Meet the Snow Mouse!
I'm so excited to bring you this pattern. I bought a book earlier this year called "Mouse's First Snow" written by Lauren Thompson and Illustrated by Buket Erdogan. I fell totally in love with the book, the characters and the sweet story.
If you get a chance you should look at those links above and see for yourself. I think if you're a school teacher for pre-school to gr-2 this would be a great book for your classroom and you can bring one of the characters with you, the kids will love that!
Also check out my mice pattern that I just released to go with this Snow Mouse and their sled too!
Now with all that said, I have to warn you that this pattern is not for somebody who has never made amigurumi before. While the parts are not hard to make, the head might give you a little trouble if you're not used to shaping. You have to shape and stuff the head just so. Then sew the head onto the body which again might give you a little trouble if you're new to this craft. Next year I hope to revisit this pattern and get a video for tutorial filmed. Until then I hope those of you who make a snow mouse will enjoy the pattern.
Supplies:
Red Heart Comfort yarn in white small amount of black yarn for the nose and eyes
Red Heart Comfort Yarn in Blue, I used Peacock ~ 3193
a small amount of red. I used Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry
I did not measure out how much white yarn I used but I know I used less than a half of a package. Please see question #3 here for the amount that's in the rolls of yarn I buy.
4mm hook - feel free to use another hook size
blunt end yarn needle for sewing
scissors
100% polyester stuffing
optional 4 pipe cleaners for the ears
Abbreviations:
st = stitch
sc = single crochet
ch1 = chain one
sl st = slip stitch
2tog = crochet 2 stitches together
hdc = half double crochet
FLO = front loops only
f/o = finish off
How to read the rows: Each row has a sequence as given below. Example: 1sc then 2sc in next st means repeat that sequence 1sc then 2sc in next st followed by 1sc then 2sc in next st over and over to the end of that particular row. The number inside the parentheses ( ~ ) is the number of stitches you should have at the end of that particular row. Work in continuous rounds. Add a marker to the last stitch and move the marker at the end of each row.
There is an assembly section at the bottom of this page. Please read through that before sewing anything together.
Head: starting at the top of the head working down to the nose
1) magic circle with 6sc (6)
2) 2sc in each (12)
3) 1sc then 2sc in next st (18)
4) 1sc in next 2st then 2sc in next st (24)
5) 1sc in next 3st then 2sc in next st (30)
6) 1sc in next 4st then 2sc in next st (36)
7) 1sc in next 5st then 2sc in next st (42)
8) 1sc in next 6st then 2sc in next st (48)
9-10) 1sc in each st for 2 rows
11) 1sc in next 7st then 2sc in next st (54)
12-13) 1sc in each st for 2 rows
14) 1sc in next 8st then 2sc in next st (60)
15-17) 1sc in each st for 3 rows
18) 1sc in next 8st then 2tog (54)
19) 1sc in next 7st then 2tog (48)
20-21) 1sc in each st for 2 rows
22) 1sc in next 6st then 2tog (42)
23) 1sc in next 5st then 2tog (36)
24) 1sc in next 4st then 2tog (30)
25) 1sc in next 3st then 2tog (24)
stuff most of the head. It's important to shape as you stuff. You will continue to stuff the head until you close up the last round
26) 1sc in each st for 1 row
27) 1sc in next 2st then 2tog (18)
28) 1sc in each st for 1 row
stuff more and shape more
29) 1sc then 2tog (12)
stuff more
30) 1sc in next 2st then 2tog (9)
sl st next st and f/o leaving a bit of a tail. Weave in and out of the remaining stitches then stuff more. Use a stuffing stick or you finger to push the stuffing all around the nose area and anywhere else you need it. Once you are satisfied there is the right amount of stuffing and the head shape looks good, pull the yarn tail tightly and knot off. Carry the yarn tail inside the head to hide it. Using black yarn, whip stitch a nose over that part you just f/o.
Body: starting at the bottom of the body working to the top which will remain open
1) magic circle with 6sc (6)
2) 2sc in each (12)
3) 1sc then 2sc in next st (18)
4) 1sc in next 2st then 2sc in next st (24)
5) 1sc in next 3st then 2sc in next st (30)
6) 1sc in next 4st then 2sc in next st (36)
7) 1sc in next 5st then 2sc in next st (42)
8) 1sc in next 6st then 2sc in next st (48)
9) 1sc in next 7st then 2sc in next st (54)
10) 1sc in next 8st then 2sc in next st (60)
11-14) 1sc in each st for 4 rows
15) 1sc in next 8st then 2tog (54)
16) 1sc in each st for 1 row
17) 1sc in next 7st then 2tog (48)
18) 1sc in each st for 1 row
19) 1sc in next 6st then 2tog (42)
20-24) 1sc in each st for 5 rows
25) 1sc in next 5st then 2tog (36)
26) 1sc in each st for 1 row
f/o leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in and out all the stitches of the last row and pull to close up the body as pictured, knot off. You will use the remaining yarn tail to sew the head and body together.
