Hedgehog Christmas tree decoration

Difficulty:

Easy - medium

You will need:

• 4ply yarn in cream, light brown, black, red and fluffy white
• A 2mm crochet hook
• A brown sharpie or other permanent marker
• Toy stuffing
• A darning needle for sewing up
• A small length of white ribbon
• A sewing needle and white sewing cotton
• A rectangle of cardboard 6cm wide

Note:
'fasten off neatly' refers to a special way of fastening off which is neater and makes it easier to see where you should be crocheting on the next round (also known as invisible fastening off). This involves pulling up your yarn through your stitch, threading the yarn underneath the second stitch from where you pulled your yarn up, then threading your yarn back through the top of this stitch and down through the back of the work. There is a very helpful site that explains it clearly found here. Just make sure when you do this that you thread your needle through the SECOND stitch after the last stitch you made, otherwise you will end up with an extra stitch which may mean that all of the following rounds are out of line with each other.




For the body:
With cream yarn ch5
Round 1: sc in the next st from hook, sc in each of the next 2sts, 3sc in the last st (the first chain st you made), sc in the back of each of the previous 2 chain sts you crocheted into in turn, then make 2sc in the back of the first chain st you crocheted into. (10sc)
Round 2: 2sc in the first st, sc2, 2sc in each of the next 3sts, sc2, 2sc in each of the last 2sts (16sc)
Round 3: sc in the first st, 2sc in the next st, sc3, (2sc in the first st, sc) 3 times, sc2, 2sc in the next st, sc, 2sc in the last st (22sc)
Rounds 4 - 12: (9 rounds) sc in each st
Round 13: Sc, sc2tog, sc3, (sc2tog, sc) 3 times, sc2, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog (16sc)
Round 14: sc in each st
Round 15: Sc2tog 4 times, sc6, sc2tog (11sc)
Fasten off neatly

Stuff firmly

With light brown yarn fasten on to the 3rd st before the 'new' st you made when fastening off neatly. (this is the stitch that will get tighter when you pull the loose end of the yarn)
Round 16: Sc2tog with this st and the next st, sc in the next 9sts (10sc)
Round 17: Sc2tog 5 times (5sc)
Round 18: Sc2tog
Fasten off

For the spines:
Wind the cream 4ply yarn around the cardboard many times.

Take the sharpie and colour over the central 2cm or so of all of the strands using the permanent marker, making sure you colour around all of the edges of each strand of time. Do this on both sides of the cardboard.


Cut the yarn at both sides of the cardboard so you have lots of 6cm strands of yarn with the central 2cm or so coloured in.
Attach these to the back of the hedgehog by folding each strand in half and pulling the folded end through a stitch in the head using your crochet hook, before threading the ends of the strand through the loop you created and tightening it. If you're unsure as to what to do there is a video here that shows you how to do it.

After you have attached the spines you may then want to trim them if they are too long.


For the ears (Make 2):
With light brown yarn make a magic loop with 3sc. Don't join.
Fasten off
Sew these to the hedgehog just in front of where the spines stop.

For the facial features:
Using the back yarn embroider eyes and a nose onto the face of your hedgehog.

For the feet (Make 4):
With light brown yarn make a magic loop with 4sc. Don't join.
Fasten off
Sew these to the base of the hedgehog


For the hat:
With red yarn ch14
Round 1: sc in the first chain st you made, then sc in every following chain st (14sc)
Round 2: sc in each st
Round 3: (Sc5, 2sc in the next st) twice (12sc)
Round 4: (Sc4, 2sc in the next st) twice (10sc)
Round 5: (Sc3, 2sc in the next st) twice (8sc)
Round 6: (Sc2, 2sc in the next st) twice (6sc)
Round 7: (Sc, 2sc in the next st) twice (4sc)
Rounds 8 - 9: (2 rounds) Slip2, sc2
Fasten off

Attach the white fluffy yarn to the base of the hat and crochet around the edge of it.
Fasten off
Sew this to the head of the hedgehog

For the pom-pom:
Make a magic loop with 6sc
Round 1: sc in each st
Fasten off

Sew this to the top of the hat


Cut the ribbon to the correct length (mine was around 13cm), sew the ends together, and then sew the ribbon to the back of the hedgehog using the needle and thread. If you are worried about it fraying you can use some fray-check glue to keep the ends neat.

I hope you have enjoyed this pattern. If you have any queries please feel free to contact me either below or via my Instagram or Ravelry pages.

You are very welcome to sell finished products but I do ask that you don't re-post this pattern or claim it as your own. Thank you!