Axolotl Buddy
Head and body in one piece, six frilly gills, a flat paddle tail.
Amigurumi · Intermediate · 7–8 hours · Body about 6.5 cm across; nose-to-tail length needs a row-gauge swatch
Yarn and tools
- weight: DK (CYC 3)
- fibre: Cotton
- amount: 60 g Axolotl Pink, 20 g Coral Frill, scraps of Pale Blush
- examples: Ricorumi DK, Scheepjes Catona, Paintbox Cotton DK
- hook: 2.5 mm
- gauge: 30-st tube = 6.5 cm across
Notions
- Fibrefill 35 g
- 2 x 6 mm safety eyes
- Stitch marker
- Tapestry needle
Stitches used
- Magic Ring (MR)
- Single Crochet (sc)
- Increase (inc)
- Invisible Decrease (inv dec)
- Chain (ch)
- Slip Stitch (sl st)
- Half Double Crochet (hdc)
- Double Crochet (dc)
- Whip Stitch & Mattress Seam (seam)
- Surface Slip Stitch (surface sl st)
- Safety Eyes & Embroidered Eyes (eyes)
Notes
- Head and body are one continuous piece — no head seam to sew, which is why this reads as 'intermediate' rather than hard.
- The 6 gills sit in two groups of 3 behind the eyes. Sew their closed starting ends to the finished head; leave the frilled tips free.
- The tail is worked flat in rows off the last round, then edged, giving the flat paddle shape. In these turned rows, dec means ordinary sc2tog, not the front-loop invisible decrease.
Pattern
Head + body (one piece) — Axolotl Pink
- MR, 6 sc into the ring. (6 sts)
- Inc x6 (12 sts)
- [Sc 1, inc] x6 (18 sts)
- [Sc 2, inc] x6 (24 sts)
- [Sc 3, inc] x6 (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around. Place the safety eyes between rounds 7 and 8, 9 sts apart (an axolotl's eyes sit wide). (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around. (30 sts)
- Sc around — head complete. Gills are attached in the assembly below, so stuff the head now. (30 sts)
- [Sc 3, dec] x6 (24 sts)
- Sc around. (24 sts)
- Sc around. (24 sts)
- [Sc 2, dec] x6 (18 sts)
- Sc around. (18 sts)
- Sc around. (18 sts)
- [Sc 1, dec] x6 — stuff the body firmly to here. (12 sts)
- Sc around. (12 sts)
- Sc around. (12 sts)
- Sc around. (12 sts)
- Sc around. Stuff lightly; the tail end stays soft and flat. (12 sts)
Paddle tail — worked flat off round 24
- Flatten the last round so 6 sts lie on each face. Ch 1, turn, and sc through both layers across all 6 sts. (6 sc sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Sc 2, inc, inc, sc 2 (8 sc sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Sc in each st across. (8 sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Sc 3, inc, inc, sc 3 (10 sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Sc across. (10 sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Dec, sc 6, dec (8 sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Dec, sc 4, dec (6 sts)
- Ch 1, turn. Dec, sc 2, dec. Fasten off. (4 sts)
- Edge the whole tail with a round of sc in Coral Frill for a soft fin outline. (— sts)
Gills (make 6) — Coral Frill
Each gill is a short stem with a frilled tip. The stem narrows back to 6 sts before the frill so the 3 frill repeats use up exactly 6 stitches — 2 each.
- MR, 6 sc into the ring. (6 sts)
- [Sc 1, inc] x3 (9 sts)
- Sc around. (9 sts)
- [Sc 1, dec] x3 (6 sts)
- FRILL: [in the next st work (hdc, 2 dc, hdc), sl st in the next st] x3 — uses all 6 sts. Fasten off and weave in the frill-end tail; retain the starting tail for attaching the closed base. (3 frills over 6 sts sts)
Legs (make 4) — Axolotl Pink
- MR, 6 sc into the ring. (6 sts)
- Sc around. (6 sts)
- Sc around. (6 sts)
- Sc around. (6 sts)
- Sc around. Do not stuff. Flatten the 6-st opening and sl st through the 3 matching pairs to close it; fasten off with a 20 cm sewing tail. (6 → 3 joined pairs sts)
- Optional toes: work 3 sl st bumps across the flattened tip of each leg. (— sts)
Assembly
- Use the starting tails to sew the closed MR base of each gill to the head: 3 behind each eye on rounds 8–11, fanning backwards. Reinforce each base; leave the frilled tips free. (— sts)
- Sew the front legs at rounds 15–16, and the back legs at rounds 20–21, one on each side. (— sts)
- Belly: with Pale Blush behind the fabric, work parallel lines of loose surface slip stitches along the underside from round 6 to round 18. Keep the lines centred between the legs; fasten off and weave in both ends. (— sts)
- Cheeks: two small satin-stitch circles in Pale Blush just below and outside each eye. Add a tiny curved smile in Coral Frill. (— sts)