Friday, December 11, 2020

Peter the Plague Doctor




March roared in like a lion with the news of a lockdown for the coronavirus. Everyone went a little stir crazy with no social activities or escape from the drudge of being in the house. Unlike most, I did have my job to escape to while others had to crawl the walls to find some form of sanity, which describes the other four people I have in my household.

To cope with their insanity encroaching on my own sanity, I had to come up with something to challenge myself and focus on away from their crazy. Scouring the internet, the jokes of people dressing up as plague doctors and making plague doctor masks gave me the idea of creating a crochet Plague Doctor stuffed animal. My thought at the time was to make one to put in the place I work with it holding a sign saying "Wash Your Hands!" to give everyone a giggle.

Away to Ravelry I went to find absolutely nothing to my liking. The patterns on there were too small, or they weren't what I envisioned. So, I created this little guy to help soothe the creative beast and bring a bit of cute to my world. 





This pattern is for intermediate or advanced crocheters. I cursed a lot making thing, and my fingers hurt like heck when I was done with one. You will need:

G-Hook
I-Hook
7 ounces of Red Heart Worsted Weight for the Body
About 3 ounces for the jacket
About 3 ounces for the hat and collar
Four Buttons
Needle for sewing the buttons on the jacket

Abbreviations:
Sc= Single Crochet
Hdc= Half-double Crochet
Fpsc= Front Post Single Crochet
Fphdc= Front post half-double crochet
Bptc= Back post treble crochet
Hdc2tog= Half-double crochet two stitches together
Inc= Two stitchs in the same stitch
Dec= Crochet two stitches together
Ch=chain
Sk st= skip stitch
Sl st= slip stitch
rep= repeat

For the Beginning, I did the body first. Mostly because I wanted to have something to sew the pieces on as I went so I didn't lose any of them. I will begin the pattern from that and work my way through it.

Body: 

(Note: I usually do a slip stitch into the beginning of the road)
Use the G-Hook 

Row 1: Ch 2, or magic ring.
Row 2: Sc 6 (6)
Row 3: Sc inc in each sc, making 12 stitches (12)
Row 4: *Sc inc, sc* repeat times 5 (18)
Row 5: *Sc inc, 2 sc* repeat times 5(24)
Row 6: *Sc inc, 3 sc* repeat times 5 (30)
Row 7: *Sc inc, 4 sc* repeat times 5 (36)
Row 8: *Sc inc, 5 sc* repeat times 5 (42)
Row 9: *Sc inc, 6 sc* repeat times 5 (48)
Row 10: *Sc inc, 7 sc* repeat times 5 (54)
Row 11: *Sc inc, 8 sc* repeat times 5 (60)
Row 12: *Sc in, 9 sc* repeat times 5 (66)
Row 13-25: Sc in each stitch around (66)
Row 26: *Sc dec, sc 9* repeat times 5 (60)
Row 27: *Sc dec, sc 8* repeat times 5 (54)
Row 28: *Sc dec, sc 7* repeat times 5 (48)
Row 29: *Sc dec, sc 6* repeat times 5 (42)

At this point, you can choose to stuff the head or leave it till the end when you stuff the body. It depends on how you feel

Row 30: Sc in only the front loop of all the stitches around (42)
Row 31: *Sc inc, sc 6* repeat times 5 (48)
Row 32: Sc around (48)
Row 33: *Sc inc, sc 7* repeat times 5 (54)
Row 34: Sc around (54)
Row 35: *Sc inc, sc 8* repeat times 5 (60)
Row 36: Sc around (60)
Row 37: *Sc inc, sc 9* repeat times 5 (66)
Row 38: Sc around (66)
Row 39: *Sc inc, sc 10* repeat times 5 (72)
Row 40-52: Sc around (72)
Row 53: *Sc dec, sc 10* repeat times 5 (66)
Row 54: *Sc dec, sc 9* repeat times 5 (60)
Row 55: *Sc dec, sc 8* repeat times 5 (54)
Row 56: *Sc dec, sc 7* repeat times 5 (48)
Row 57: *Sc dec, sc 6* repeat times 5 (42)
Row 58: *Sc dec, sc 5* repeat times 5 (36)
Row 59: *Sc dec, sc 4* repeat times 5 (30)
Row 60: *Sc dec, sc 3* repeat times 5 (24)

This is where to stuff the body. If you waited till now, you have to make sure to be able to get your hand all the way in to help shape the head.

