other one here!). The two are very different but they’re best buds! I can’t wait to gift these little guys to my nieces on Valentine’s Day. 

As usual, this pattern is made in the same style as my Ragdoll patterns; separate pieces worked in flat rows and then joined together to give them that unique 2-D look. Blinky has 10 separate pieces (not including his eye), so there is a fair amount of sewing and assembling involved. This pattern also incorporates the tapestry (or intarsia) crochet technique and, as mentioned, has a lot of colour-work.

The finished measurement is approximately 23cm/9″ from top to bottom.

Blinky has a pretty hilarious grin (to show off those teeth!) but, in hindsight, if I make this pattern again, I think I would make his mouth in black instead of red (keeping the tongue pink). The outline of the mouth is a little hard to see next to the purple, so his toothy grin ends up looking a little more like a horrified gasp. So, use your discretion, but black might be the better way to go!

I encourage you to read everything thoroughly before beginning, particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience with tapestry crochet.

Let’s get started! (Or Pin/Shop for later!)

If you’d prefer a downloadable or printable version of this pattern, an inexpensive, formatted, and ad-free PDF can be purchased HERE or through the “Shop It” button above!

Materials:

Stitches and Special Terms (US Terminology):

Ch – Chain

Slst – Slip stitch

Sc – Single crochet

Inc – Increase. Work 2 sc in the same st.

Dec – Decrease. Work a regular sc decrease.

Reading this Pattern and Colour Changing:

When switching to a new colour, insert your hook into the stitch for the last stitch of Colour A and pull up a loop, then, with Colour B, yarn over and complete the stitch by pulling through both loops with Colour B. Drop your working yarn in Colour A and continue with Colour B. This applies when switching colours at the end of a row before starting a new row in a different colour too. 

Everything is worked in single crochet stitches. So, in order to indicate the colour-changes, I have omitted the usual “sc” in front of the stitch counts in any lines with colour-changes and I’ve used the associated colour letter instead. For example, “Pdec” means to work a sc decrease in Purple yarn. “P4, G6” means to work the next 4 sc in Purple and the next 6 sc in Green, and so on.

Due to the colour-changes, you will have several skeins or balls of yarn attached to your project at once. Carry the yarn on the back of the panels by dropping the working yarn when you switch colours and picking it back up again when you need it. Always carry the yarn on the wrong side (instead of carrying it inside the stitch as you go); this ensures the front of the panel has clear lines and colours without any of the yarn carries showing through.

*Make sure to always drop your yarn on the WRONG side of your panel!* So, for example, when you are working on a row where the wrong side of the panel is facing you, you will have to make a conscious effort to pull your yarn toward you to the wrong side of the panel when dropping your yarn during a colour-change. This is because it will naturally drop to the side furthest away from you if you don’t. 

Colour Legend:

P – Purple

G – Green

R – Red (for mouth)

LP – Light Pink (for tongue)

Front Body (make 1 panel) with 3.25mm hook.

Start with Purple yarn. The panels are worked from the bottom up.

*Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row*

Row 1: Ch 24, P6, G1, P12, G4 (23 sts)

Row 2: Ginc, G4, P10, G3, P4, Pink (25 sts)

Row 3: P5, G5, P9, G6 (25 sts)

Row 4: G2, P1, G2, P9, G7, P4 (25 sts)

Row 5: Pinc, P3, G7, P13, Pinc (27 sts)

Row 6: P16, G2, P1, G2, P6 (27 sts)

Row 7: P27 (27 sts)

Now we will start the colour-work for the tongue and mouth.

Row 8: Pinc, P5, LP15, P5, Pinc (29 sts)

Row 9: P6, R2, LP13, R2, P6 (29 sts)

Row 10: P5, R5, LP9, R5, P5 (29 sts)

Row 11: Pinc, P4, R19, P4, Pinc (31 sts)

Row 12: P5, R21, P5 (31 sts)

Row 13: P5, R21, G1, P4 (31 sts)

Row 14: P3, G3, R4, P11, R4, P6 (31 sts)

Row 15: P24, G5, P2 (31 sts)

Row 16: P1, G7, P19, G1, P3 (31 sts)

Row 17: Pinc, P1, G3, P18, G7, Pinc (33 sts)

Row 18: P3, G2, P1, G2, P18, G5, P2 (33 sts)

Row 19: P1, G7, P25 (33 sts)

Row 20: P25, G7, P1 (33 sts)

Row 21: P2, G2, P1, G2, P26 (33 sts)

Rows 22-24: P33 (33 sts)

Row 25: Pdec, P29, Pdec (31 sts)

