Jun
Making the Body
So you start with a magic ring which honestly I always mess up the first time but whatever. You’re gonna pull up 6 single crochets into that ring and pull it tight. I made my first octopus back in spring 2022 when I was binge-watching The Office for like the third time and needed something to do with my hands that wasn’t scrolling through my phone.
Once you’ve got your 6 stitches in the ring, you just keep going in a spiral. Don’t join rounds or anything, just keep crocheting around and around. Put a stitch marker in that first stitch though because you WILL lose track of where your rounds start. I use those little plastic ones from the dollar store and my cat keeps stealing them so I’m down to like two.
For the increases, do this pattern:
- Round 2: increase in every stitch (12 stitches)
- Round 3: sc, inc around (18 stitches)
- Round 4: sc 2, inc around (24 stitches)
- Round 5: sc 3, inc around (30 stitches)
- Round 6: sc 4, inc around (36 stitches)
I usually stop at 36 stitches for a medium-sized octopus but you can keep going if you want a chonkier one. Then you just single crochet even (no increases) for like 12-15 rounds depending on how tall you want the body. The body should look like a little bowl or dome shape.
Stuffing and Shaping
Here’s where it gets slightly annoying and this is the thing that bugged me the most – you have to start stuffing BEFORE you close up the body completely. If you wait until the end you can’t get the stuffing distributed right and it looks lumpy. I learned this the hard way on my first attempt and had to redo the whole thing.
Use polyfil or whatever stuffing you have. I’ve used the cheap stuff from Walmart and also the fancy Fairfield brand and honestly couldn’t tell much difference. Pack it in there pretty firmly because the tentacles are gonna be heavy and pull on the body.
To close the body, you start decreasing:
- sc 4, dec around
- sc 3, dec around
- sc 2, dec around
- sc, dec around
- dec around until the hole is small
Keep adding stuffing as you go. When you get down to like 6 stitches left, fasten off and use your yarn needle to sew the remaining hole closed. Weave in that end really well because it’s gonna show.
The Tentacles Are Where It Gets Real
Okay so tentacles. You need eight of them obviously. I’ve tried a few different methods and the one that works best is making them separately and then sewing them on. Some patterns have you crochet them directly onto the body but that always looked weird to me.
For each tentacle, chain like 25 or 30 stitches. The length depends on how long you want them but remember they’re gonna curl up a bit. Then you crochet back along the chain but here’s the trick – you’re gonna do MORE stitches than you made chains. This is what makes them curl and look tentacle-y.
Starting in the second chain from hook, do this: 2 sc in each chain space going back down. So if you chained 25, you’ll end up with 50 single crochets on the way back. This makes it ruffle and curl naturally. When I made mine in 2022 I used Red Heart Super Saver in I think it was called Turqua or something – that bright teal color. It was on sale.
Adding the Suckers
The suckers are optional but they make it look way more octopus-like and less like weird purple sausages. You can do them a couple ways. The easy way is to just use a contrasting color yarn (I used white) and make little French knots or just sew on small circles. Space them irregularly because real octopus suckers aren’t perfectly lined up.
If you want to actually crochet the suckers which looks better but takes forever, make tiny circles: magic ring, 6 sc in ring, join and fasten off. Make like 8-10 per tentacle. I only did this on one octopus and honestly the time investment wasn’t worth it for me, but if you’re into that level of detail go for it.
The annoying part about the suckers is sewing them all on. It took me almost as long to attach all the suckers as it did to make the actual tentacles. I was watching some true crime documentary thing on Netflix at the time and it helped pass the time but still. Tedious.
Attaching Everything
So now you’ve got a body and eight tentacles flopping around. Time to attach them. I space mine evenly around the bottom of the body, which means you’re putting them about 4-5 stitches apart if you did 36 stitches around.
Use the yarn tail from each tentacle to sew it on. I do a whip stitch around the base of each tentacle, going through the body and wrapping around a few times. Make sure they’re secure because if you’re making this for a kid or something they WILL pull on those tentacles.
The tentacles should point slightly outward and downward, not straight down. This makes the octopus look more natural and also helps it sit upright if you want to display it. Although mine always tips over anyway because the tentacles are… I don’t know, I might have made them too long or something.
Eyes and Face Details
For eyes you can use safety eyes which is what I did. The 12mm size works good for a medium octopus. Put them in BEFORE you finish stuffing the body completely. I put mine pretty close together and kind of high up on the head because that’s how octopuses look in cartoons and it’s cuter that way.
