Crochet Scuba Diver

 

Whew! This was a tough doll to make. I really wanted to find a cute scuba diver pattern to make a gift for a friend. All the patterns I found were really fat looking and I thought that would be kind of rude. Then, I found THIS pattern on Ami Loves Gurumi. 

  

I loved the body shape, mask, snorkel, and fins on this adorable crocheted frog, but I did not want to make a frog. So, I used Ami's pattern for everything but the head. I looked up a bunch of crochet head patterns and came up with one for the scuba diver I wanted to make. 

I have only been crocheting for 4 months, so I still have a lot to learn. For instance, I am unable to see the stitches in a magic ring. I constantly end up with more stitches in the second round than I am supposed to. So, I use stitch markers every time I make a magic circle. My sister has been crocheting for a long time, she thought this was really funny.

My first try at making a human head for my scuba diver did not turn out well. It was way too round, so I had to frog it. Hee hee. How appropriate was that??? "Frog it" is a crochet term for ripping/undoing stitches.

I finally figured out a way, with my sister's help, to elongate the diver's head. Then, I had to think backwards through Ami's pattern for the head. Her frog head was attached to the body and worked up. I had to work from the top of the head down. I did this because I wanted to attach hair. I only know how to attach hair by going through the scalp. That would not work if I started the head from the chin area.

I tried to make it look like my scuba diver had the same sun bleached blond hair as my friend. I think it turned out okay. The reason the mouth is so big, is because it has to hold the regulator mouth piece from its scuba gear. After I took this picture, I went back and added bumps to the top lip to make it look more human.

Ami's frog was all one color. I made a color change to make it look like the hands and feet were coming out of the blue wetsuit. I think the fins are my favorite part of the pattern. Aren't they adorable?

I also love, love, LOVE the air tank, bcd vest, and regulator. So cute! My diver was not quite the same size as the pattern, so I had to rework the vest to make it fit.

I was very pleased when the body was able to stand up on its own. The pattern said to firmly stuff it. I also poked two pipe cleaners twisted together inside the legs to help with posing.

The scuba gear comes completely off. I think that is good because you can make other accessories or outfits to change the doll's appearance. I later added two small buttons to keep the bcd vest closed.

This was such a fun project. I am giving it to my friend tomorrow. I hope she really likes it. I have already had someone ask if I can make one for her daughter who is a free-diver. I guess I will try to make it again.

I really appreciate Ami Loves Gurumi for sharing the frog scuba diver pattern. 


I wanted to keep track of all the crochet I am doing. So far I have made a blanket, straw sun hat, ski hat, fox, turtle, starfish, whale shark, black cat, octopus, lobster, crab, seahorse Hobbes, 3 birds, 4 sting rays, and 3 jelly fish. Today, I am finishing up a beagle puppy. I found this crochet planner and am putting it to good use. I ordered it from Amazon.

What projects are you working on?