Row 26: P6, G1, P24 (31 sts)

Row 27: P23, G3, P5 (31 sts)

Row 28: P4, G5, P22 (31 sts)

Row 29: Pdec, P19, G7, P1, Pdec (29 sts)

Row 30: P2, G7, P14, G1, P5 (29 sts)

Row 31: P4, G3, P14, G2, P1, G2, P3 (29 sts)

Row 32: Pdec, P19, G5, P1, Pdec (27 sts)

Row 33: Gdec, G6, P17, Pdec (25 sts)

Row 34: Pdec, twice, P14, G3, Gdec twice (21 sts)

Row 35: Gdec twice, P13, Pdec twice (17 sts)

Row 36: Pdec twice, P9, Pdec twice (13 sts) 

Tie off. Put aside for assembly later.

Back Body (make 1 panel) with 3.25mm hook:

*Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row*

Row 1: Ch 24, P18, G5 (23 sts)

Row 2: Ginc, P1, G2, P14, G1, P3, Pinc (25 sts)

Row 3: P4, G3, P18 (25 sts)

Row 4: P17, G5, P3 (25 sts)

Row 5: Pinc, P1, G7, P15, Pinc (27 sts)

Row 6: P17, G7, P3 (27 sts)

Row 7: P4, G2, P1, G2, P10, G1, P7 (27 sts)

Row 8: Pinc, P5, G3, P17, Pinc (29 sts)

Row 9: P18, G5, P6 (29 sts)

Row 10: P5, G7, P17 (29 sts)

Row 11: Pinc, P16, G7, P4, Pinc (31 sts)

Row 12: P7, G2, P1, G2, P19 (31 sts)

Row 13: P4, G1, P26 (31 sts)

Row 14: P25, G3, P3 (31 sts)

Row 15: P2, G5, P24 (31 sts)

Row 16: P2, G1, P20, G7, P1 (31 sts)

Row 17: Pinc, G7, P19, G3, Pinc (33 sts)

Row 18: P1, G5, P19, G2, P1, G2, P3 (33 sts)

Row 19: P18, G1, P7, G7 (33 sts)

Row 20: G7, P6, G3, P17 (33 sts)

Row 21: G1, P15, G5, P6, G2, P1, G2, P1 (33 sts)

Row 22: P11, G7, P13, G2 (33 sts)

Row 23: G3, P12, G7, P11 (33 sts)

Row 24: P12, G2, P1, G2, P13, G3 (33 sts)

Row 25: Gdec, P7, G1, P21, Pdec (31 sts)

Row 26: P21, G3, P7 (31 sts)

Row 27: P6, G5, P20 (31 sts)

Row 28: P6, G1, P12, G7, P5 (31 sts)

Row 29: Pdec, P3, G7, P11, G3, P3, Pdec (29 sts)

Row 30: P3, G5, P11, G2, P1, G2, P5 (29 sts)

Row 31: P20, G7, P2 (29 sts)

Row 32: Pdec, G7, P18, Pdec (27 sts)

Row 33: Pdec, P10, G1, P7, G2, P1, G2, Pdec (25 sts)

Row 34: Pdec twice, P8, G3, P6, Pdec twice (21 sts)

Row 35: Pdec twice, P3, G5, P5, Pdec twice (17 sts)

Row 36: Pdec twice, P2, G7, Pdec twice (13 sts)

Tie off. Put aside for assembly later.

Arms (make 2 – four panels in total):

In Green with 3.25mm hook.

Row 1: Ch 3, sc 2 (2 sts)

Rows 2-3: Sc 2 (2 sts)

Row 4: Inc, sc 1 (3 sts)

Rows 5-6: Sc 3 (3 sts)

Row 7: Sc 1, inc, sc 1 (4 sts)

Row 8: Sc 4 (4 sts)

Tie off.

Repeat rows 1-8 for second panel. Do not tie off second panel. Put both panels together, matching up all sides. Chain 1 and sc around the entire piece. (Sc, ch 1, sc) into each corner. You don’t need to stuff the arms. Slst to beginning st to close. Tie off. Repeat for second arm.  Set these aside for assembly later.

Legs (make 2 – four panels total):

In Green using 3.25mm hook.

Row 1: Ch 3, sc 2 (2 sts)

Row 2: Sc 2 (2 sts)

Row 3: Inc twice (4 sts)

Rows 4-5: Sc 4 (4 sts)

Row 6: Inc, sc 2, inc (6 sts)

Rows 7-8: Sc 6 (6 sts).

Tie off.

