"He's her lobster!"

Any other 90's kids remember that episode of Friends? Rachel and Ross? No? Apparently lobsters mate for life. Awwwww. Okay, moving on. 

Another Christmas present. One of my best friends that used to be my room mate (the same girl I made the owl for, actually), recently moved out with my other best friend room mate that got married and now has her own house. She's a quirky one and entertainingly random. She has a lobster shirt, a lobster pillow, and might even have a lobster blanket. And I have no idea why. So I decided to add to her lobster collection while throwing in the cute meaning of us being friends forever and that I love her (hence the adorable heart shaped claws). Awww. 

Anyway, this heart stealing little guy would make an adorable Valentine's Day present for YOUR lobster. (hint hint!) 

Love Lobster Amigurumi

Yarn: worsted weight red yarn; I used Red Heart.

Hook: G or H, depending on your tightness of stitches. If you’re a relaxed stitcher, I would go with G. I’m an aggressive stitcher, so I used an H.

Other materials: stuffing, buttons or whatever you prefer to make eyes, darning needle and embroidery needle with thread (if you’re using buttons). Sewing pins and a stitch marker make this MUCH easier.

Lobster body

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in first st*

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around

Row 3: * 2sc, 1 sc in next st * repeat around

Row 4: * 2 sc, 1 sc in next 2 sts * repeat around

Row 5: *2 sc, 1 sc in next 3 sts * repeat around

Row 6: * 2 sc, 1 sc in next 4 sts * repeat around

Rows 7-17: sc around

Row 18: * sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts * repeat around

Row 19: sc around

Row 20: * sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts * repeat around

Rows 21-24: sc around

Row 25: * sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts * repeat around

Rows 26-28: sc around

Row 29: * 2sc in first st, sc in next st * repeat around

Rows 30-32: sc around. Stuff your lobster!

Row 33: Pinch the circle flat so that your starting stitch is on the right and the stitches are lined up so you can crochet the top and bottom together into a line. For the next stitches, you are going to put your hook through the top stitch AND bottom stitch as one, so your lobster will be crocheted shut.

Skip 2 stitches, 5 dc in 3^rd stitch. Skip 1 stitch, slip stitch in next stitch.

Skip 1 stitch, 5 dc in next st, skip 1 stitch, slip stitch in next stitch.

Skip 1 stitch, 5 dc in next stitch, skip 1 stitch, slip stitch in last stitch. You should have formed 3 shell stitches and the tail of your lobster should be flat. Bind off and hide yarn tail.

Heart-shaped claws

For the heart-shaped claws, you are going to make four “bumps” for the tops of the hearts. So there are two for each claw. For each claw, one “bump” will have a tail of yarn and the other bump will remain attached to your working yarn while you sew the first bump to the active one. So you will make one bump, leave a tail and cut the yarn, and then make a second one, leave attached, use tail from the first one to sew to the second one, and then return to your active yarn to finish crocheting around both bumps to complete the heart. I hope this makes sense!

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in first ch

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around

Row 3: * 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st * repeat around

Rows 4 and 5: sc around

(If you’re working on your first bump, BO and leave a tail. If the second one, leave the active yarn attached.)

Using the tail of your first bump, line up the end of the first bump with the last active stitch of the second bump. Whip stitch 4 stitches together and weave in yarn tail. Return to your active yarn.

Row 6: sc one row around both circles, forming one big circle to work with. The number of stitches you create will probably vary. I think I ended up with 33. It’s okay if yours is different, the end product will still look the same.

Rows 7 and 8: sc around

Row 9: * sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts * repeat around, if you have remaining stitches just sc until the end

Row 10: sc around

Row 11: * sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts * repeat around, again sc in any remaining stitches

Row 12: * sc2tog, sc in next st * repeat around, sc in remaining stitches if any

Row 13: sc around. Stuff your claw now, because it’s going to get tight after this!

Row 14: sc2tog all around

Rows 15 and 16: sc around

BO, leaving tail to use to sew claws to the sides of the lobster’s body.

I sewed on my button eyes first so I could position the claws on the body in relation to them. I used sewing pins to position the claws and then used the tail of yarn to whipstitch them onto the body. Enjoy!! 

Snowman Amigurumi

This little lady was a Christmas present for my mom for Christmas. She collects anything snowman. She’s also one of those people who appreciates the little things that took time and not money. I thought this fit the bill quite nicely.

Yarn: worsted weight in white (I used a bit of a skein of Caron One Pound that I had lying around)

For the hat and scarf – I used a shiny pink worsted weight yarn that was on sale years ago at AC Moore. It’s similar to Simply Soft. I thought the difference in texture would really make the snowman’s accessories pop.

Hook: G or H, depending on how tightly you crochet. I use an H because my stitches are tight anyway, but if you’re relaxed, I would recommend a G.

Other materials: Stuffing, darning needle, buttons for the eyes, and thread to sew on the buttons.

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in first ch. Join or insert stitch marker to keep track of your rows.

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around.

Row 3: *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st * repeat around.

Row 4: *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts * repeat around.

Row 5: * 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts * repeat around.

Rows 6 – 11: sc around.

Row 12: * sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts * repeat around.

Row 13: * sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts * repeat around.

Row 14: * 2 sc in first st, sc in next 2 sts * repeat around.

Row 15: * 2 sc in first st, sc in next 3 sts * repeat around.

Row 16: * 2 sc in first st, sc in next 4 sts * repeat around.

Rows 17 – 25: sc around.

(Around this row, I would start packing the body with stuffing.)

Row 26: * sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts * repeat around.

Row 27: * sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts * repeat around.

Row 28: * sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts * repeat around.

Row 29: * sc2tog, sc in next st * repeat around.

Row 30: * sc2tog * repeat around. Leave tail of yarn. Use darning needle to run yarn tail through remaining stitches and sew shut. I would recommend not sewing the button eyes on just yet. I waited until I was finished the hat and scarf so I could try them on the body to see exactly where the eyes should be.

Snowman’s Hat (with the shiny pink yarn)

Row 1: Ch 3, 9 dc in first ch, join.

Row 2: Ch 2, 1 dc in same st as ch, 2 dc in each st around. Join.

Row 3: Ch 2, 1 dc in same st as ch, 1 dc in next st, *2 dc in next st, 1 dc in next st* around. Join.

Row 4: Ch 2, dc around. Join.

Row 5: Ch 2, dc around. Join.

Row 6: Turn the hat so you’re stitching in the opposite direction (just like when you’re doing rows on a regular pattern rather than circular, so the front of these stitches will be on the inside of the hat). Ch 2, dc in back loops all around. Join and bind off. Flip this row up to create the brim of the hat.

Snowman’s Scarf (with the shiny pink yarn)

Row 1: Ch 7, dc in 3^rd ch from hook, dc across.

Rows 2 - ?: Turn, ch 2, dc across. I don’t actually know how many rows I did, I just kept trying it on the snowman until I could tie it around his neck and it hung down nicely.

Let your imagination run wild with this one. Use this simple template to create all kinds of unique snowmen!