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This is the last day of the Pond Pals Mini Amigurumi Crochet Along, Day 12. I feel like these 2 weeks have flown by, and I can't believe this is the final pond pal. For the last animal I decided to make a little Small Snail.

Every time I do one of these crochet alongs I come up with a list of ideas of what I can include and I almost always end up with a few more than the 12 I need. When it came down to the last animal I had a snail as well as a couple other animals and I had a really hard time choosing which one to go with, but obviously, after going back and forth several times, I ended up choosing the snail.

The snail is an interesting one in terms of construction. It is basically made with 2 long tubes that are twisted and sewn into the shape of the snail. It was definitely a bit of a "trust the process" kind of piece. I also had really no idea what colors to use for the snail, I fell like this is definitely one you could do any color you want. I went with kind of neutral colors, a tan for the shell, and a bluish gray color for the body.

The shell is made by just crocheting a long tube, lightly stuffing it so it holds its shape but can still bend, then curling it into the spiral shape of the shell. It is held in shape by stitching through it to secure it in place. Then the snail body is similar, a head with a long body, pretty much the same as the butterfly body just with a few extra rounds to make it a little longer. Then it is bent so the head comes up in front of the shell while the rest of the body is under the shell, and it is then stitched onto the shell to hold it in place. a couple little antennae are sewn to the top of the head to finish it off.

The little snail is about 4 inches tall and about 4 inches long too. Now the set of Pond Pals is complete and it includes a Dragonfly, Ant, Hummingbird, Worm, Turtle, Bee, Mallard, Butterfly, Frog, Bluebird, Ladybug, and Snail. As usual all of the patterns will remain free on my blog, but they will also be available for purchase in an ebook with all 12 patterns very soon. I will update with the purchase information as soon as it is available.

*Purchase an ad-free PDF Ebook with all 12 Patterns on Etsy or Ravelry

How to Crochet a Small Snail

Finished Size about 4" tall

You will need:

Worsted weight yarn in body color and shell color (Sample made with Loops and Threads in Smoke and Soft Taupe)
G crochet hook (4/4.25 mm)
2- 6mm safety eyes
black embroidery floss and needle
stuffing
yarn needle
stitch markers
scissors

Instructions:

All of the pieces, except the antennae, are made beginning with a magic ring. The body and shell are stuffed, but not too firm. You want to be able to bend them into shape, but have enough stuffing that they hold their shape and don't flatten when rolled or bent. Because they are long tubes you really want to be continuously adding small amounts of stuffing as you go as that will make it easier. Also, stick markers really are your friend when making pieces like this. I like to mark the first stitch of the first non-increase round and then just crochet, occasionally counting the rounds to see where I am at but not having to count every stitch of every round, just count the rounds from the stitch marker to see how far you are.

Body/Head

Make 1 starting with body color yarn (smoke), beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (18 sc)

Rounds 4-6: 1 sc in each st (18 sc)

Insert eyes between rounds 5-6 a few stitches apart

Begin stuffing and continue stuffing as you work

Round 7: sc2tog around (9 sc)

Rounds 8-25: 1 sc in each st (9 sc)

Round 26: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (6 sc)

Round27: 1 sc in each st (6 sc)

Finish off, weave end closed, you can leave a long tail for sewing the body to the shell, or just use the shell tail to assemble

Embroider mouth to the face just under the eyes

Shell

Make 1 with shell color yarn (Soft Taupe), beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (9 sc)

The rest of the shell will be rounds with no increase, begin stuffing as soon as you have a long enough piece to stuff and continue adding stuffing as you go

Rounds 3-28: 1 sc in each st (9 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving very long tail for sewing

Roll the shell in a spiral with the beginning of the tube in the center and the open end at the end, it may flatten a little bit, especially at tighter curves, but it should hold its shape pretty well, if not add more stuffing

Once you have your spiral shape use your tail to stitch all the way through a couple of times to secure the spiral.

Take the body and bend it around the shell with the shell opening facing the bottom but closest to the head, the head will poke up higher then the shell and the end of the body should extend just past the edge of the shell

Stitch in place to secure

Antennae

Make 2 with body color (smoke) yarn, beginning with chain

ch 4
sk ch closest to hook, sc in next, sl st in last 2 ch (1 sc, 2 sl st)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing
sew antennae to the top of the head

Small Snail- Pond Pals Mini Amigurumi Crochet Along Day 12