Like most girls born in the late 80’s, I have always dreamed of being….a mermaid! When I visualize how cool it would be to swim in the ocean, I dream up colorful coral reefs and the beautiful marine life that live there. But if I was a mermaid today, I would have a hard time finding such a place. It is hard to imagine such colorful life when over half of the world’s coral is dead or dying at this very moment because of the damage caused by irresponsible humans. Unlike many endangered species, coral dying is not the result of direct human interference, but rather a cumulative outcome of decades of disrespecting our environment. Global warming has caused the overall temperature of the ocean to rise, this causes coral bleaching and eventually the death of coral reefs. Coral dying not only affects coral, but also the large amount of organisms that rely on coral to protect them from predators, provide food, and create a home.
I created Carol the coral to remind people that even things we do in our daily lives have a massive effect on the world. Living a clean lifestyle is something I believe we should all strive for. This year I have gone cruelty free and vegan in all areas that I am able to(except dietary, maybe one day I can give up bacon….). I try to use as little waste as possible and recycle all materials that I am able to. I may be only one person, and my efforts may be miniscule in the grand picture; but if we all strived to be even more clean living, many of the issues that put our environments future at risk will lessen greatly. I hope Carol inspires you to make a change!
“Coral reefs — great, silent underwater ecosystems — are wellsprings of marine life, protectors of coastlines and anchors of a vast, global food chain. And they are on the front lines as our planet warms. Coral scientists were among the first to warn us that global warming was radically harming our seas and to call for curbing our ravenous appetite for fossil fuels. But it seems we weren’t listening. Now, they are once again in the vanguard, plotting out revolutionary measures — many of which could backfire in unexpected ways — to save our reefs, our planet and ourselves.”
– Quote from this Article
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13/world/land-coral-farm-reefs-climate-change-scli-intl/index.html
Materials
Yarn:
- Paintbox Simply Dk – Bright Peach (111)
- Aunt Lydia’s Classic Cotton Crochet Thread – Black
Tools:
- 3.25mm Crochet Hook (a 3.00mm or 3.5mm could be used depending on your tension)
- 6mm Safety Eyes
- Scissors
- Yarn Needle
- Stitch Marker
- Polyfil
Stitches Used
U.S. Terminology
Right Handed Instructions
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
| CH | Chain Stitch |
| ST | Stitch |
| SK | Skip Stitch |
| SL ST | Slip Stitch |
| SC | Single Crochet |
| SCINC | Single Crochet two in Same Stitch (Increase) |
| SC2TOG | Single Crochet two Together (Decrease) |
| BPSC | BackPost Single Crochet |
| * | Stitches inside asterisk are repeated |
| , | A comma is used to indicate when to move on to the next step in the round/row. |
Special Techniques Used
Do not join a round unless the pattern says to do so. Otherwise pieces worked in the round will be done in the spiral method.
Nub A
Make x8
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 4 sc, no join. | (4 stitches) |
| Round 2-3: | 4 sc. | (4 stitches) |
Cut yarn and tie off, stuff ends inside to use as stuffing. Set Aside.
Nub B
Make x2
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-3: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Cut yarn and tie off, stuff ends inside to use as stuffing. Set Aside.
Right Branch
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-4: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 5: | With “Right Branch” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “Right Branch”, 5 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 6: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 7-8: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 9: | 5 sc, with “Right Branch” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 10: | sk 1 stitch on “Right Branch”, *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 11-12: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 13: | With “Right Branch” still on hook, join “Nub B” with a sc in any st, 4sc in “Nub B”, leave last st of “Nub B” unworked, sk 1 on “Right Branch”, 5 sc. | (10 stitches) |
| Round 14: | 8 sc, 1 sc2tog. | (9 stitches) |
| Round 15-16: | 9 sc. | (9 stitches) |
Fasten off. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily. Set Aside.
Left Branch
Part 1
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-5: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 6: | With Part 1 still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “Part 1”, 5 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 7: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 8: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Fasten off. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily. Set Aside.
