I was having such a hard time trying to decide which pattern to put up next for free on my blog, so I decided to ask my followers. There were a lot of votes for the Dinosaur Lovey, so that’s what’s up next. This one can be made with so many different colors to make it absolutely perfect and unique for any gift-giving occasion.
As a note: Always be aware when using safety eyes for these types of toys. To be safe, always monitor young children with toys. To be even more safe, embroider or crochet eyes instead of using safety eyes.
Materials
- 3.5mm crochet hook
- 5.0mm crochet hook
- Worsted weight yarn in green and gold (or whatever colors you want your dinosaur to be!)
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
- Fiberfill / stuffing
- Embroidery thread or safety eyes (12mm)
- Stitch markers
Yardage
Head: 72 yards
Spikes: 12 yards
Legs: 24 yards
Blanket: 124 yards
Gauge
15 single crochet x 13 rows = 4″
Terms & Stitches to Know
- Bobble – yarn over (YO), insert hook in next stitch, YO, pull up a loop, YO, pull through two loops. (YO, insert hook in same stitch, YO, pull up a loop, YO pull through two loops) three times. YO, and draw through all loops on hook. Ch 1 to close the stitch.
- DC – double crochet
- INC – increase
- INV DEC – invisible decrease
- MC – Magic Circle
- Mini Bobble – (Yarn over, insert hook into stitch and pull up a loop. Yarn over, pull through two loops) twice. Yarn over, pull through all loops. Ch 1 to close the stitch.
- SC – single crochet
- SL ST – slip stitch
Notes
- Head, spikes, and legs are worked in continuous rounds. No join stitch after each round.
- For the blanket portion, I did not include when to change colors. You can choose not to change colors, or to change colors in different places.
- When making the blanket, it will not lay flat past round 3.
- For the blanket, chain 2s are not included in final stitch counts. Thus, the stitch count at the end of the rounds in the blanket portion are dc stitches only.
- Beginning in round 4 and then throughout the blanket, chain 3s at the beginning of the round ARE counted as a double crochet stitch.
Pattern
Toggle the drop downs to easily access the different parts of the pattern. I’m hoping this is easier than trying to scroll through this massive pattern.
Make a MC.
Round 1: 6 sc in MC (6)
Round 2: inc around (12)
Round 3: [1 sc, inc] around (18)
Round 4: [inc, 1 sc in the next 2 stitches] around (24)
Round 5: [1 sc in the next 3 stitches, inc] around (30)
Round 6-8: 1 sc in each stitch around (30)
Round 9: Bobble stitch, 5 sc, Bobble stitch, 23 sc (30)
Round 10-15: 1 sc in each stitch around (30) – On Round 10, be sure to skip the chain 1 from closing the Bobble stitch so as to not have too many stitches.
Round 16: [inc, 1 sc in the next 4 stitches] x 2, inc, 1 sc in the next 19 stitches (33)
Round 17: [1 sc in the next 5 stitches, inc] x 2, 1 sc in the next 2 stitches, inc, 1 sc in the next 18 stitches (36)
Round 18: [inc, sc in the next 6 stitches] x 2, inc, 1 sc in the next 21 stitches (39)
Round 19: 1 sc in each stitch around (39)
Round 20: [1 sc in the next 7 stitches, inc] x 2, 1 sc in the next 3 stitches, inc, 1 sc in the next 19 stitches (42)
Round 21: 1 sc in each stitch around (42)
Round 22: [1 sc in the next 8 stitches, inc] x 2, 1 sc in the next 4 stitches, inc, 1 sc in the next 19 stitches (45)
Round 23-26: 1 sc in each stitch around (45)
Round 27: [1 sc in the next 7 stitches, inv dec] around (40)
Round 28: [1 sc in the next 6 stitches, inv dec] around (35)
Begin stuffing the nose.
If you prefer to sew on the ears before closing and stuffing the head, pause here, make your ears, and then continue with closing the head after you have sewn on the ears.
