November’s addition to my “Endangered Species Series” is another animal that I chose for personal reasons, as this is my birth month; I wanted to showcase a species that I have loved for as long as I can remember, but that also holds many memories for me. A little known fact about me, as I am very proud of it, is that I grew up in Alaska. My father is an Air Force Veteran(Thank you for your service Daddy!) and from 1992-2002 he was stationed in Alaska. We lived on two bases in the state throughout the years, Elmendorf(Anchorage) and Eielson(Fairbanks); both were stunningly gorgeous places, but my favorite place to visit……was Seward! Why did I love Seward the most? I think that can be summed up in two words, marine life. I adored going to the Sea Life Center and seeing all the rescued sea life and learning about them. For a very long time, I wanted to study marine biology so that I could one day work there, but life had another journey in store for me.
Seeing Sea Otters on the oceans’ surface while on boat tours, are memories I can clearly see in my minds eye even 20 years later, and for this reason I chose to showcase them as this months Endangered Specie.
Some facts about Northern Sea Otters:
- They are one of the smallest Marine mammals.
- They rely on their super dense fur for warmth, they have no “blubber” like other marine mammals.Sea Otters have the most dense fur of any mammal.
- They are “Diurnal” (opposite of “nocturnal”) meaning most of their activities, feeding, and other behaviors are done during the day time, reserving the night for sleep.
- They have two layers of fur, the undercoat traps air to keep the skin dry and warm, while the outer “guard hairs” keeps the undercoat dry. They groom their fur often, removing excess water and reintroducing air in order to keep themselves warm; they are even known to roll in the water while feeding to remove crumbs.
- They have a “pouch” under their forelegs that goes across the chest, here they store food they collect to bring to the surface and eat, as well as, a rock that is unique to each otter.
- They use a rock to break open shells to access the food inside.
- They are not considered to be social animals, however; to keep from drifting out to sea while resting, Sea Otters float in same sex groups called “rafts” that can vary in size. Largest recorded raft sighting was 2000 otters. They also may wrap themselves in kelp to keep from floating out to sea while resting.
- They have a gestation period of 4 months,but stay with their young for up to a year, training them how to dive for food and also caring for their pup(and sometimes orphaned pups).Female sea otters usually only birth one pup a year. Baby Sea Otters fur trap so much air, that they are too buoyant to dive, so they spend most of their early life on their mother’s chest. When the mother dives to forest for food, she wraps her pup in kelp to keep them from drifting out to sea.
- They are a “keystone” species, meaning that they play a key role in the survival of the ecosystem they are in. Sea Otters eat sea urchins and other invertebrates keeping their population in check.
There is honestly so many adorable and interesting facts about sea otters I could keep listing things! However, we must move on to the sad truth….that sea otters are ENDANGERED! During the 19th century Sea Otters were hunted to near extinction for their fur; however, they were able to recover their population during the 20th century due to the end of the fur trade and the “Endangered Species Act & Marine Mammal Protection Act”. Their status has recently changed in the past few decades from “threatened” to “endangered” for reasons that are unclear. Some believe the cause is predators and oil spills. Not only does oil spills soak into their fur and ruin their ability to keep warm, but as they clean themselves they ingest the oil.
There are ways that we can get involved in the protection of these adorable creatures! I will Link some resources below!
Another bit of information before we get to the pattern( I know, I know it’s a long intro 😛 ) Susitna the Sea Otter is named for Mount Susitna, in Anchorage, Alaska. I spent way more time than I care to admit googling Inuit names for sea, sea otter, etc….but never found one that fit. My mom suggested I use “The Sleeping Lady”’s name, I loved that mountain and the legend behind it. It is a gorgeous mountain that overlooks the ocean, almost like she’s floating on her back, just like a sea otter!
I really hope you all enjoy making Susitna!
Materials
Yarn:
- I Love this Yarn – Brown
- I Love this Yarn – Ivory
- Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Thread – Black
Tools:
- 3.5mm Crochet Hook (a 3.25mm or 4.00mm could be used depending on your tension)
- 2.5mm Crochet Hook
- 9mm Safety Eyes
- Scissors
- Yarn Needle
- Stitch Marker
- Sewing Pins
- Polyfil
Stitches Used
U.S. Terminology
Right Handed Instructions
Difficulty Level: Easy
| 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) |
| BLO | Back Loop Only |
| Picot | Chain 3, sc into the 3rd chain from hook |
| * | 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.
