Have you ever made something for your kid, just because, and it ended up being a huge hit?
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That’s how the Bubble Bug was created! I ordered a box full of Spinella yarn from Lion Brand, and thought it would be cute as a little fluffy monster ball and gave it to my daughter Ava. Shes 4.
She loved the thing and when Christmas time came around I ended up making 15 Bubble Bugs for her to hand out to her friends at school and they went CRAZY for them! I even had parents asking me if they could buy some after the party was winding down.
You guys are going to be blown away by how simple these crochet monsters are!
You can purchase the ad-free PDF version of the pattern here
There is also a full video tutorial for this pattern as well.
Crochet Furry Monster
Here’s everything you will need to make a Bubble Bug of your very own.
MATERIALS- (WITH CLICKABLE AFFILIATE LINKS)
4.5mm crochet hook
1-2oz Spinella Yarn
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Polyfill
15mm Safety Eyes
Rattle Noise Maker (optional)
Stitch Marker (optional)
One size- about 3.5″ in diameter
Check out the Bubble Bug yarn experiment post to see how different yarns work up
STITCH KEY (US TERMS)
SC = Single Crochet
INC= 2 stitches in the same space- in this case, SC stitches.
DEC= Turning 2 stitches into 1- in this case, SC stitches
*= To Be Repeated
SPECIAL STITCHES
Magic Circle: This is my preferred method for starting projects that are made with circular rows (or in the round). I show how to do this in the video that goes with this pattern, but if you prefer to CH 3, join into the first CH and making your stitches into that loop, you’re more than welcome. I think the magic circle (or magic loop) gives the finished piece a cleaner look.
BEFORE YOU START
Working with Spinella yarn, or any furry yarn for that matter, can be a little intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s really not that hard. You may have to feel for your stitches a little if you can’t see them that well.
A good thing about this yarn though is it’s very forgiving, so if you do make a mistake and add an extra stitch or miss a stitch here and there you won’t be able to tell.
Bubble Bug Pattern
This pattern is working in the round, meaning you do not join and chain up at the end of each row, you just insert your hook into the first stitch and keep going.
Round 1: SC 10 into a magic circle. (10)
Do not join and chain after round one, just start in the top of the first stitch for round one when you start round 2.
Round 2: INC in each stitch around. (20)
Round 3:* INC, SC* around. (30)
Rounds 4- 9: SC in each stitch around (30)
Insert eyes between rows 6 and 7.
Pro Tip: If you want to crank these out a little faster you can do rounds 4-9 by just putting 1SC in each stitch around for 180 stitches. That’s the same as counting to 30 for 6 rows. This way is faster for me at least.
Round 10: *DEC, SC* around. (20)
Sew in any tails.
Round 11: DEC 8, stuff your Bubble Bug and insert noisemaker, DEC 7. SLST and tie off.
Pro Tip: You may need to stuff a little as you close up the bottom with decreases.
Sew in your last tail and make sure there are no holes left.
All done!
Isn’t he just the cutest little thing?!
I hope you guys love this fun pattern. Bubble Bugs are perfect for giving out as gifts to your kid’s classmates for Christmas or Valentine’s Day gifts, or just for gifting to little ones in your life.
Donut Keychains are also great gifts for classmates. They can hook them to their backpacks!
I’ve never sold Bubble Bugs at a market before but I bet a basket full of cute colorful Bubble Bugs would really draw folks into your booth!
I created a free PDF for you guys with Bubble Bug adoption certificates! These would be so stinking cute to add to your Bubble Bug gifts or as products at your market.
Click here to download a free sheet of Bubble Bug Valentines Day cards
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can send me an email at [email protected] or shoot me a DM over on Instagram @acraftyconcept.
Happy crocheting
❤️Ashley
These are adorable! I’m just now getting back into crocheting after many years away, and I can’t wait to make my own Bubble Bug. However, I can’t find the Spinella yarn anywhere locally, and I’m trying to avoid paying shipping charges. Do you have a suggestion for a different fuzzy yarn that would work for this project?
Thanks!
Yes, I can not find it anywhere either, and Amazon doesn’t have it Prime. A substitution would be great! Will love to do these for Valentines!
Ive seen some people using pipsqueak and those turn out super cute! And some folks have used the furry yarn from hobby lobby and those turn out super cute too. I tryed Hyggee fur and LOVED it! It’s very similar to Spinella
I love the pattern! I think my kitten would love this too! He plays fetch with his fave toys. Where do you get the noise maker? I have never seen those type. They look very safe!! Thank you very much for the pattern!
Hey Barbara! So glad you are getting back into crochet. So far Hygee fur yarn has been my favorite substitute
Thank you, Ashley. It’s good to know other yarns work well with this project; it’s nice to have options.
I used a velvet yarn for mine, but I used a different take for these little guys. Instead of stuffing them I left off the last round, threaded some twine through the opening and then stuffed them with little pieces of paper that had good wishes and little happy notes written on them before sending them to soldiers deployed overseas.
I love these but I’m curious if another hook size would work for this.
I used a size H 5.0 mm and it worked great!
These are so wonderful! Thank you for sharing your pattern. I am hoping to add a ring and clip for hanging on a backpack. Do you think I should add the hook right into the yarn, or create some kind of loop for it?
These are adorable ! I am having fun making them! Thanks for sharing the pattern!,
I’m baking up a storm of these little guys to give as holiday gifts! I’m from Canada, and I found that Loops & Threads’ ‘Fur’ yarn has made adorable little pals! Admittedly, it can be incredibly difficult to find your stitches… HOWEVER, because the yarn is soo fluffy, it does a GREAT job of covering up your mistakes :p
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!
It looks like the spinella yarn is discountinued. What other yarn would you reccomend?
These are very cute. I think I can make them. I don’t crochet too much. But I am going to try this one. Thank you for the video.
How do you attach the eyes. Are they little buttons or something else?
The eyes are safety eyes , they come with a snap on back
i purchased the pattern a while ago . its in my downloads, i also signed up for the news letter but i cannot find the adoption certificates,, i had them at one time but now they are gone, HELP!
I am loving this. Thank you
I tried to get some Hygge yarn and was told it was discontinued. I found another fur yarn on Amazon that I was skeptical to buy but needed it and I’m so glad I did. It is a Chinese yarn, but it is fabulous. I actually ordered three more skeins.
Also, there is a site that has been making these little critters for quite some time. They are called Meeps. No matter what they are called, they are precious!