"Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, voices whisper in the trees tonight is Halloween!"

Hello Everyone!

Don't you just love that spooky feeling you get around Halloween? I do!

Today I'd like to share with you all the amazing beauty and purpose of our very own bats! Iv'e recently been reading Merlin Tuttle's "The Secret Lives of Bats", and it is captivating! It inspired me to crochet some of my own little bat plushies, and in perfect time too!

Bats take up a great deal of space in the world's mammals as they contain around 25% of all mammal species! They are extremely beneficial to us as pollinators, insect control and they help in reforesting damaged habitats as well! Despite their harsh reputation since the beginning of "Dracula", they aren't nearly as destructive and scary as we have made them out to be. They are not only extremely intelligent and social, but they are essential to our planets health and well being.

(check out step 9 for more info on bats)

I highly suggest you check out Bat Conservation International (BCI) for more information on how you can help conserve these amazing little fuzzies!

You can whip up a ton of these little guys in a short amount of time (I took around 2 to 2 1/2 hours to fully complete one bat) and they make great gifts! They are extremely easy to make, and if you've ever crocheted any amigurumi (crochet plushies) then you should have no problem making these! Enjoy!

Supplies

For this project I used a sparkly grey yarn and white for embroidering the ears and wings, but you can use any colors you'd like! Maybe even try multiple colors for one bat!

Supplies:

Red Heart Super Saver Yarn, 4 ply
A Yarn Needle
Stuffing or scrap yarn
4.0mm Crochet Hook
Scissors
8mm Plastic Safety Eyes
Pins (optional)
Stitch Marker (optional)

If you do purchase stitch markers, I suggest getting metal ones or just using a safety pin from a sewing kit because the plastic one always seem to shatter when trying to open and close them.

Step 1: The Noggin

(In main color)

Row 1: 6 single crochet in a magic ring (6)

Row 2: *Increase* around every stitch (12)

Row 3: *Single crochet 1, increase 1* around (18)

Row 4: *Single crochet 2, increase 1* around (24)

Row 5: *Single crochet 3, increase 1* around (30)

Row 6-11: Single crochet 6 rows (30)

Row 12: *Single crochet 3, decrease 1* around (24)

-Add 8mm plastic safety eyes between rows 9-10, and 6 stitches apart

Row 13: *Single crochet 2, decrease 1* around (18)

-Stuff your piece

Row 14: *Single crochet 1, decrease 1* around (12)

Row 15: *Decrease* around, slip stitch to fasten off on the last stitch (6)

Fasten off and cut a short tail to tuck into your work later, you will be using the body's tail yarn to sew the top and bottom pieces together afterwards.

Step 2: The Body

(In main color)

Row 1: 6 single crochet in a magic ring (6)

Row 2: *Increase* around every stitch (12)

Row 3: *Single crochet 1, increase 1* around (18)

Row 4: *Single crochet 2, increase 1* around (24)

Row 5: *Single crochet 3, increase 1* around (30)

Row 6-9: Single crochet 4 rows (30)

Row 10: *Single crochet 3, decrease 1* around (24)

Row 11: Single crochet 1 row (24)

Row 12: *Single crochet 2, decrease 1* around (18)

Row 13: Single crochet 1 row (12)

Fasten off and leave a long (about 5-6") tail for sewing later. stuff your piece generously using either stuffing or scrap yarn (if your a beginner I suggest using stuffing so the scrap yarn doesn't show through your piece after sewing)

Step 3: The Ears

(In main color) (M2)

Row 1: 6 single crochet in a magic ring

Row 2: *Single crochet 1, increase 1* around (9)

Row 3: Single crochet 1 row (9)

Row 4: *Single crochet 2, increase 1* around (12)

Row 5: Single crochet 1 row (12)

Row 6: *Single crochet 2, increase 1* around (15)

Row 7: Single crochet 1 row (15)

Row 8: Single crochet 3, chain 1, turn, single crochet 6, slip stitch 1 (to close) and fasten off.

(Row 8 creates an extended part of the ear so it forms around the head)

Do not stuff the ears. flatten them so the extended part is either on the left or the right (depending on which side of the head each ear sits) leave a tail for later sewing and pin each ear into place onto the head.