Ears:
1) magic circle with 6sc (6)
2) 2sc in each (12)
3) 1sc then 2sc in next st (18)
4) 1sc in next 2st then 2sc in next st (24)
5) 1sc in next 3st then 2sc in next st (30)
6-9) 1sc in each st for 4 rows
10) 1sc in next 3st then 2tog (24)
11) 1sc in next 2st then 2tog (18)
12) 1sc in each st for 1 row
sl st the next st and f/o leaving a long tail for sewing. Fold the ear, if you have pipe cleaners, fold 2 in half and twist them to make one piece. Place them inside the ear and cut off any excess. These will help shape the ear. Next hold your thumb over the middle of the ear and stuff on each side to shape the ears as pictured. You can add a little stuffing along the top. Just a small amount of stuffing will do.
Arms:
1) magic circle with 6sc (6)
2) 1sc then 2sc in next st (9)
3) 1sc in each st for 1 row
4-7) 1hdc in each st for 4 rows
8) 1hdc in next 2st then 2hdc in next st (12)
sl st next st and f/o leaving a long tail for sewing. Do not stuff.
Legs:
1) magic circle with 7sc (7)
2-6) 1sc in each st for 5 rows
sl st next st and f/o leaving a tail for sewing. Do not stuff
Tail:
1) chain 25 begin with a yarn tail long enough to be sewn into the body when done
2) starting in the 2nd ch from the hook, sl st each ch
f/o leaving a tail for sewing
Scarf: with blue
1) chain 5
2) starting with the 2nd ch from the hook, 1sc in each ch. Ch2 and turn
3-47) 1hdc in each st for 45 rows ch2 and turn at the end of each row, begin in the 3rd st from the hook always.
f/o. Cut yarn strands, 8 for each side to make the fringe. Then decorate with red if you wish. The red you see on my scarf is just a simple sc across then knotted off on each end and the red yarn tails weaved in to hide them. I did this on one end of the scarf only.
Hat and Pom Pom: starting with blue
1) magic circle with 6sc (6)
2) 2sc in each (12)
3) 1hdc in each st
4) 1hdc then 2hdc in next st (18)
5) 1hdc then 2hdc in next st (27)
6) 1hdc in next 8st then 2hdc in next st (30)
7) 1hdc in next 9st then 2hdc in next st, switch to red on very last st (33)
8) sl st first st then 1sc in next 31st then switch to blue on last st of this row (33)
9) 1sc in the FLO for 1 row
sl st next st and f/o leaving a long tail for sewing.
Make a pom pom by wrapping yarn around 2 fingers, wrapping both blue and red at the same time. Once you have a good sized bundle wrapped, take off your fingers then tie off. Trim to make the pom pom and sew it to the top of the hat. See this video if you need more help making a pom pom, keep in mind the pom pom in that video is smaller so just wrap about 15 to 20 more times if you prefer to make yours bigger.
ASSEMBLY: sew in order given for best results
1) Sew the arms and legs on. I actually stuffed the body first and then sew the parts on just so I could see exactly how everything will look. It works better for me that way but you choose whatever works best for you. The bottom of the legs are sitting on the 11th row with the top of the legs slanted towards each other. The bottom edge of the arms are sitting on the top edge of the 17th row. Sew both the arms and legs fully to the body so it looks like they have been shaped with snow.
2) sew the tail to the back of the body. Again it should look like it's been formed with snow.
3) if you haven't already, whip stitch a nose over the spot where you f/o on the head. This will help you see which part should face down in the next step.
4) sew the head to the body. Take your time to position it just right, the nose should be facing downward as pictured. Make sure you sew all the way around and there's no gaps when you're done.
5) sew the hat to the top, middle of the head.
6) sew the ears on, right beside the hat on each side. Pin them in place first and be sure you're happy with how they look before you sew.
7) with black yarn put in the eyes. I went in through the side of the head, came out where the first eye would go, put in a couple wraps around the 24th row then back into the head, go down a bit so you don't see the black through the white yarn, and come out where the next eye will go, mine have 7 visible stitch holes between them. Then bring the yarn tail back out where the other yarn tail is hanging. Knot them off then hide the knot inside the head. After this step was done I went over the black yarn with black paint just to make those parts look more like rocks. It's up to you if you want to do the same. If you have any troubles putting the eyes in, watch this clip where I show the same method on another doll.
This is a very cute mouse! Love it!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! This is sooo cute! :) You did an amazing job making them look just like the characters in the book!
ReplyDelete