Free Crochet Pattern: Medusa Amigurumi Doll Part 1

There is an annual Amigurumi Design Contest over at http://amigurumipatterns.net, which I noticed last year for the first time. Unfortunately it was too late already to participate, so I waited all year for the new contest to begin. When the announcement finally came, I was so exited. This years theme is Amigurumi Monsters, which, to be honest, is not really a topic I worked on before. So I had to think for a long time how I could participate with a design which stands for Monsters and for the things I usually do at the same time. Finally I came up with this Medusa Doll and her little fellow Pegasus. Since I was a girl I liked the greek mythology a lot and Medusa’s story was not new to me. I always was fascinated by the woman who had snakes instead of hair and who got slaughtered by Perseus. The birth of the winged horse Pegasus from Medusa’s neck of course is another spectacular event. For me this story about a monstrous woman being beheaded and post mortem still used as a weapon who gave birth to this beautiful winged creature which is often associated with wisdom is so multifaceted that one can think about it for a very long time. Of course my Amigurumi version of Medusa is a bit less horrifying than the greek „original“. She actually is a quite cute girl if only there weren’t these snakes on her head making her turn people into stone… However, if you like to crochet your very own Medusa, here comes the pattern. We start with the body today and in my next post, I will show you how to do her face. Then we turn to baby Pegasus in a third post to round it all up. By the way, of course I would be very happy if you like my design and vote for little Medusa and Pegasus in the contest: http://www.amigurumipatterns.net/designcontest/vote?id=1225

But now, let’s start:

You need:

Cotton yarn (6-ply) in a skin coloured tone (I used mile filli)

black crochet yarn size 10

All colours you like of crochet yarn size 80

Hooks sizes 2.0, 1.0 and 0.4

Yes, we go into micro-crocheting to do the snakes. If you are not into that use the smallest yarn and hook size you manage. Of course your snakes will look a bit thicker in the end.

Abbreviation:

sc – single crochet

ch – chain

dc- double crochet

inc – increase

dec – decrease

Head

1. R: 6 sc into magic ring
2. R: 6 inc (12 sc)
3. R: [sc, inc] 6x (18 sc)
4. R: [2 sc, inc] 6x (24 sc)
5. R: [3 sc, inc] 6x (30 sc)
6. R: [4 sc, inc] 6x (36 sc)
7. R: [5 sc, inc] 6x (42 sc)
8. – 12. R: 42 sc
R: 13: 6 sc, inc, 2 x dec, 3 sc, 2 x dec, inc, 23 sc (40 sc)
R. 14: 7 sc, inc, 3 sc, 3 sc into next stitch, 3 sc, inc, 8 sc, dec, 11 sc, dec, sc (42 sc)
R. 15: 13 sc, cluster of 3 dc, 14sc, dec, 9 sc, dec, sc (40sc)
R. 16: 28 sc, dec, 7 sc, dec, sc (38 sc)
R. 17: 28 sc, dec, 5 sc, dec, sc (36 sc)
R. 18: 7 sc, dec, 10 sc, dec, 7 sc, dec, 4 sc, dec (32 sc)
R: 19: 7 sc, dec, 8 sc, dec, 7 sc, dec, 2 sc, dec (28 sc)
R. 20: 6 sc, 7 x dec, 6 sc, dec (20 sc)
R. 21: [3 sc, dec] 4x (16 sc)

Stuff

22. – 24. R: 16 sc
26. R: [7 sc, inc] 2x (18 sc)
27. R: [sc, dec] 6x (12 sc)
28. R: 6 dec

Cut yarn and sew up the ends. Push the last part into the head.
Body

Leg:
1. R: 5 ch
2. R: 3 sc, 3 sc into next stitch, 2 sc, inc (10 sc)
3. R: inc, 2 sc, 3 x inc, 2 sc, 2 x inc (16 sc)
4. R: 4 x dec at the front, apart from that sc around (12 sc)
5. R: 4 x dec at the front, apart from that sc around (8 sc)
6. R: [2 sc, dec] (6 sc)
7. R: 6 sc
8. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (7 sc)
9. R: 7 sc
10. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (8 sc)
11. R: 8 sc
12. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (9 sc)
13. R: 9 sc
14. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (10 sc)
15. & 16. R: 10 sc
16. R: dec at the back, apart from that sc around (9 sc)
17. R: 9 sc
18. R: inc at the back and on each side, apart from that sc around (12 sc)
19. – 21. R: 12 sc
22. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (13 sc)
23. – 25. R: 13 sc
26. R: inc at the back, apart from that sc around (14 sc)
27. – 29. R: 14 sc
30. R: inc on each side, apart from that sc around (16 sc)

Do the second leg in the same way, continue as follows:

31. R: Crochet 2 sc on the inner side of leg 1 together with 2 sc on the inner side of leg 2, then do 14 sc around one leg and 16 sc around the other. End up with a round of 30 sc.

