Flannery the Crochet Fox

Good evening.  This is a good example of a piece taking forever to get done!  I had the materials for Flannery last year – sometime around July or August I believe – and just could not get this one started. Definitely not because I didn’t want to, but you all know how life and then the holidays go.  So, it felt really good the last few days to get this one finished.

I named this one Flannery and wanted to keep it “unisex” so it can be a he or a she.  I love the name Flannery – isn’t it sweet?  I also love this Yarn Bee fur yarn!  I have used fur yarns before, but not this specific one and I love it!  Flannery came to me because of the A-Z challenge that I am running on my Facebook page.  Starting in January last year, I began a challenge where my page friends suggest things for each letter to challenge me and I use their suggestions to “make” something.  It has not always been crochet things, but when Fox was suggested for the letter F  – as I was finishing my Farm Series – I knew I wanted to crochet a Fox because it is definitely NOT what you want on your farm – well, except for Flannery – Flannery is so sweet I am sure the chickens would be fine =) So, onto it now.  I hope you enjoy Flannery.

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Flannery the Fox
A Burgundy Basket Pattern

This pattern is intended for personal use only. This pattern -and all my patterns- are offered for free or a small fee to help support my family so please do not redistribute, sell, copy or use them in any way not in accordance with fairness.
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Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to me, Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Materials:
This pattern uses mainly Yarn Bee Yarns from Hobby Lobby. It was the only local place I could find this color. I wanted a reddish orange color that seemed right for a Fox.
The reddish color is Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek in Tobacco/210 232yds/213m. You will need a full skein.
The gray color is Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek in Dark Heather/042 232yds/213m. You will only need a little of this skein and will have plenty left.
The fuzzy yarn is Yarn Bee Fur the Moment in Husky.
I have used a scrap ball of cream for the nose and neck
-Hook: I used a G hook for most of this pattern. Any changes will be noted. – If you don’t have a nice set of hooks yet – treat yourself – you will not be sorry.  These are all I use now.

 

-Safety Eyes or buttons (or yarn to embroider if you choose) and needle to embroider face. The eyes that I have used have come from Glass Eyes Online and are 24mm – and I do have to say that these are my favorite eyes that I have ever bought and I have bought a lot of eyes.  These are worth the expense if you are making something special.

-Stuffing. I have used Poly-Fill brand stuffing, but feel free to use what you prefer.
– I don’t use Stitch markers, but if you do you will want those to keep track of your rounds. As a “free” stitch marker you can loop a bright colored piece of scrap yarn through your stitch to act as a marker – then just pull it out when you get back around to it and move it up one row. Easy marker! **In this pattern YOU WILL MOST LIKELY need some type of marker if using the fur yarn.  Everything you need for all your finishing touches is right here.

This is a simplified pattern – a chart with the numbers – you need to have knowledge of crochet amigurumi and how to do rounds and increases to read. If you do it will be pretty straight forward.  If not my paid PDF comes with a handy cheat sheet that spells it out word for word. 

I start my work with a chain 2 and then sc in second chain from hook, but you can also start with a magic ring if you prefer that start.

This pattern starts with nose and works back toward the back of the head. The body and legs/arms etc. are worked after and sewed on. I will make notes along the way to assist with this.

NOTE: If you only have one skein of yarn, you will want to make the little strip that runs across the top of the nose first (if you prefer to sew things like this on before you stuff). That is my preference – so, make the face strip first so that it will be ready to sew when you get to that part of the head. I am putting it here in the pattern first, but if you want to sew on after, just skip and come back.

Strip above nose (in the reddish color/or body/head color you are using):

This piece is worked in ROWS and you will Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row. Leave a long tail before you start and after for sewing.

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	Chain 7; then sc across for 6
2	Inc, sc 4, inc (8)
3	sc 8
4	Inc, sc 6, inc (10)
5-7	Sc 10

Nose/Head: (start with the color you have chosen for your nose. I have used a cream color)

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	6
2	12
3	12
4	15 (this is sc 3, inc)*
5	15
6	18 (this is sc 4, inc)*
7	18
8	21 (this is sc 5, inc)*
9	21
10	24 (this is sc 6, inc)*
11	24
12	36 (sc, inc)*   **now the increases are normal for amigurumi
13	36
14	42 *change color on this last stitch to the color for your head/body
15-18	42 *after these rounds, stop and sew on your nose piece/strip.
19	48
20-22	48
23	54
24-26	54 *start stuffing and keep stuffing as needed
27	60
28	66
29	72
30-34	72
35	66 decrease starts now
36	60
37	54
38	48
39	42 *Pop in your safety eyes now if that is what you are using when you get to this round.  They go just behind the nose strip centered between the cream color and body color.  Use the photo for a guide.
40	36
41	30
42	24
43	18
44	12
	Finish off and sew the opening shut. Make sure the head is stuffed well.

Ears (make 2): *I used my I hook for these. They are made in rounds, but your increases are a little different than standard. For these increases, you will just evenly increase around by two stitches for most rounds. For example, from 6 to 8 sc you will do this: (sc, sc, inc)* and from 8 to 10 is (sc, sc, sc, inc)* repeat this sequence. At the end you go from 24 to 36 and this is the traditional (sc 4, inc)*

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	6
2	8
3	10
4	12
5	14
6	16
7	18
8	20
9	22
10	24
11	36
12-17	36 *FO leaving long tail. After attaching the inner fur layer, you will gather in half at the bottom and fold up to sew

The inside ear fur patch is made in rows.
Chain 2.
Sc 1 in the 2nd chain from the hook. Chain 1 and turn now and throughout.
Sc 2 in the sc.
Inc, Inc (4)
Inc, sc 2, inc (6)
Inc, sc 4, inc (8)
Inc, sc 6, inc (10)
Now, for the next rows work straight with no increases. I did 7 more rows. Hold this up to the ear to help get the size right and adjust as needed. Sew to ear before folding ears up and attaching to the head.