Step 4: The Wings

(In main color) (M2)

Row 1: 6 single crochet in a magic ring (6)

Row 2: Single crochet 1 row (6)

Row 3: *Single crochet 1, increase 1* around (9)

Row 4: *Single crochet 2, increase 1* around (12)

Row 5: *Increase 2, single crochet 3, decrease 2, single crochet 4* (12)

Row 6: *Increase 1, single crochet 6, decrease 1, single crochet 4* (12)

Row 7: *decrease 1, single crochet 4, increase 1, single crochet 3, decrease 1* (11)

Row 8: *Single crochet 4, increase 2, single crochet 3, decrease 1* (12)

Row 9: *Decrease 1, single crochet 4, increase 1, single crochet 3, decrease 1* (10)

Fasten off and flatten wings, do not stuff the wings. Leave a 2-3" tail for sewing and pin both wings to the body.

Step 5: Embroidering the Wings

Follow along with the photos above to sew "fingers" onto your wings!

The wings are a little bit tricky to sew additions onto.

You'll want to start by threading your (white) yarn in a darning needle and placing it in the beginning row " magic ring " hole. then you can find a center stitch to base both sides of your "fingers" off of. there are three extensions off of the base (top) of the wings structure, the middle extension should be the longest while the other two are one stitch behind it.

make sure to only cut your yarn once you've weaved it through a separate stitch so your piece doesn't fall apart. after embroidering, cut your yarn short and hide it inside the wing.

Step 6: Embroidering the Ears

Follow along with the photos above to add "fluff" to the ears

Note: Sew the "W" pattern on the ears BEFORE sewing them onto the head.

The ear embroidery only consists of three simple stitches that form a "W" shape. once sewing this shape onto the ear, you can hide and stuff the short tail of yarn back into the ear, just make sure it doesn't make the ear look bigger.

Step 7: The Assembly

Begin by pinning the pieces together as shown in the photo above.

Then, sew the head to the body with the tail left over from the body piece. try to minimize the space you use between stitches as this will make it look a lot cleaner. the wings are sewn as normal and the ears just need to be arranged where the extended piece that you previously crocheted is on the outer side of the head.

Congrats! you have now just completed your very own bat plushie!!

Step 8: Mix It Up!

Now its up to you to get creative! change up its colors or add big crazy eyes, do what works for you! be creative and think outside the box to create crazy, funny, beautiful or just plain amazing bats!

I hope you've enjoyed this pattern, please share pictures of your finished creations, I'd love to see what you made! <3

Step 9: Taking Action to Save Bats

"We don't own the planet earth, we belong to it. and we must share it with our wildlife."

-Steve Irwin

Lets be honest, the last year or so haven't shed the best of light on how important bats are to our planet, if anything, their image has been worsened.

But bats are an extremely important and beautiful species, and without them we very may well not be here! In a single night just one bat can catch up to 8,000 pesky mosquitoes that may carry deadly diseases. Hundreds of thousands of bats can live in a single colony depending on the species so this makes a HUGE difference in worldwide insect control, similar to the impact that pollinating bees make to our worlds plants.

When we humans encroach on their habitats, this is when things get messy for us. Destroying their habitats forces them to come out of their homes and into ours, this is where the disease spreading begins. There are very few bats that are directly dangerous to us without contact, the vampire bat for example, only has one species that feeds on mammals and it lives solely in south america. Check out this video to learn more about vampire bats!

Bats are not only extremely important keystone species (species that play a unique and crucial role in the ecosystem) that provide many things like nutrients to the earth from their guano sustaining countless other plants and animals, reforestation of habitats that have suffered from habitat destruction and much more, but they are also very intelligent and social... in similar ways to us. Bats will share food to other starving bats and will even give hugs and cuddle! They will also adopt babies that aren't their own, a trait that's rarely seen in the animal kingdom.

Bats face many threats today, one of them being the "white nose syndrome" a deadly disease (only transmittable through bats) that has wiped out millions of bats. And as briefly mentioned before, bats also suffer greatly from human caused destruction like the loss of habitat.

It breaks my heart to think of a world where we can't observe and have mutual appreciation and passion for these beautiful animals. Even once common bats such as the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) that lives in North America is projected to go extinct within the next 16 years. Bat conservation is in urgent need of caring individuals that are willing to assist in saving the bats and spreading the word on how important they are.

Check out more information on bats and how you can help conserve them below!

Why do bats carry diseases?

Explore a bat filled cave with Merlin Tuttle!

The secret world of bats (documentary)

Help conserve bats worldwide!