Use a 3.5mm unless otherwise instructed.
Body
Yarn color: Brown
Hook Size: 3.5mm
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2: | 6 scinc. | (12 stitches) |
| Round 3: | *scinc, sc* repeat x6. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 4: | *scinc, 5 sc* repeat x3. | (21 stitches) |
| Round 5: | *3 sc, scinc, 3 sc* repeat x3. | (24 stitches) |
| Round 6: | *scinc, 7 sc* repeat x3. | (27 stitches) |
| Round 7: | *4 sc, scinc, 4 sc* repeat x3. | (30 stitches) |
| Round 8-9: | 30 sc. | (30 stitches) |
| Round 10: | *4 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc* repeat x3. | (27 stitches) |
| Round 11: | *sc2tog, 7 sc* repeat x3. | (24 stitches) |
| Round 12-13: | 24 sc. | (24 stitches) |
| Round 14: | *3 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc* repeat x3. | (21 stitches) |
| Round 15: | *sc2tog, 5 sc* repeat x3. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 16-17: | 18 sc. | (18 stitches) |
| Round 18: | *2 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc* repeat x3. | (15 stitches) |
| Round 19: | *sc2tog, 3 sc* repeat x3. | (12 stitches) |
Stuff Firmly with Polyfill.
| Round 20: | *sc, sc2tog, sc* repeat x3. | (9 stitches) |
| Round 21: | *sc2tog, sc* repeat x3. | (6 stitches) |
Fasten off and use the Amigurumi Close Method
Front Feet
Yarn Color: Brown
Hook Size: 3.5mm
Make x2
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2-6: | 6 sc. | (6 stitches) |
Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing, stuff very lightly(or leave unstuffed) before closing.. Pinch the open end together and sew to body between rounds 9-11 with 8 full sc between them.
Flippers
Yarn color: Brown
Hook Size: 3.5mm
Make x2
| Row 1: | Ch 8, hdc in 2nd chain from hook, 4 hdc, 2 sc. | (7 stitches) |
| Row 2: | Ch 1, turn, 2 sc, 3 hdc. | (5 stitches) |
| Row 3: | Ch 1, turn, sk st, sl st, (sl st, ch 2, hdc), hdc,sc | (4 stitches) |
Fasten off leaving a tail for sewing, sew to each side of the narrow end of body. Row 1 of each flipper should be facing each other at the back of the body, so that the textured edges point up when the otter is on its back.
Head
Yarn color: Ivory
Hook Size: 3.5mm
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 6 sc, no join. | (6 stitches) |
| Round 2: | 6 scinc. | (12 stitches) |
| Round 3: | *scinc, sc* repeat x6 | (18 stitches) |
| Round 4: | *sc, scinc, sc* repeat x6. | (24 stitches) |
| Round 5: | *scinc, 3 sc* repeat x6. | (30 stitches) |
| Round 6: | 30 sc. | (30 stitches) |
| Round 7: | 13 sc, 4 scinc, 13 sc. | (34 stitches) |
Add 9mm safety eyes between Rounds 5 and 6 so that one eye is above where the increases in Round 7 start and the other eye is above where the increases in Round 7 end.
| Round 8: | 34 sc. | (34 stitches) |
| Round 9: | 13 sc, 4 sc2tog, 13 sc. | (30 stitches) |
Fasten off leaving a tail for sewing to the body. Sew to body so that the head looks like it is lifted slightly when the otter is on its back. The chin should be at round 8 of the front of the body, while the back of the head is around round 3-4 of the back of the body. Stuff firmly before sewing shut.
Ears
Yarn color: Ivory
Hook Size: 3.5mm
Make x2
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, 5 sc, no join. | (5 stitches) |
Sew to the top of head so that they are set wide apart. They should form a triangle with the magic circle and the safety eye.
Nose
Yarn color: Black Crochet Thread
Hook Size: 2.5mm
| Round 1: | Create a Magic Circle, *2sc, ch 1* repeat x3, sl st to join. | (9 stitches) |
Fasten off leaving a tail for sewing and embroidering the mouth. Sew to the Head centered between the eyes on Round 7.
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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