Scalemate Pattern (Large)

[hooked_on_anime]

What the heck; I've got my written patterns out, I've got a clean file on OpenOffice ready, why not get the other scalemate pattern up?

For those of you who made it to AnimeIowa, this is the pattern I used for Pyralspite. I'm happy to announce that I have since found cheap squeaky toys at the dollar tree, and plan to perform surgery on Pyralspite ...eventually. Sooner or later, really.

Pics or it didn't happen? Well here's pics, so it must have happened.






The large red buttons I found at Hobby Lobby. I've been on the lookout for large four-hole buttons of other colors, but so far I haven't found any that are quite the right size. That, or they only have two holes. I mean, I could live with no ridge if I had to, but only two holes is downright ridiculous. What the heck is up with all of these two-holed buttons these days? And why am I having such a terrible time finding four-holed buttons, huh?

How frustrating!


Pattern!

What you need to know for this pattern: Crocheting in the round (spiral); single crochet (sc); double crochet (dc); increasing ([stitch] 2 in 1); decreasing ([stitch] 2 tog); slip stitch (sl st); US stitch names.
Sizing information: I used a size H/5.0mm hook and worsted weight yarn for ~3.5dc/3rows per square inch (2.5cm).

I think that's it, actually. For all the stitch arrangements are complicated, the what-you-have-to-know is reasonably straightforward.

Head
Round 1: Begin in a ring; dc 12; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 24 (dc 2 in 1 all around)
Round 3: dc 8, dc 2 in 1 x 3, dc 2, dc 2 in 1 x 3, dc 8 (dc 30)
Round 4: dc 8, dc 2 tog x 3, dc 2, dc 2 tog x 3, dc 8 (dc 24)
Round 5: dc 18 (dc 2, dc 2 tog)
Round 6 thru 8: dc 18 (dc all around)
Round 9: dc 21 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)
Round 10: dc 24 (dc 6, dc 2 in 1)
Round 11: dc 30 (dc 3, dc 2 in 1)
Round 12: dc 36 (dc 4, dc 2 in 1)
Round 13: dc 42 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)
Round 14: dc 48 (dc 6, dc 2 in 1)
Round 15 thru 21: dc 48 (dc all around)
Round 22: dc 36 (dc 2, dc 2 tog)
Round 23: dc 24 (dc 1, dc 2 tog)
Round 24: dc 12 (dc 2 tog all around)
Round 25: dc 6 (dc 2 tog all around)
Round 26: sl st 3
Fin
NOTE: A kind anon has suggested using sc between the nostrils in rounds 4 and 5 rather than dc for a better overall shape. If you're ending up with a weirdly shaped nose or nostrils that are too flat, this definitely would be worth a try.

Body
Round 1: Begin in a ring; dc 12; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 24 (dc 2 in 1 all around)
Round 3: dc 36 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1)
Round 4: dc 42 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)
Round 5 thru 17 (13 rounds): dc 42
Fin

Tail
Round 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 12 (dc 2 in 1 all around)
Round 3: dc 18 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1)
Round 4: dc 18 (dc all around)
Round 5: dc 24 (dc 2, dc 2 in 1)
Round 6, 7: dc 24 (dc all around)
Round 8: dc 30 (dc 3, dc 2 in 1)
Round 9 thru 11: dc 30 (dc all around)
Fin

Legs (make two)
Round 1: Begin in a ring; dc 12; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 24 (dc 2 in 1 all around)
Round 3: dc 30 (dc 3, dc 2 in 1)
Round 4, 5: dc 30 (dc all around)
Round 6: dc 9, dc 2 tog x 6, dc 9 (dc 24)
Round 7: dc 6, dc 2 tog x 6, dc 6 (dc 18)
Round 8 thru 12: dc 18 (dc all around)
Fin

Spines (lg) (make four)
Round 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 9 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1)
Round 3: dc 12 (dc 2, dc 2 in 1)
Round 4: dc 15 (dc 3, dc 2 in 1)
Round 5: dc 18 (dc 4, dc 2 in 1)
Round 6: dc 21 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)
Round 7: dc 24 (dc 6, dc 2 in 1)
Fin

Spines (sm) (make two)
Round 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6; continue in a spiral
Round 2: dc 9 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1)
Round 3: dc 12 (dc 2, dc 2 in 1)
Round 4: dc 15 (dc 3, dc 2 in 1)
Round 5: dc 18 (dc 4, dc 2 in 1)
Fin

Space the larger spines evenly around the crown of the head; the smaller spines should overlap over the head and the body to some degree.


I hope this makes up a bit for me taking so long to post the Small Scalemate pattern :X I really do try not to let my life get too far away from me but - well, it's an ongoing process.