Body: I used the same color from the back of my head for the body. I feel that you need to probably use the same color from back of head as you do the body to make your sewing blend in and be invisible. You do not want to do all this work and then have visible sewing stitches. The body starts from the bottom up and has an opening at top for the neck. You want to pin your head in place and make sure to stuff the neck VERY well before final stitches to support the head.

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	6
2	12
3	18
4	24
5	30
6	36
7	42
8	48
9	54
10	60
11	66
12-21 (10 rows)	66 decrease starts now
22	60
23-24	60
25	54
26-27	54
28	48
29-30	48
31	42
32-33	42
34	36
35-44 (10 rows)	36
45	30
46	30
47	24
48-49	24
50	18
51-53	18 *leave super long tail to sew on the head.

I have added a neck strip – much like the nose strip – across the neck and the bottom of the head to change the colors. This strip is worked in rows. I have used the same color cream as I did for the nose section. The top of this strip gets sewed to the bottom of the nose section where you change colors, so you probably want these pieces to match if you are doing this part. Leave a long tail to start and when you end for sewing. You will probably want to gather and pull a little bit around the neck and tack a few stitches down on the neck.
Chain 2.
Row 1: Sc 2 in the 2nd chain from the hook. Chain 1 and turn now and throughout.
Row 2: Sc 2 in each of the sc (4)
Row 3: Inc, sc 2, inc (6)
Row 4: Sc 1 in each stitch across (6)
Row 5: Inc, sc 4, inc (8)
Row 6: Sc 1 in each stitch across (8)
Row 7: Inc, sc 6, inc (10)
Row 8-13: Sc 1 in each stitch across (10)
Row 14: Inc, sc 8, inc (12)
Row 15: Sc 1 in each stitch across (12)
Row 16: Inc, sc 10, inc (14)
Row 17-21: Sc 1 in each stitch across (14)
Sc evenly around the entire piece, but make 3hdc in each of the upper two corners.

Feet/Legs (make two):
These are big round feet. If you want your feet/hands to be smaller just don’t do my final increases and start the decrease instead. They will still be fabulous! I also stuff the feet/hands VERY well and not so much in the arms and legs.
I chose a dark grey color to start.

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	6
2	12
3	18
4	24
5	30
6	36
7-14	36
15	30
16	24
17	18
18	18
19	12
20-49 (30 rows)	12 *I changed colors half way through here. So, after 15 rounds change colors.   *FO leave long tail to sew. I sew these between rounds 6-9 on the bottom.

Arms (make two):

Row/Round	Stitch Count/Number
1	6
2	12
3	18
4	24
5	30
6-11	30
12	24
13	18
14	18
15	12
16-45 (30 row)	12 *I changed colors after round 10.   *FO leave long tail to sew. I have sewed the arms 4-5 rows down from the top of the neck.

Tail:
For the tail, I have used the Fur yarn mentioned above and then switched back to my reddish yarn. This Fur yarn is easy to work with if you DO NOT need to see your stitches. You won’t be able to see the stitches. You will need to feel them. You MUST use a stitch marker. This yarn is also very forgiving and no mistakes will be seen. The main thing with this yarn is to make sure you crochet all the numbers of stitches per round – so, just use your stitch marker and get the right number by the time you get back to it – you will NOT be able to see your stitches. Just feel for them.
I used my J size hook with this yarn.
Chain 2 and make 6 sc in the 2nd chain from the hook.
Now, each round gets one increase per round.
Round 2: 7
Round 3: 8
Round 4: 9 etc.
Move your stitch marker up as you finish the last stitch of each round so you can make sure you are increasing with the right number of increases.
I kept increasing every round by 1sc until I got up to 18sc. After 18sc, switch back to regular amigurumi increase and go to 24sc. So, you will have 18sc, then 24sc, repeat 24 sc on the next round, then decrease to 18sc, 12, 6, 6, 6 (change to your reddish yarn) **I chose to hold two strands of reddish yarn together and keep my J hook instead of switching hooks. If you go from the fur yarn to a single 4-ply strand – that is fine, but switch your hook back down to an appropriate size. After switching to my reddish yarn, I did another 18 rounds. This part can be altered for the length you prefer. I have sewed my example between rounds 14-15 in the middle.

Thank you for joining me and if you enjoyed this pattern, you will probably enjoy some of my Farm Series patterns.  I have them all here FREE on my blog, but this post will give you more information so that you can search for them/their names.

Now, this is not a fox, but he is pretty foxy. We do have fox and coyotes where I live and I have chickens – so, this handsome fella does a great job of keeping them from eating my chickens and as a reward he gets the Bark Box delivered every month to our house and he loves it!  He honestly gets so excited when I say, “Ruger! Your box is here!” I open it and put it on the floor and he dives in and starts pulling everything out.  We are very satisfied customers of the Bark Box and highly recommend it for your super chewers! (or all size dogs)

I would love to connect with you over on IG so find me @theburgundybasket