32. R: 30 sc
33. R: inc at the back of each leg, apart from that sc around (32 sc)
34. R: inc at the back of each leg, apart from that sc around (34 sc)
35. R: 34 sc
36. R: dec at the back of each leg and on each side, apart from that sc around (30 sc)
37. R: dec on each side and do an [dec, sc, dec] in the middle of the back, apart from that sc around (26 sc)
38. R: in the middle of the back do 2dec, apart from that sc around(24 sc)
39. – 40. R: 24 sc
41. R: inc on each side, apart from that sc around (26 sc)
42. – 43. R: 26 sc
44. R: at the front approximately above the middle of each leg do 2 inc, apart from that sc around (30 sc)
45. R: at the front approximately above the middle of each leg do 2 inc, apart from that sc around (34 sc)
46. R: 34 sc
47. R: at the front approximately above the middle of each leg do 2 dec on each side, apart from that sc around (30 sc)
48. R: at the front approximately above the middle of each leg do 2 dec on each side, apart from that sc around (26 sc)
48. R: On each side do 8 ch and skip 4, apart from that sc around(34 sc)
49. – 50. R: 34 sc
51. R: On each „shoulder“ do 5 dec, apart from that sc around (24 sc)
52. R: On each „shoulder“ do 5 dec, apart from that sc around (14 sc)
53. R: On each „shoulder“ do dec, apart from that sc around (12 sc)
54. R: [4 sc, dec] 2x (10 sc)
55. – 58. R: 10 sc
59. R: [4 sc, inc] 2x (12 sc)
60. R: [5 sc, inc] 2x (14 sc)
61. R: 7 x decCut yarn and sew up the end

Arms

1. R: do 11 sc into the ch beneath the shoulder, work into the front loop only
2. R: dec on the outside, apart from that sc around (10 sc)
3. – 8. R: 10 sc
9. R: dec at the back, apart from that sc around (9 sc)
10. R: dec at the back, inc at the front, apart from that sc around (9 sc)
11. R: dec at the back, apart from that sc around (8 sc)
12. R: 8 sc
13. R: dec at the back, apart from that sc around (7 sc)
14. R: 7 sc
15. R: dec at the back, apart from that sc around (6 sc)
16. R: [2 sc, inc] 2x (8 sc)
17. R: at the front do one popcorn stitch with [hStb, 2 Stb, hStb] to form the thumb, apart from that sc around
18. – 20. R: 7 sc
21. R: 3 decCut yarn and sew up the end. Do the other arm in the same way

Hair

Wig cap

Do a wig cap on which you can crochet the snakes, later. Use a no. 10 crochet yarn and the 1.0 hook. Counts are as follows:

R: 6 sc into magic ring
2. R: 6 inc (12 sc)
3. R: [sc, inc] 6x (18 sc)
4. R: [2 sc, inc] 6x (24 sc)
5. R: [3 sc, inc] 6x (30 sc)
6. R: [4 sc, inc] 6x (36 sc)
7. R: [5 sc, inc] 6x (42 sc)
8. R: [6 sc, inc] 6x (48 sc)
9. – 13. R: 48 sc

Snakes

In order to get really neat and tiny snakes use the smallest hook and yarn you can. I used a 0.4 hook and a no. 80 crochet yarn. fill each snake with thread and put a tiny bit of stuffing into the head before closing it.

Start to cover the outer round with snakes. Leave 1 sc between the snakes. Do the same in the second round (leave one round of sc between the rounds). In the third round you will end up with enough snakes if you leave 3 sc between them, in the fourth round leave 4 sc between the knakes. Do one snake in the centre. I end up with roundabout 40 snakes in the end.

Counts are as follows:

1. R: crochet 12 sc directly onto the wig cap in a square (12 sc)

2. R: 12 sc

3. R: [4 sc, dec] 2x (10 sc)
4. – 20. R: 10 sc
21. R: [3 sc, dec] 2x (8 sc)
22.-39. R: 8 sc
40. R: [2 sc, dec] 2x (6 sc)
41. R: 6 inc (12 sc)
42. R: [sc, inc] 6x (18 sc)
43. – 47. R: 18 sc

enter thread

48. R: [sc, dec] 6x (12 sc)

stuff the head

49. R: 6 dec

cut yarn and sew up the end.

You may now arrange the snakes as you like them. I like them to snuggle up in spirals when Medusa is in a calm mood. When she is in anger, I can easily pull them up and make them stand out to all sides of her head.

Have fun with crocheting!

You may sell any product made with the help of this pattern, but please don’t copy and share it. You may of course link it to your blog or social media. When selling products you made from it or linking it, please name this blog as source. Apart from that, I will be more than happy to see your results on my facebook-page,or if you tag me (@Flausch_Einhorn) on Twitter or Instagram. As this pattern takes part in the annual amigurumi design contest by amigurumi patterns you can also support me by voting for my design there (http://www.amigurumipatterns.net/designcontest/vote?id=1225)