Edit: 11 Nov 2011 - Made a minor change, removing the start-up sc from the body, head, and legs. If you've been having trouble with shape, this should help a bit. (24 May 2012: Round numbers have been changed to reflect this.)
Edit: 06 Dec 2011 - Added a suggestion to the bottom of the Head pattern. I'm planning to give it a try myself before making it permanent, but it seems sound to me from just looking, so if you've had trouble with the nose area, give it a look-see. Hat-tip for the suggestion to a helpful commenter :)
Edit: 10 May 2014 - Minor correction to the body. Hat tip to anonymous commenter. Thank you!

Comments

Yes!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Ahaha, this is exactly what I was planning to do after my squiddles! Thank you so much!

btw, mistake in:

Round 12: dc 30 (dc 4, dc 2 in 1)
Round 13: dc 36 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)
Round 14: dc 42 (dc 6, dc 2 in 1)
Round 15: dc 48 (dc 7, dc 2 in 1)

Should go 3 -> 4 -> 5 -> 6! 24 goes into 4, not 5!

Re: Yes!!!

[hooked_on_anime]

My pleasure ^_^

Whoops! Thanks for catching that; I'll correct it right away.

Re: Yes!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Also: I've followed the pattern, but how the heck do you make your double crochets so compact? Mine ended up really elongated:

http://i.imgur.com/K4KuR.jpg

(Also sollux squiddle: http://i.imgur.com/8sQcd.jpg )

Re: Yes!!!

[hooked_on_anime]

Huh. Well, I'm a naturally tight crocheter, so I'd suggest you switch to a smaller hook.

Try just through, oh, Round 6-ish one size down and see how that looks. If it looks about right, keep going; if it's still too big, go down another size.

(XD Sollux squiddle! He looks great!)

YAY!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm the girl from Anime Iowa who kept swinging by the table and giving Pyralspite lots of hugs :3 I can't wait to build up my skills enough to tackle this guy and make my own!

Re: YAY!

[hooked_on_anime]

Hey ^_^ I hope the pattern doesn't give you too much trouble when you get that far; I personally think it's easier than the small scalemate version, but it's also mostly double crochet, so.

Anyway, I vote we have a huge scalemate pile next year ;) I doubt we'll get enough for an actual feelings jam, but it would still be cool!

Mistake?

[(Anonymous)]

I noticed a small mistake in this pattern: in the legs portion, round 8, it says "dc 6, dc 2 in 1 x 6, dc 6 (dc 18)." Shouldn't it be "dc 6, dc 2 tog x 6, dc 6?"

Great pattern, by the way. I've loved all of your patterns I've tried so far.

Re: Mistake?

[hooked_on_anime]

Ack! Thanks for catching that >_< (I ♠ you too, typos >:/ )

Thanks ^_^ And please feel free to speak up if you notice any more mistakes or problems :)

Correction?

[(Anonymous)]

I LOVE making these guys and all of my friends want one. They're SUPER CUTE! :D

One thing I noticed on the head was that to get a good nose shape, you could change the (dc 2 in 1 x 3, dc 2) on rounds 4 and 5 to (dc 2 in 1 x 3, sc 2). I found that it gives the nose more of a nostril shape since I keep ending up with flat noses.

Hope this helped! :)

Re: Correction?

[hooked_on_anime]

Hey there, sorry for the late reply :) Glad you're having such a great time making them! ^_^

Good suggestion; I'd like to test it myself before making a permanent change (gimme a week, maybe?), but I' definitely add it in as a possible alternative. Thanks much for sharing it :) <3

Re: Correction?

[(Anonymous)]

Actually I think you mean dc tog x 3 instead of dc 2 in 1 x3 because there are no increases in rounds 3-4

:3

[(Anonymous)]

I love this pattern! but, does the head start at the tip of the snout, or at the back of the head?

Re: :3

[hooked_on_anime]

I'm sorry I haven't replied to you yet; I started school again and have been busy. The head starts at the tip of the snout, though you probably already figured that out by now.

[othellia]

Hi! I wanted to say I saw your recent comment about yarn stuff while lurking at fandomwank and that I've been wanting a crochet scalemate pattern for the absolute longest time.

I'm a bit tight on funds this month, but I'll definitely look into donating when/if I can, since I do similar custom pattern amigurumi stuff and I know there's always that conflict of putting in a lot of time and effort but not outright charging for copyrighted material.

[hooked_on_anime]

Yay, I'm glad I could provide :)

Someone understaaaaaands T^T Oh gosh, I could internet-hug you. BUT YES, no hurry; it's totally super appreciated whenever you get to it <3 <3 <3

[othellia]

Crocheters unite!

Yeah, if I had a dollar for every friend/family member who are always like, "You should set up an online store and sell your stuff," I'd have... well, enough to buy several new skeins of yarn.

