This post was sponsored by JOANN– My favorite craft store to visit for all my yarn and tools that I use. Also, you can’t resist all their coupons!
It’s Winter time! and this can mean a lot of different things – we have the cold weather, decorations and lights all over the place, plenty of holidays, and many people are enjoying all the Christmas décor! JOANN asked me to make a pattern for this season and I couldn’t come up with a Christmas pattern that I was happy with..
I wanted to instead focus on some of the Winter aspects that I really enjoy that converge with the holidays – cookies! I think my Gingerbread Whale is perfect for those in the Western hemisphere who are enjoying the cold months and those in the Southern Hemisphere enjoying the warm months!
JOANN always helps motivate me to think of crafters worldwide and I hope this fun pattern can find its way into anyone’s home. It’s so cute if you ask me – and just look at the yarn that I am using! It’s a new one that just hit JOANN that I can’t wait to talk about.
Down below, you can find the full written pattern along with a photo tutorial to go along with it!
JOANNs New Lavish Yarn!
I am a HUGE fan of the Big Twist line that JOANN exclusively carries in all of their stores. If you’ve come by my blog before, you’ll know that I am typically using the Big Twist Value yarn line for all my amigurumi! I even have a full review of it you can read!
Now, JOANN has a brand new yarn to join the Big Twist family – Big Twist Lavish! These chunky and very soft yarn is a delight to use. It’s so soft when its gliding through my fingers and it works up a project WAY quick. It seems like a lot of yarns are competing to be a signature chunky yarn but this yarn from JOANN might just do it for me.
It feels more quality than other chunky yarns and I really like how it feels like its a mix with velvet yarn. One thing that surprised me about it is that it’s actually quite a heavy yarn! My only advice I want to give to anyone is watch where you’re cutting the yarn – it doesn’t shed when you’re using it but when its cute a bit comes off!
Here are the details about the new Lavish yarn down below – it’s a size 7 yarn, wow! The polyester makes it so soft.
Criteria someone might meet who would enjoy this project:
- Someone looking to make a Winter time project
- Someone wanting to make a quick and easy jumbo project
- Someone who wants to try out the new Lavish yarn!
- Someone who love gingerbread and whales!
So where can you find what you need?
You can find every single thing I used for this project from JOANN stores and you will see all of that hyperlinked for you. JOANN is my favorite place to go for materials and the yarn I love the most for amigurumi can be exclusively found there as well. When purchasing, I earn a little bit of the commission, so thank you for supporting me as a blogger!
To find the patter, just continue scrolling down the post to find all the written instructions and photo tutorials. If you have any questions, contact me!
All editorial content and https://www.joann.com/projects are intellectual property of Vincent Green-Hite, designer of Knot Bad.
This post was sponsored by JOANN Stores but all ideas and opinions are my own. Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern 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 pattern or distribute it.
You may sell products made from this pattern but please clearly credit the design to Knot Bad and link it my website knotbadami.com Make sure to post it! Use the hashtag #yarnpunk and #handmadewithjoann when posting it and please feel free to tag me and show me how yours turned out! You can also find the Facebook group and subreddit r/yarnpunk to post to as well!
My other social media platforms you can find me at:
Instagram: @knot.bad
Tik Tok: @knotbad
Twitter: @knotbadcrochet
So here’s what you’ll need:
All the yarns can be substituted with any jumbo weight yarn (size 4)
These colors will be interchangeable and identified with Color A and Color B to decide which kind you would like to make.
- 1 Skein in Big Twist Lavish Yarn (In Amber) (I had only a little bit left over so be sure you’re mindful of how much you’re using or you may need another skein!)
- 1 Skein in Big Twist Lavish Yarn (In Pearl)
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Skill Level:
Easy+
Dimensions
Height: 5.5″ inches roughly (7″ inches with bow)
Width: 8.5″ inches roughly
Abbreviations (In US terms)
Sl st – Slip Stitch
Ch – Chain
Sc – Single Crochet
Inc – Increase
Inv dec – Invisible Decrease
* *- Repeat
FO – Finish Off
( ) – Number of stitches
Notes:
- This pattern is worked continuously and not joined.