Repeat rows 1-8 for second panel. Do not tie off second panel. Put both panels together, matching up all sides. Chain 1 and sc around the entire piece. (Sc, ch 1, sc) into each corner. You don’t need to stuff the legs. Slst to beginning st to close. Tie off. Repeat for second leg.  

Set these aside for assembly later.

Move on to assembly below!

Assembly:

Step 1: Eye and Teeth

Here are the pieces you should now have.

First we need to cut out the felt pieces for the teeth and the eye and attach them to the front panel.

Cut out two small rectangles, one shorter than the other. Cut one end of each tooth so that it is curved. Stitch these on to the mouth using a sewing needle and white sewing thread. The below pictures show the teeth before and after they have been stitched on. 

Next, cut out five circles from the felt for the eye:

• White circle 7 cm across;
• Pink circle 5 cm across;
• Black circle 3.5 cm across;
• White circle 1 cm across;
• White circle slightly smaller than 1 cm across.

Using white sewing thread and a sewing needle, place the pink circle directly in the middle of the white circle and stitch around. Next, place the black circle slightly off-centre of the pink circle and stitch on using black sewing thread and a sewing needle. Finally, stitch the white circles overlapping the black circle across from each other (approximately at 10 and 4 if you were looking at a clock).

Finally, place the eye in the middle of the front panel and stitch all around the white circle using white sewing thread and a sewing needle.

Step 2: Body, Arms, Legs and Hair

Here are the pieces with the eye and teeth attached. 

Cut off four lengths of Purple yarn about 30cm/12″ long each and set them aside for later.

Place the two body panels together, matching up all sides.

**Make sure the front of your Monster is facing you as you crochet around the outside.**

You will start on the left side; attach your purple yarn into the row that lines up with the bottom of the top-most heart on the left side. Begin attaching the panels together by chaining one and single crocheting around the outside of the panels starting in Purple.

Sc only 4 stitches along the body and then stop. Pull up a long loop. Now we will complete the first section of hair. You will make a row of chains and then crochet along those chains for each strand of hair, then sc a couple of stitches on the body before chaining again for the next strand, as follows:

Strand 1: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 2: Ch 10, slst 3, sc 3, hdc 3 (9 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 3: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 3 sts along body panels.

Stop here and pull up a loop. Now we will attach the first arm.

With your tapestry needle and a length of Purple yarn that you set aside earlier, place the first arm between the panels and attach it by sewing through all three pieces; the top panel, the arm, and the bottom panel. When finished, tie a knot to secure and hide the yarn tails between the panels of the body.

Continue crocheting down the body. When you get to the arm, simply crochet in the stitches of the front panel only, since this portion is already sewn shut.

Stop when you get about halfway down the body and pull up a loop. Using another length of Purple yarn that you set aside earlier, attach the first leg the same way you did for the arm. 

Continue crocheting down and around the body. (Sc, ch 1, sc) in the bottom corner. When you get to the leg, remember, you can crochet the stitches of the front panel only, since it is already sewn shut. Continue crocheting both panels together as usual when you get passed the leg.

Stop about half way across the bottom of the body. Attach the second leg. 

Once attached, continue crocheting up the body, remembering to (sc, ch 1, sc) into the corner. Stop after a few stitches on the other side of the body. Attach the second arm.

Once attached, crochet up the body, crocheting in the stitches of the front panel only when you get to the arm. Sc 3 more stitches past the arm and stop. Time for the next tuft of hair!

Strand 1: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 2: Ch 10, slst 3, sc 3, hdc 3 (9 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 3: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts).

Sc 8 along the body panels and stop. Time for the next tuft of hair. This tuft only has 2 strands, as follows:

Strand 1: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 2: Ch 10, slst 3, sc 3, hdc 3 (9 sts)

Continue crocheting up the body panels. Crochet 4 stitches along row 36 (the last tow of the panels), which will be about 8 stitches in total from the last tuft of hair.

Stuff the body now!

Next, crochet the tuft of hair in the middle of the head:

Strand 1: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 2: Ch 10, slst 3, sc 3, hdc 3 (9 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 3: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts).

Top up stuffing.

Crochet sc 8 along panels and crochet the next tuft of hair.

Strand 1: Ch 7, slst 2, sc 2, hdc 2 (6 sts), sc 2 sts along body panels

Strand 2: Ch 10, slst 3, sc 3, hdc 3 (9 sts)

You should now only have a very small hole in your Monster (below the last tuft but above where you started). Finish topping up stuffing! Use the back of your crochet hook to push and even out the stuffing if you need to.

When you’re satisfied, continue crocheting around and close with a slst to first st. Tie off. With your tapestry needle, poke the yarn tail back inside the piece.

That’s it! You’re done!

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