It's hard to get people to understand that - for the prices people are willing to pay for stuff and depending on your speed - you're making only $3 an hour or less. And that's before taking into consideration materials costs. And a lot of stuff only tends to sell if it's fandom related, and there's fandoms where selling physical stuff's okay but pattern's aren't, and others - like Homestuck - don't like you selling anything... ugh.

The thing that get's me about the Homestuck stuff is that I can understand restricting tshirts and merchandise that the shop already sells. But there's so many other things the shop doesn't sell (Nepeta cosplay hats always come to mind for some reason), and there are hoards of people willing to make them and hoards of people willing to buy them, but the only way to get them because of the sale embargo is to trade, and even that doesn't usually work since the main reason to buy something is because you don't have the time/skill to make it or something of equal value in the first place.

Bah. (Sorry that turned into a rant.)

On a more positive note, I've been thinking of making patterns for public domain characters/fandoms like Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. It seems like the best merger of fandom/avoiding copyright.

[hooked_on_anime]

Hookers forever! ...Wait, that came out wrong.

Urgh, so true. I refuse to undersell myself, but it's hard to get people to pay what artists are worth. There's a great post over here about the value of art with a bunch of fabulous comments to boot (with the caveat that yeah, people totally do that with other professions too, though I imagine it's with less frequency, more in regards to consultation/diagnoses than actual finished work, and less complaining when they're told "No"). I mean, I've got a few things that are reasonably easy to make and could go for what people would be willing to pay, but just how many Not Actually Squiddles or flower hair clips is any one person going to buy?

WRT Homestuck stuff, I/we could probably "get away" with it on Fair Use, since like fuck are they ever going to offer anything crocheted through the official store - even a book of patterns seems unlikely, though sign me up if they ever feel like offering one (note to self: look into this). The problem is, I don't have the money to get a lawyer, and even if I did find someone to defend me, why get on the "bad side" of a very powerful media generator just to try and scrape together a couple hundred bucks a month, if that? For standard fandom charity auctions I never even touch the money myself, electronically or otherwise; going after me for that would be a douche move and may not even apply to the guidelines anyhow.

As far as swapping goes, I'm down with swapping skills for things in addition to skills for skills. Like, if there's a DVD I really want and someone else has a copy they're looking to get rid of and is interested in something I could crochet of similar value, I'd totally be on board for that, and I'm pretty sure it's reasonably legal. And if they happen to buy a new copy of whatever specifically to trade with me, well, I'm certainly not going to tell anyone and/or complain. In general, though, money is more helpful/versatile (things are all well and good, but they don't keep food in my belly or a roof over my head), and the No Selling 3D Stuff policy makes my life more difficult by existing.

No no, feel free to rant; it's nice to be able to complain with someone who knows how it is once in a while.

Ooo, nifty! I'm working on getting some of my original patterns store-ready (I've gotten lots of interest in my griffin pattern especially), but there's nothing quite like the fandom bump. Though if I used SC more often, that would probably also help.

Crochet beginner

[(Anonymous)]

I'm trying to crochet a scalemate to get myself back to making things as before. But I've never made anything with pattern instructions much, so I get kind of stuck sometimes.
I was wondering what does Round 4 in the Head section mean?
It says "dc 2 tog x 3" but I don't know what the 'X' means :(

Re: Crochet beginner

[hooked_on_anime]

I mean it like in multiplication: x is "times" the number that follows, or do [instructions] [number] of times. In Round 4 of the Head, this would be "dc 2 together 3 times".

I hope that clears things up; if I need to give it another go, let me know and I'll do my best :)

Beginner here

[(Anonymous)]

I just want to saw this is a great pattern it's easy to follow, even for a beginner like me. My scalemate, I names him patch considering I made him with multicolored yarn and an eye patch, looks great! I did not get the perfect nostril shape like this but that is 100% fine, sice I accepted that I was most likely going to mess up on at least one thing. And he lossy pretty good for only having spent about a total of 19-21 hours on him. Thanks for putting up this pattern and I will use more of them.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey!

Awesome patterns. I was wondering, do you think it would be possible to make it out of sc rather than dc but keep the same number of stitches? I know that would change the size but it would be a larger number of stitches than your small scalemate pattern.

Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Hey,
I absolutely love this pattern! I'm working on a scalemate right now and I love it!
Anyhow, I noticed a tiny mistake in the body part. It says "Round 3: dc 36 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1), Round 4: dc 42 (dc 6, dc 2 in 1)", but I think it should be instead "Round 3: dc 36 (dc 1, dc 2 in 1), Round 4: dc 42 (dc 5, dc 2 in 1)". I'm sorry if anybody mentioned it before. :/
Thanks for uploading this pattern!

[hooked_on_anime]

Ack! I do believe you're right. I'll have to change that. Thanks for catching that!

[(Anonymous)]

About how much yarn do you need for this?

how to end the body?

[(Anonymous)]

hi uhh im kinda confused and i dont know how to end off the body.. ! ! ! :3 epic pattern btw