The sea gooseberry is a type of ctenophore, which means “comb jelly.” They’re an ocean invertebrate that typically eat other tiny ocean creatures.

Skill level: Beginner

These were created by Kitty Quitmeyer (www.wellreadpanda.com). Research reported in this video was supported by the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative of the National Academy of Sciences under award number NAKFI DBS17. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative or the National Academy of Sciences.

Step 1: Materials

Here’s what we’ll be making, along with the image that inspired it. We'll need:

Blue yarn
Pink yarn
Novelty white/fluffy yarn
Small crochet hook (I used a 2.00 mm hook [US 0, UK 14])
Tapestry needle

Step 2: Making the Body

1. With pink yarn, make a magic circle with 6 sc. Slip stitch the beginning stitch to the end to join the circle. (6 sts)

2. Inc 6 times (12).

3-5. Sc around (12).

6. (inc, 2sc) * 4 (16).

7-17. Sc around (16).

Stuff form with polyfill.

18. Sc2tog 8 times (8).

19. Sc2tog 4 times (4).

Cut yarn, pull taut, and use a tapestry needle to hide tail inside the form.

Step 3: Making the Ridges

Join pink thread toward the beginning (magic circle) side of the form. Work in a line toward the bottom of the form as such:

4 sl st; 6 sc; 5 sl st.

Now join the blue thread on top of the pink line you just created. Work as follows:

2 sl st; 2 sc 2 hdc, 2 dc, 2 hdc; 2 sc; 2 sl st.

Step 4: Adding the Tentacles

Using the novelty fluffy white yarn, thread a tapestry needle with a 12″ length of yarn. Simply insert the needle in the “bottom” of the ctenophore, just off the center of the ending four-stitch circle, and push it out a bit on the other side of the center. Pull the yarn out and even out both sides.

You can tie it in place if you want, but as long as no one tugs too much on the tentacles, they should stay in place just fine. Good job!