Crochet Snail

Isn’t this crochet snail so cute? I love his big eyes and colorful shell. I decided to create this project because I wanted an eye-catching character that I could put on my car window when I pull in to my daughter’s school at pick-up time. She says that there are so many gray minivans that it is hard to find ours. So, after I have driven to the school and while I am waiting in line, I open the window and slip the snail in so she can see him from across the parking lot. It worked and it makes her smile, too.

Crochet Snail Helps Daughter Find Car!

I cut 2 long strips of black fleece fabric and pinned them to the back of the snail. Then I sandwiched the 2 strips in the window so my crochet snail could hang in the center. Another idea is to mount some foam core posterboard to the back of the snail to make it stiff. Then you could even tie it to the top rails of your car (once you arrived at the school) and it would surely help your car to stand out from the rest! (I don’t have rails on the top of my van, so I opted for the window version)

Bernat Blanket Yarn Adds to the Cuteness

I wanted my snail to be nice and big so I decided to use the very thick (Size 6) Bernat blanket yarn. I love how it is super soft and easy to work with. It also makes the project go very quickly since each stitch is much larger than usual. But you could make this snail with any weight yarn – the thinner the yarn, the smaller your snail.

Stitches Used for the Crochet Snail

I made this crochet snail with mainly basic crochet stitches: slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and treble crochet. For the body it is mostly all single crochet and for the eye pieces it is mostly double crochet and half double crochet. But for the shell I used all of the stitches to help achieve the fun spiral shape. Working in the spiral for the shell and adding the yellow stitching on top can be a little challenging so that is why I decided to label this project “Intermediate”.

Skill Level: Intermediate

Measurements:

10″ wide x 10″ tall

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Supplies for the Crochet Snail:

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Bernat Blanket Yarn – a small amount of each color (10106 – Country Blue, 10928- Deep Fucshia, 10928-Sunsoaked (Yellow), 10955- White)

Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – small amount of black

8mm crochet hook (for blanket yarn)

5.5mm crochet hook (only for when using black yarn)

Stitch marker

Jumbo Tapestry Needle

Small amount of black felt

Optional: Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks or matching sewing thread and sewing needle

Special Stitches and Abbreviations:

Adjustable Ring: Wrap yarn around hand to create a loop; pull working end of yarn through lp with hk;

*Watch a short video tutorial of this technique here*

Sl st (slip stitch) = Insert hook into stitch, YO, pull through stitch and loop on hook

Sc (single crochet) = Insert hook into stitch, YO, draw up a loop; YO, pull through 2 loops on hook

Hdc (half double crochet) = YO, insert hook into stitch; YO, draw up a loop; YO, pull through all 3 loops on hook

Dc (double crochet) = YO, insert hook into stitch, YO, draw up a loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops on hook) twice

Tr (treble crochet) = YO twice, insert hook into stitch, YO, draw up a loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops on hook) 3 times

Surface sl st (surface sl st) = With Right Side facing insert hook from front to back through crochet piece at starting point and add slip knot to hook while hook on wrong side of project; draw slip knot through to Right Side leaving working yarn on Wrong Side of crochet project; insert hook around next st; YO (on back side of crochet piece), pull loop through crochet piece and through loop on hook; *Insert hook around next st, YO (behind crochet piece), pull loop through crochet piece and through loop on hook* – Repeat from * to * around project

YO (yarn over)

Hk (hook)

Lp (loop)

Ch (chain)

St (stitch)

Sp (space)

Notes:

First all parts of snail are crocheted
Then pieces are sewn (or glued) together to create snail

Instructions for the Crochet Snail:

Special stitches are written in bold and italicized text and defined above

Body:

This piece is worked from the top down
With blue ch 4

Row 1:

Sc in 2nd ch from hk and in each ch across. Turn. (3 sc)

Row 2:

Ch 1, 2 sc in 1st st, sc in next st, 2 sc in last st. Turn. (5 sc)

Row 3:

Ch 1, sc in each st across. Turn.

Row 4:

Ch 1, 2 sc in 1st st, sc in each st across up to last st, 2 sc in last st. Turn. (7 sc)

Rows 5-7:

Repeat Row 3

Rows 8:

Repeat Row 4 (9 sc)

Rows 9-11:

Repeat Row 3

Row 12 (Wrong Side):

Ch 7, sl st in 2nd ch from hk, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in each of next 10 sts, hdc in next st, sc in last st. Do not fasten off.

Flip piece over so Right Side facing
Sl st around body along edge making sure to ch-1 at curves; join with sl st to 1st sl st. Fasten off.

Eye Backing – Make 2:

With blue ch 4
Work 12 dc in 4th ch from hk; join with sl st to 1st dc; ch 3, dc in next st. Fasten off.

Eye White – Make 2:

With white ch 3
Work 10 hdc in 3rd ch from hk; join with sl st to 1st hdc. Fasten off.

Pupil – Make 2:

With Black and smaller hook work (ch 3, 12 dc) in an adjustable ring; join with sl st to 1st dc. Fasten off.

Shell:

With pink ch 2

Round 1:

(Sc, hdc, 5 dc) in 2nd ch from hk; do not join and continue to work in spiral

Round 2:

(2 dc in next st, 3 dc in next st) 4 times
Mark the first dc with a stitch marker to help you keep count*

Round 3:

3 tr in each of the next 2 sts; 2 tr in each of the next 11 sts;
(Mark the first tr with a stitch marker to help you keep count)
2 dc in next st, hdc in each of next 2 sts, sc in each of next 5 sts, sl st in next st. Fasten off.

Shell Top Stitching:

With yellow and slip knot on hk, work surface sl st loosely around post of each st starting at beginning of Round 1 and continuing to last st of shell – use photo as a guide

Finishing and Assembly:

Sew white eye pieces to blue eye backings and then sew black pupils on top using photo as a guide
Sew eyes to body
Sew body to shell making sure to have shell go behind edge of body for top half and then over body for bottom half
You may want to use matching sewing thread to join the pieces since the blanket yarn is very thick and can make it hard to sew the pieces together

Cut a small piece of black felt in mouth shape – sew or glue on to body using photo as a guide

Since I am using this snail project as a fun decoration, I hot glued most of the pieces together – it worked fast and it was much easier to get each piece in the correct position!

Tada! Your Crochet Snail is Complete!

Now your Crochet Snail is complete! I hope you enjoyed making this fun and quick project. Did you crochet it with the thick blanket yarn? I love how the blanket yarn makes projects big fast. Or did you make your snail with medium weight yarn (or thinner)? Of course, you can applique your snail on to all kinds of projects – a pillow, bag, scarf or afghan. Let me know who you made your crochet snail for and how you used it in the final project (as is or sewn to another project) in the comments below – I would love to hear about it!

Since this project uses a small amount of the blanket yarn, you’ll have plenty leftover for some other projects such as these: Mandala Toddler Mat, Textured Trebles Pocket Shawl, or the Recycle Crochet Floor Pillow.

Remember, you can find all of my FREE crochet patterns here and don’t forget to pin the image below so you remember where you found this free pattern!

Thank you for stopping by! Happy crocheting!

Jennifer

Copyright – Jennifer E Ryan- www.celticknotcrochet.com- all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others.

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