Row 61: *Sc dec, sc 2* repeat times 5 (18)
Row 62: *Sc dec, sc* repeat times 5 (12)
Row 63: *Sc, sk st* repeat times 5 (6)
Finsh off, and sew shut. You should have something that looks like this



Arms:

Row 1: Chain 2 or magic ring
Row 2: Sc 5
Row 3: Sc inc repeat times 5 (10)
Row 4: *Sc inc, sc* repeat times 5 (15)
Row 5: *Sc inc, sc 2* repeat times 5 (20)
Row 6: *Sc inc, sc 3* repeat times 5 (25)
Row 7-9: Sc in each stitch around (25)
Row 10: *Sc dec, sc 3* repeat times 5 (20)
Row 11-19: Sc in each stitch around
Finish off and leave tail to sew on body


Legs:

Row 1: Chain 2 or magic ring
Row 2: Sc 6 (6)
Row 3: Sc inc, repeat times 5 (12)
Row 4: *Sc inc, sc* repeat times 5 (18)
Row 5: *Sc inc, sc 2* repeat times 5 (24)
Row 6: *Sc inc, sc 3* repeat times 5 (30)
Row 7: *Sc inc, sc 4* repeat times 5 (36)
Row 8-10: Sc around (36)
Row 11: *Sc dec, sc 4* repeat times 5 (30)
Row 12: *Sc dec, sc 3* repeat times 5 (24)
Row 13- 20: Sc around (24)
Finish off and leave tail to sew on body


All right, now that you have these, stuff them and wait. Trust me. Wait. The placement of the eyes and nose will help you when you are trying to put these on later. 

Now, off to the eyes

Main Eyes:

Use I-hook

Row 1: Chain 2 or magic loop
Row 2: Hdc 6
Row 3: Hdc inc around (12)
Row 4: *Hdc inc, hdc* repeat times 5 (18)
Row 5: *Hdc inc, hdc 2* repeat times 5 (24)
Row 6: *hdc inc, hdc 3* repeat times 5 (30)
Finish off and leave tail to sew on face. Make two.


Small eyes:

Use G-hook

Row 1: Chain 2 or magic loop
Row 2: Sc 5
Row 3: Sc inc repeat times 5 (10)
Row 4: *Sc inc, sc* repeat times 5 (15)
Finish off and use tails to sew on main eyes.

 

Now, here is the more complicated part, attaching the eyes together. I usually tie on the main eye color, then do a chain across the length of the nose, like so.


I use the G-hook for it. I then manage to do single crochets across, doing a sc inc in the middle of the rows and doing slip stitches into the eyes as I go to attach it and make it look something like this:


Let's make the nose

Nose:

Use G-Hook

I work in this one in a round.

Row 1: Chain 2 or magic loop
Row 2: Sc inc, sc 4
Row 3: Sc 1, sc inc, sc 4
Row 4: Sc 1, sc inc times 2, sc 2, sc2tog
Row 5: Sc 2, sc inc, sc 5
Row 6: Sc 3, sc inc times 2, sc 3, sc2tog
Row 7: Sc 3, sc inc, sc 6
Row 8: Sc 4, sc inc times 2, sc 4, sc2tog
Row 9: Sc 4, sc inc, sc 7
Row 10: Sc 5, sc inc times 2, sc 5, sc2tog
Row 11: Sc 5, sc inc, sc 8
Row 12: Sc 6, sc inc times 2, sc 6, sc2tog
Row 13: Sc 6, sc inc, sc 9
Row 14: Sc 7, sc inc times 2, sc 7, sc2tog
Row 15: Sc 7, sc inc, sc 10
Row 16: Sc 8, sc inc times 2, sc 8, sc2tog
Row 17: Sc 8, sc inc, sc 11

You can keep going and making it bigger by following the pattern, but this is the size I use for my nose on my guys. 



Hat:

With this hat, I usually measure out how wide I need it for my gauge by doing the rows till I have the size I need for the circumference of the head. This is for the size I need, and you guys can adjust as needed.