- This pattern is written in US terms
- You can find helpful tutorials throughout, but if you would like to find some of my tips and tricks you can head HERE!
- The photo for each step will be found BELOW explanation.
- Find my YouTube tutorial for the Magic Ring here!
Lets Begin
Begin in Amber
Rnd 1: 6 Single crochet into Magic Ring (6) (Click here for video tutorial!)
Rnd 2: *Inc* around (12)
Rnd 3: *Sc, Inc* around (18)
Rnd 4: *Sc 2, Inc* around (24)
Rnd 5 – 8: Sc around (24)
Switch to White
Rnd 9: Sc around (24)
Rnd 10: *Sc 2, Dec* around (18)
Begin stuffing your work with polyfill
Time to insert our safety eyes! Place into Rnd 8 (Begin counting your rounds from the center of the magic ring)
Continue stuffing your work as we come closer to the end of the body!
Rnd 13: *Sc, Dec* around (12)
Rnd 14: *Dec* around (6)
Finish off and leave tail for sewing (Here is my tutorial on how to close your work!)
Front Fins (Make 2)
Rnd 1: 6 Single crochet into Magic Ring (6)
Rnd 2: Sc around (6)
Finish off and leave tail for sewing
Back Fins (Make 2)
Rnd 1: 6 Single crochet into Magic Ring (6)
Rnd 2 – 3: Sc around (6)
Finish off and leave tail for sewing
Bow
Ch 6
In second chain from the hook, Sc. Sc across (5) (If your last stitch is too tight, you can also try Chaining 7 and then single crocheting into the second chain from the hook to see if you get 5 stitches)
Row 2 – 5: Ch 1, turn. Sc across (5)
Finish off and weave in both ends. You will be left with just a square!
With a new piece of yarn (leave about 30 inches worth), pull through the center of the square like so:
With your yarn pulled through the center of the square, pinch your work in the center:
With the loose yarn, you will now tightly wrap around the center! Do this as many times as you would like – it is personal preference on how thick you would like the center wrap to look:
Once the center is wrapped around enough times, take your darning needle and pull through the wrap in the back of the bow and know off. Leave tail as we will be using this later on to sew the bow onto the head of our Whale.
Assembly
All we have to do is sewing together a few limbs and then we will be done! You will need your darning needle for this next section.
On both the right and left side of your whales body (you may choose any side first) you will be inserting your needle into the side (2 stitches away from the eyes) and sewing on. Be sure to sew the fins on above the white color change!
Your needle will come back out the next stitch – continue weaving through both the top stitches and bottom stitch once at a time.
Do this on both sides – Here is how it will look from above to give you a better idea on placement!
Time to add on the fins!
At the back of your project, you will be sewing on both fins. They will be touching when doing so as it will give the image that it is one tail.
With your darning needle, sew both fins separately just above the white cut off where the yarn changes color like so:
Sewing on the bow
With the remaining tail that was left after creating the bow, sew the bow onto the top of the body – pull the yarn through the “center wrap” a few times
*On my whale, my bow is slightly tilted – this is personal preference and if you would like it anywhere else on your whale, please feel free to do so.
Knot off in the back of the bow and finish off
Embroider details
The only detail we are adding are just a single eyelash on both eyes going outwards.
Using white yarn, pull it through the single crochet that is facing the corner of the eye (typically you would pull through the space between the stitch but for this, were going to pull through the actual stitch itself for the sake of length)
Insert the darning needle into the corner stitch of the eye
Weave in your ends and now you’re all DONE!
I hope you love this project as much as I do! I can’t wait to continue to play with this blanket yarn moving forward with more of my JOANN projects. Huge thank you to them for helping me out with this fun pattern and I hope it lights up all of your homes, too.
All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of Vincent Green-Hite, designer of Knot Bad.
This post was sponsored by JOANN Stores but all ideas and opinions are my own. Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern 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 pattern or distribute it.
You may sell products made from this pattern but please clearly credit the design to Knot Bad and link it my website knotbadami.com Make sure to post it! Use the hashtag #yarnpunk and #handmadewithjoann when posting it and please feel free to tag me and show me how yours turned out! You can also find the Facebook group and subreddit r/yarnpunk to post to as well!