If you don’t wanna use safety eyes (like if it’s for a baby), you can embroider them with black yarn or sew on felt circles. I’ve also seen people use buttons but that seems like a choking hazard.
Some people add a mouth. I usually don’t because I can never get it to look right, it always ends up looking either creepy or derpy. But if you want to, just use black embroidery floss or yarn and make a little curved line or a smile. Place it below and between the eyes.
Yarn Choices and Color Stuff
I’ve made these in a bunch of different yarns. The Red Heart one I mentioned worked fine. I also used Caron Simply Soft once in like a coral pink color and that turned out really soft and squishy, nice for a gift. The Bernat Blanket yarn makes a HUGE octopus if you’re into that, like almost two feet across with the tentacles spread out.
For a standard sized one you want worsted weight (medium/4) yarn. You’ll need probably 150-200 yards total depending on how long you make the tentacles. I usually use one solid color for the whole thing but you could do the body one color and tentacles another, or even make each tentacle a different color which would look wild.
Hook size depends on your yarn but for worsted weight I use a G hook (4mm) or sometimes H (5mm) if I’m feeling like I want it to work up faster. Smaller hook makes tighter stitches which is better for stuffed animals so the filling doesn’t show through.
Tips From Messing Up Multiple Times
Don’t make the tentacles too thin at the base or they’ll look weird and also be hard to attach securely. I made that mistake on my first one and they kept falling off. Make sure the starting chain for each tentacle is worked pretty loosely so you can actually get your hook in there when you’re going back.
If your tentacles aren’t curling enough, you didn’t do enough stitches on the return row. You really need to do 2 sc in every chain space, not every other one. I know it seems like a lot but that’s what makes it work.
The body needs to be stuffed FIRMLY. Like more than you think. If it’s too soft the whole octopus will be floppy and sad looking. I use the back end of a wooden spoon to really pack the stuffing in there, especially up into the top of the head.
When you’re sewing on the tentacles, do them opposite each other – like attach one, then attach the one directly across from it, then do the next pair, etc. This helps keep everything balanced and even. I didn’t do this the first time and ended up with all the tentacles bunched up on one side looking ridiculous.
Variations I’ve Tried
Summer 2024 I made one with really long tentacles, like I chained 40 for each one instead of 25. It looked cool but was kind of impractical because the tentacles got tangled up with each other constantly. Good for just sitting on a shelf though.
You can make a baby octopus by just doing fewer increase rounds on the body. Stop at like 24 stitches instead of 36, and make the tentacles shorter. Uses way less yarn and works up in like two hours if you’re fast.
I saw someone online who made the tentacles by doing slip stitches back down the chain instead of single crochets and it made them thinner and more curly. Looked pretty good actually but I haven’t tried it myself yet. Might do that next time.
There’s also a way to make them with wire in the tentacles so they’re poseable but that seems like way too much effort for me. Maybe if I was selling them or something but for personal use, nah.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
If your body is cone-shaped instead of round, you increased too fast. The increases should be gradual and even. If it’s ruffling at the edges, you increased too much in one round.
If the tentacles are straight instead of curly, you didn’t do enough stitches going back down the chain. Or your tension might be too tight. Try loosening up your stitches a bit.
If the whole thing looks lumpy and weird, your stuffing isn’t distributed evenly. You might need to unstuff it and redo it. I know that sucks but sometimes you gotta.
The body wants to roll over and not sit upright – this usually means the tentacles are too heavy for the body size or they’re attached at the wrong angle. Try repositioning them so they angle outward more, or add more stuffing to the body to weight it down.
How Long It Actually Takes
The body takes maybe an hour or two depending on how fast you crochet and how big you’re making it. The tentacles are another 2-3 hours total for all eight. Then attaching everything and adding details is another hour or two. So you’re looking at like 5-7 hours total for a complete octopus.
I usually do it over a couple days because my hands get tired. Also my attention span isn’t great so I need breaks to do other stuff. The nice thing is you can make all the tentacles at different times and then just attach them all at once at the end.
If you’re making multiples (like I made three as gifts one year), you can assembly-line it – make all the bodies first, then all the tentacles, then attach everything. Goes faster that way but is also more boring because you’re doing the same thing over and over.
Anyway that’s basically how you make a crochet octopus. It’s not super complicated once you get the hang of it and they turn out pretty cute. The curly tentacles are really satisfying when they work right and people always think they’re more impressive than they actually are to make.
