The other night while watching The Orville, I couldn't help but notice Kermit the Frog leaned up against the desk light on captain Ed Mercer's desk. Kermit always steals the scene! I love frogs, so the next day I was inspired to make a frog to adorn my own space. I'm calling her Gabriola - or Gabi for short. Grown-ups need their toys too; we're all just kids at heart!

With Amigurumi trending on Instagram and Pinterest, I was curious to try my hand at it. It's been over 20 years since I picked up a crochet hook, and I've never created a pattern before, but I'm always up for a challenge!

I ran out to the dollar store to find light and dark green yarn just to practice and got the last skeins! I had leftover scraps of white yarn, fibrefill, beads and embroidery thread in my craft stash so my prototype cost me a whopping $2.50! I intended to buy better yarn for my second one but was happy with the yarn I found at the dollar store (it's a cotton blend).

Some tips before we start:

Place a marker at the beginning of each row. That way you can keep track of where you are if you get distracted. I just use a bobby pin; no need for a fancy marker!
Count your stitches! There are stitch counts at the end of each row in this Instructable. Be sure to double check that you have the right amount of stitches before moving on. When I don't heed my own advice, I end up having to rip out a few rows of work because I went wrong somewhere and forgot to check!

Disclaimer: Feel free to use my pattern for non-commercial and non-profit uses only: i.e. you can make your own copy, but you cannot distribute it for sale (as a pattern or crocheted item).

Step 1: Materials and Terminology

You will need:

1 ball light green and dark green yarn; mine is a cotton blend from the dollar store (70 g)
Scraps of white (same weight)
Two beads for eyes (I used clear glass beads with a black slit through the middle to look like frog eyes.
Fibrefill
Darning needle
Scissors
Hairpins (I use them as markers)
Crochet hook (I used 3.5 mm for everything except the fingers/toes. A small size, 1.0 mm, is needed to pull the eyelashes and crochet the fingers/toes to get into the tight space.

Terminology

sc = single crochet (double crochet for U.K. / Aus)

dec = decrease

incr = increase (2 sc into next stitch)

ch = chain

sl st = slip stitch

st = stitch

invdec = invisible decrease (pick up 2 front loops on next two stitches and single crochet together)

Step 2: Crochet for a Cure

Gabriola Frog is now only available for purchase to raise money for Alzheimers Disease. 100% of all proceeds will benefit Alzheimers. I hope you will visit here to help with our fundraising efforts.

Step 3: Assembly

Stuff the upper and lower parts of the head, leaving room for the lining.

Finish the body (Rnd 27): stuff first, then invdec 9 times, 1 sc (10 st).

Rnd 28: invdec 5 times (5 st). Slip knot to end, then cut yarn, leaving a yarn end (approx 12″/30cm). Close hole in bottom by weaving in end. Hide tail inside body using darning needle.

Attach lining to inside of mouth. Hold ridge of upper lip between 2 fingers. I started in the middle; with light green yarn, single crochet around ridge to close the upper and lower lip. Hide tail inside mouth before finishing.

Position eyes on head where you want them and use light green tail from eyelid to stitch in place on head.

Note: crochet stitches should be loose enough on arms and legs that if desired, you could insert wire, turning your frog into an action figure! Be sure to use a needle nose plier to loop each end of the wire before inserting so there are no sharp ends.

Step 4: She's a Real Character!

As you can see, Gabi is a bit of a drama queen and she doesn't close her mouth for a minute. To her credit, she catches more flies that way!

I'm having fun placing her in different places around the house! One day she'll be chillaxing on a chair and the next thing I know she'll be staking her territory on our TV stand. At meal time, she keeps me company in the kitchen. In the last picture, she is feigning hunger; I'm not a fast cook by any means!