I use the I-Hook for this but you can use the G-hook if you want for a tighter hat.

Row 1: Ch 2, or magic ring.
Row 2: Hdc 6 (6)
Row 3: Hdc inc in each Hdc, making 12 stitches (12)
Row 4: *Hdc inc, Hdc* repeat times 5 (18)
Row 5: *Hdc inc, 2 Hdc* repeat times 5(24)
Row 6: *Hdc inc, 3 Hdc* repeat times 5 (30)
Row 7: *Hdc inc, 4 Hdc* repeat times 5 (36)
Row 8: *Hdc inc, 5 Hdc* repeat times 5 (42)
Row 9: *Hdc inc, 6 Hdc* repeat times 5 (48)
Row 10: *Hdc inc, 7 Hdc* repeat times 5 (54)
Row 11: *Hdc inc, 8 Hdc* repeat times 5 (60)
Row 12: *Hdc in, 9 Hdc* repeat times 5 (66)
Row 13: Fphdc in each stitch around (66)
Row 14-18: Hdc in each stitch around (66)
Row 19: Fphdc in each stich around (66)
Row 20: *Hdc inc, Hdc 10* repeat times 5 (72)
Row 21: *Hdc inc, Hdc 11* 
repeat times 5 (78)
Row 22: *Hdc inc, Hdc 12* 
repeat times 5 (84)
Row 23: *Hdc inc, Hdc 13* 
repeat times 5 (90)
Row 24: *Hdc inc, Hdc 14* 
repeat times 5 (96)
Finish off and leave a tail to sew onto the head. I sew it onto the head but you can choose not to sew it on and just leave it loose. Whatever you prefer.

I also had this problem of the middle of it popping up on a couple of the hats, so I folded it over an sewed it flat. I have no idea why some of them had that happen, but it did. 




Jacket:

Now, the jacket is not as difficult as I thought it would. I had never done a jacket before and I honestly enjoyed it. It also helped I picked a stupid simple pattern for it.

Back:

Use I-Hook

Row 1: Chain 38
Row 2: In third chain from hook, hdc. Hdc crochet across the chain and be careful not to twist  the chain. (36)
Row 3-13: Chain 2, hdc across (36)
Row 14-24: chain 2, hdc2tog, hdc across, hdc2tog the last two stitches (Last row should have 10, or around 10 as it were. I had problems with counting half the time myself and it doesn't have to be exact.)


Flap (Make Two):

Use I-hook

Row 1: Chain 21
Row 2: Hdc in third chain from hook, hdc across (19)
Row 3-13: chain 2, hdc across (19)
Row 14-24: chain 2, hdc2tog, hdc across each row until you have only 7 stitches.

When you make the second flap, flip the Row 14-24 instructions like this: Chain 2, hdc across, hdc2tog until only 7 stitches.


Sleeves (Make Two):

Row 1: Chain 32
Row 2: Hdc in the third chain from the hook, hdc across (30)
Row 3: Chain 2, hdc2tog, hdc across, hdc2tog in the last two stitches
Repeat Row three until only 4 stitches left. Finish off.



Now, sew the flaps, back, and sleeves together to make the jacket shape. The collar will look very boxy and square, but don't worry you will fix that with the collar. Trust me it looks BAD but I promise the collar fixes it.

Collar:

Attach the collar color to the top corner of the flap, chain 1, then sc around the collar till you reach tthe other side. You then chain 3 and turn. 

The second row you are going to Bptc the entire row around the collar so you have a nice little flop over. If you do not want to do a treble crochet, a couple rows will do too. 

The Button Holes and Buttons:

Attach yarn to the bottom of one of the front flaps, then chain 1. Sc evenly across, but space out at least four chain 3 spaces in their in order to make button holes. Sew the buttons on the opposite flap. You will end up with a cute little jacket to put on the dude and it is adorable.


Now, it took me roughly 10 hours of crocheting and sewing on stuff to put him together. I don't know about how long it will take the rest of you but I am hoping you guys will have a bit of fun with him and choose all sorts of colors. 

This pattern I made available for free, but if you would like to make a donation for the time and effort it took me to make the pattern feel free to do so! I know people don't have a lot of money to offer with everything going on, but anything you want to give will be greatly appreciated. 









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