Part 2
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-4: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 5: | With “Part 2” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “Part 2”, 5 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 6: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 7-9: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 10: | 5 sc, with “Part 2” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 11: | sk 1 stitch on “Part 2”, *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 12-13: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 14: | 2 sc, Join “Part 1” by doing a sc in the LAST stitch of the piece, 4 sc, leave last stitch on “Part 1” unworked, sk 1 st on “Part 2”, 3 sc. | (10 stitches) |
| Round 15: | 1 sc, 1 sc2tog, 7 sc. | (9 stitches) |
Fasten Off. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily. Set Aside.
Head Branch
H1
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-5: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 6: | With “H1” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “H1”, 5 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 7: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 8: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Fasten off. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily. Set Aside.
H2
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-5: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 6: | With “H2” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub A”, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last stitch of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “H2”, 5 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 7: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 8: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Fasten off. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily. Set Aside.
H3
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 4 sc, no join. | (4 stitches) |
| Round 2-3: | 4 sc. | (4 stitches) |
| Round 4: | With “H3” still on hook, make 1 sc into any stitch on a “Nub B”, 4 sc in “Nub B”, leave last stitch of “Nub B” unworked, sk 1 stitch on “H3”, 3 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 5: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 6: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 7: | 1 sc, with “H3” still on hook join a “Nub A” with a sc into any st, 2 sc in “Nub A”, leave last st of “Nub A” unworked, sk 1 st on “H3”, 4 sc. | (8 stitches) |
| Round 8: | *2 sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 9-12: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Do NOT cut yarn. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily.
| Round 13: | With “H3” still on hook join “H1” by making a sc in the last st of the last round, 4 sc in “H1”, leave last st of “H1” unworked, sk 1 st on “H3”, 5 sc. | (10 stitches) |
| Round 14: | 1 sc, 1 sc2tog, 7 sc. | (9 stitches) |
| Round 15: | 7 sc, with “H3” still on hook join “H2” by making a sc in the 4th st of last round, 4 sc in “H2”, leave last st of “H2” unworked, sk 1 st on “H3”, 1 sc. | (15 stitches) |
| Round 16: | 7 sc, 1 sc2tog, 4 sc. | (12 stitches) |
| Round 17 – 22 | 12 sc. | (12 stitches) |
Head Branch Completed.
Do NOT cut yarn. Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily.
Add 6mm eyes between Rounds 19 and 20 with 2 sc between them.
| Round 23: | With “Head Branch” still on Hook, 3 sc, join “Left Branch” by making a sc in the 5th stitch of the last round, 7 sc in “Left Branch”, leave last stitch of “Left Branch” unworked, sk 1 st on “Head Branch”, 7 sc. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 24: | * 1sc, 1 sc2tog* repeat * to * 5 more times. | (12 stitches) |
| Round 25: | 7 sc, 1 sc2tog, 3 sc. | (11 stitches) |
| Round 26: | 1 sc, join “Right Branch” with a sc in the 6th stitch of the last round, 7 sc in “Right Branch”, leave last st of “Right Branch” unworked, sk 1 st on working piece(Combined Head and Left Branches), 10 sc. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 27-29: | 18 sc. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 30: | 18 bpsc. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 31: | *3 sc, 3 sc2tog* repeat * to * once more. | (12 stitches) |
Stuff piece, do NOT overstuff, this piece is small so stuffing shows thru more easily.
| Round 32: | 6 sc2tog. | (6 stitches) |
Cut yarn and use the Amigurumi Close Method.
Note: If the small gaps between the joined branches shows, cut a long piece of yarn, knot one end, insert it into the finished piece thru the bottom, and sew the gaps. Once finished tie off the end and stuff the end into the body.
With the crochet thread and a yarn needle, add a small smile below the eyes.
Thank you for choosing my Pattern!
This pattern and all information contained in this post is the property of Tiffany Horton. You have permission to sell any finished product created using this pattern, a link back to this pattern is appreciated. The information contained in this post (the pattern, media,etc) may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, or shared in anyway. Rewriting, reselling, distributing, or copying this pattern electronically, verbally, written or otherwise, including translations, is prohibited.
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