You already know that amigurumi snails love a party. Did you know they also love HOLIDAY parties?! For the holidays, the wild Party Snail sheds its normal shell and trades it in for a festive and fun peppermint shell! These make the perfect crochet Christmas ornaments and gifts for the holidays. You’ll find everything you need to crochet your own Peppermint Party Snail in the free Christmas ornament crochet pattern below. Happy crocheting!
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MATERIALS (what I used in parentheses!)
- Medium weight yarn (worsted, aran, or 10-ply)
- Shell & Pompom – White (Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Paper White)
- Shell & Hat- Red (Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Tomato Red)
- Body – Blue (Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Duck Egg Blue)
- 2.75 mm C hook (Clover Amour C Hook)
- Stuffing (Fairfiled Poly-fil Premium Fibre Fill)
- Black cotton embroidery floss for the face (DMC 6-Strand Embroidery Cotton Floss)
- Nylon heavy duty thread or fishing line for pompom
- Tapestry needle (DMC Size 16 Tapestry Needle)
- Embroidery needle (DMC Embroidery Needle)
- Scissors (Fiskars Easy Action Scissors)
- Stitch marker (Clover Stitch Markers Small)
SIZE
The size of your finished Peppermint Party Snail will vary based on your yarn, hook, and tension. My Party Snails are approx. 4.5 inches tall (from hat pompom to bottom of snail) and 4 inches across.
CROCHET STITCHES AND ABBREVIATIONS (US TERMINOLOGY)
I have provided a few links below for tutorials I made on how I do the specified stitch!
rnd(s) – Round(s)
mr – Magic Ring
ch – Chain
st(s) – Stitch(es)
sl st – Slip stitch
sc – Single crochet
inc – Single crochet increase
inv dec – Single crochet invisible decrease
FLO – front loop only
[ ] – Repeat the steps between the brackets for the specified number of times
( ) – The number of stitches you should have at the end of each round
{ } – The yarn color of the respective stitch
Finish off – Knot your yarn close to the piece and weave through the sts in the last round
NOTES
- The shell, body, and hat are all worked in a CONTINUOUS ROUND (like a spiral). Mark the first stitch of each round with a stitch marker.
- For your body color, use a light color so the face shows!
- The shell involves a lot of color changing. If you’re new to color changes, this can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it. I’ve noted the color of each stitch in { } after the respective stitch. Because there are so many color changes, don’t cut either red or white yarns, and carry through stitches by crocheting over the unused yarn until you need it again.
HOW TO CHANGE COLOR
1. You’ll need to prepare to change color in the stitch before the color change. Here I have one more white st to complete.
2. Insert hook into st, yarn over using current yarn color. Crochet over the yarn you aren’t using (in this case red).
3. Pull yarn through st.
4. Yarn over with your NEW color.
5. Bring new color through both loops on hook. Your new color is now ready for the next st.
SHELL
rnd 1: Start with a mr, sc 7 {white} (7 sts)
rnd 2: Alternating white and red {starting with white}, inc 7 (14 sts)
rnd 3: [inc {white}, sc 1 {red}] 7 times (21 sts)
rnd 4: [sc 2 {white}, inc 1 {red}] 7 times (28 sts)
rnd 5: [inc 1 {white}, sc 1 {white}, sc 2 {red}] 7 times (35 sts)
rnd 6: [sc 3 {white}, sc 1 {red}, inc 1 {red}] 7 times (42 sts)
rnds 7-10: [sc 3 {white}, sc 3 {red}] 7 times (42 sts for 4 rnds)
NOTE: Weave in or secure your beginning yarn tail before continuing.
rnd 11: [sc 3 {white}, sc 1 {red}, inv dec 1 {red}] 7 times (35 sts)
rnd 12: [inv dec 1 {white}, sc 1 {white}, sc 2 {red}] 7 times (28 sts)
rnd 13: [sc 2 {white}, inv dec 1 {red}] 7 times (21 sts)
NOTE: Start stuffing the shell now and continue stuffing until closed.
rnd 14: [inv dec 1 {white}, sc 1 {red}] 7 times (14 sts)
rnd 15: inv dec 7 {white}, sl st into first st of previous rnd (7 sts)
Finish off. Optional – with the end yarn tail, make a loop at top of shell to use as an ornament.
BODY, with blue yarn
rnd 1: Start with a magic ring, sc 7 (7 sts)
rnd 2: inc 7 (14 sts)
rnds 3-5: Sc around (14 sts for 3 rnds)
rnd 6: [sc 5, inv dec 1] 2 times (12 sts)
STOP HERE AND EMBROIDER FACE:
When embroidering on crochet, make sure you are inserting your needle THROUGH the stitch and not in a hole BETWEEN stitches. This will make your thread more secure and less likely to move around. Using your embroidery needle, thread a 16-inch piece of black embroidery floss (using all 6 strands) and triple knot end. Click here for an in-depth amigurumi face embroidery tutorial.