If using safety eyes rather than embroidering the eyes, you can also now insert these between rows 20 and 21. The distance apart will depend on the size of the safety eyes you choose to use.
Round 29: [1 sc in the next 5 stitches, inv dec] around (30)
Round 30: 1 sc in the next 4 stitches, inv dec] around (25)
Round 31: [1 sc in the next 3 stitches, inv dec] around (20)
Round 32: [1 sc in the next 2 stitches, inv dec] around (15)
Finish stuffing.
Round 33: [1 sc in the next stitch, inv dec] around (10)
Fasten off, leaving a tail. With the end tail, weave in and out of the front loops of your remaining stitches to close the hole. Weave in the end.
Make a MC.
Round 1: 4 sc in MC (4)
Round 2: inc around (8)
Round 3: [1 sc in the next stitch, inc] around (12)
Round 4-7: 1 sc in each stitch around (12)
Sl st into the next 3 stitches to even out the round. Then, fasten off, leaving a tail to sew spikes onto the head. Flatten the spikes as you sew them onto the head. They will not be stuffed.
For the first spike, I placed the front of the spike in the center of the eyes between rounds 21 and 22. The back end of the spike ended at round 27. For the second and third spikes, I left a space of one round between the back end of the previous spike. See the photos for more help.
Make a MC.
Round 1: 6 sc in MC (6)
Round 2: inc around (12)
Round 3: In blo, sc in each stitch around (12)
Round 4: Mini Bobble stitch, sc, Mini Bobble stitch, sc, Mini Bobble stitch, 7 sc (12)
Change to green.
Round 5-17: sc in each stitch around (12) – On Round 5, be sure to skip the chain 1 from closing the bobble stitch so as to not have too many stitches.
Sl st into the next 3 stitches. Fasten off, leaving a tail to sew the leg onto the blanket/head. Stuff the leg firmly before attaching.
Make a MC. Leave a long tail to sew on the unicorn head when you’re finished with the blanket.
Round 1: 10 dc in MC. Sl st to join. (10)
Round 2: Ch 2. 2 dc in each stitch around. Sl st to join. (20)
Round 3: Ch 2. * 1 dc in each of the next 5 stitches. Ch 2. * Repeat between *s 3 more times. Sl st into the first dc to join. (20)
Round 4: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same stitch and in each of the next 4 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 5 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 5 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (28)
Round 5: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 6 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 7 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 7 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (36)
Round 6: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 8 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 9 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 9 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (44)
Round 7: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 10 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 11 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 11 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (52)
Round 8: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 12 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 13 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 13 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (60)
Round 9: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 14 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 15 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 15 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (68)
Round 10: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 16 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 17 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 17 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (76)
Round 11: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 18 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 19 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 19 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (84)
Round 12: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 20 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 21 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 21 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (92)
Round 13: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 22 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 23 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 23 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round (100)
Round 14: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 24 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 25 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 25 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (108)
Round 15: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 26 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 27 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 27 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (116)
Round 16: Ch 3. 1 dc in the same chain and in each of the next 28 stitches. [dc, ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * 1 dc in each of the next 29 stitches. [dc ch 2, dc] in the ch 2 space. * Repeat between *s 1 more time. 1 dc in each of the next 29 stitches. [dc, ch 2] in the ch 2 space. Sl st into the top of the chain 3 from the beginning of the round. (124)
Sl st into the next 3 stitches. Fasten off. Attach the dinosaur head to the top of the blanket using the long tail you left at the beginning. Then, weave all your other ends and attach the legs to the blanket/head as well.
To attach the head, I sew in about a quarter-sized area on the dinosaur head, following along with the first round of the blanket. Then, attach the legs to the blanket on each side of the head. See the photos below for where I attached the head and legs.
Enjoy this free pattern and be sure to use #TheHookingReader or #TheHookingReaderPatterns when posting your makes on social media. Feel free to also tag me in your posts. I love sharing your makes!
