Crochet Curling Rocks

I confess, I really like curling. I've just spent the past week watching the Canadian women's national championships (they were quite exciting) . While watching the games I thought it would be fun to crochet some little curling rocks. I couldn't find any patterns online so I just winged it. I made them in two different colours and stitched little happy faces on them to make them look cute. You can make a whole set (8 in each colour) and curl on your coffee table.

Step 1: What you will need

Yarn -grey and two other colours (usually red and blue or red and yellow)
Crochet hook (2.5mm)
Black yarn or embroidery tread and needle for the eyes and mouth or black plastic safety doll eyes
Stuffing

Step 2: Starting with grey yarn

So here is my free pattern:

Start with the grey thread and use a stitch marker to keep track of your rounds (we will be working in a spiral). The numbers in brackets are the the number of stitches in each round.

R1: Ch2, 6sc in second ch from hook
R2: 2sc in each Sc (12)
R3: sc in next st, 2sc in next st; repeat (18)
R4: sc in next 2st, 2sc in next st; repeat(24)
R5: sc in every sc(24)
R6: sc in every sc(24)

Step 3: Change Colour

The next row we will be changing colour and decreasing the stitch to form the top of the rock. To decrease I'll be using sc2tog (decrease by crocheting 2 stitches together). If you find it too hard to do, skip a stitch instead.

R7: (with new colour) Sc in next 2, sc2tog in next st; repeat (18)
R8: Sc in next st, sc2tog in next st; repeat (12)

At this point, it is a good time to add the stuffing. Fill the little rock full and continue on to R9.

R9: Sc2tog in next st, repeat (6)
R10: Sc2tog in next st, repeat (3)
R11: Sc2tog remaining stitches