1. Insert needle through st from inside of head at 3rd rnd.
2. Make a french knot for the eye. I looped around my needle 3 times.
3. Insert needle with 3 loops back through st near the hole you came out of.
4. Repeat french knot for other eye 3 sts away from first eye.
5. Both eyes complete!
6. To begin the mouth, bring your needle up through st in the rnd below and near the eye.
7. Make a straight line across rnd and insert near other eye.
8. To make cheek, bring your needle up through st above and slightly to the side of the mouth. Thread needle under mouth thread.
9. Insert needle into st below and slightly to the side of mouth. Repeat cheek on other side of mouth.
Secure thread inside the head with several knots.
rnds 7-16: Sc around (12 sts for 10 rnds)
NOTE: Stuff your snail’s body now. The body should only be stuffed from rnds 1-16. Don’t stuff the section of body that will be under the shell. This will help your snail stand up on its own.
rnds 17-24: Sc around (12 sts for 8 rnds)
rnd 25: [sc 4, inv dec 1] 2 times (10 sts)
rnd 26: Sc around (10 sts)
rnd 27: [sc 3, inv dec 1] 2 times (8 sts)
rnd 28: Sc around (8 sts)
rnd 29: [sc 2, inv dec 1] 2 times, sl st into first st of last round (6 sts)
Finish off, but DON’T WEAVE IN THE END and leave a long tail (about 24 inches) for attaching the body to the shell.
HAT, with red yarn
rnd 1: Start with a mr, sc 5 (5 sts)
NOTE: Leave an 8-inch beginning yarn tail outside of the hat and don’t weave in this end. We will use it to attach the pompom.
rnd 2: [sc 1, inc 1] 2 times, sc in final st of rnd (7 sts)
rnd 3: [sc 2, inc 1] 2 times, sc in final st of rnd (9 sts)
rnd 4: [sc 3, inc 1] 2 times, sc in final st of rnd, sl st into first st of last rnd (11 sts)
rnd 5: In FLO, sl st around (optional: you could make this round white for a more Santa-like hat!)(11 sts)
Leave a long tail (about 12 inches) for attaching.
POMPOM, with white yarn
Make a tiny pompom with the white yarn. To make a pompom, I wrap the yarn around my index finger and tie the center with a piece of nylon thread (any color). Then I cut the loops and shape the pompom with scissors. I made this video tutorial for making your tiny yarn pompom.
ATTACHING POMPOM TO HAT
Using the beginning yarn tail of the hat and a tapestry needle, thread through the center of the pompom so that the yarn is going through the knotted thread securing your pompom. Bring the yarn tail back through the top of the hat, pulling tight, and knot it on the inside of the hat. Weave the tail in so it’s secure. Cut the remaining tail length and/or stuff it into the hat.
ATTACHING HAT TO BODY
Using the long tail of yarn, attach the hat to the snail’s head. This video shows a good technique for attaching amigurumi pieces.
ATTACHING THE BODY TO SHELL
We will be attaching the shell with a row of running stitches, going through a st on the shell and then through a st on the body. Using your tapestry needle, thread the long end tail from your body and bring it through the center of the tail (where you fastened off).
1. Bring the needle up through the snail body at the point where you want to begin attaching it to the shell (around the row you started decreasing on the body).
2. Hold the shell to the body to get an idea of positioning. If you made an ornament loop, make sure it’s at the top of the shell.
3. Thread your needle in and out of a st at the center of the shell.
4. Then thread your needle in and out of a st on the body pulling tight.
Continue this running stitch until you reach the bottom of the snail’s head (about the 7th rnd of the body). Keep track of where the center of the shell and body are so you attaching in a straight line. Leave the snail’s head detached from the shell. Pinch your snail’s head so that it is flatter and wider than the rest of it’s body.
I hope you enjoyed the Peppermint Party Snail Ornament pattern! If you have any questions about the pattern, leave a comment below and I’ll try to give you some answers!
I’d love to see your Peppermint Party Snail – use #tinycurlpattern to share on Instagram!
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This amigurumi pattern is an original crochet pattern by Kristina Turner of Tiny Curl. Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this free pattern, you may link to it, but please do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for your own personal use, but please DO NOT sell the crochet pattern or distribute it. Thank you for your understanding.
You can sell items made from this free crochet pattern, as long as they are handmade by you in a limited number and you give credit to me as the crochet designer. Please use the following line in the item description of any toy you are selling:
• This amigurumi toy is handmade by (your name) from a design and pattern by Tiny Curl, Kristina Turner | tinycurl.co •
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This is so cute and clever! Would never have thought to combine a snail with round peppermints but it works! Love it 🙂
Thanks so much Jennifer!
These snails made my heart melt. Thank you so much for sharing!
That makes me so happy! Thank you!
These little guys are adorable!
These are adorable.
How can you print the peppermint snail crochet ornaments