Octopus crochet pattern — nine pieces, 108 rounds written out
This free octopus crochet pattern makes a coral pink octopus about 8 cm tall and about 17 cm across with the arms spread, worked on a 4 mm hook in five colours over roughly three hours. Twelve rounds do all the shaping, in the head, and the remaining ninety-six are the same six-stitch round repeated: eight arms of twelve rounds each, four lilac and four teal, each flattened end covering three of the twenty-four stitches of round 9. All 108 rounds are written out below across nine pieces, each carrying the stitch count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 108 rounds was checked against the round before it by machine — the counts, the increases and the decreases all add up. What nobody can promise you yet is how it sits in the hand.How we check
6 of 8 checks ran on 2026-09-04
- 1 format and stitch chainscripts/validate.py — 113 patterns, all counts chain.
- 2 catalogue auditscripts/audit-patterns.py — 113 audited, 0 errors, 66 warnings.
- 3 geometrygeometry-check.py — 113 checked, 0 errors, 4 warnings.
- 5 not a duplicate113 distinct display names across 113 patterns
- 6c target on the recordseo.headKeyword, confidence and demand present and cross-checked by scripts/validate.py
- 8 page readinessscripts/check-completeness.py --gate — 0 required fields missing, 114 editorial flags, 0 unearned claims.
Not yet checked
- 4 render matches the pattern — no image has been compared against its own prompt, so a render showing a piece the rounds do not make would not be caught here. Nothing has counted how many do.
- 6a recognisability — provenance.recognisability is empty in every pattern, so there is no feature list to check the parts against.
Why it is rated Medium
Medium: the head is ordinary shaping, but eight arms of twelve six-stitch rounds drift in length easily, and all eight are pinned around round 9 before any one of them is sewn.
Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.
00
00What you need before you start
CollapseExpand
What you need before you start
Yarn — five colours, all weight 4
~20 gWorsted / aran acrylic or cotton, weight 4
scrapsWorsted / aran, same weight as the coral
~15 gWorsted / aran, same weight as the coral
~15 gWorsted / aran, same weight as the coral
scrapsWorsted, or a single strand of embroidery floss for a finer line
Tools
5 you probably own, 2 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
8 mm black safety eyes x2
Polyester stuffing (~40 g)
Optional
A contrast stitch marker for the round start
A row counter — the tentacles are eleven identical rounds and the count drifts easily
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Gauge is not critical. What matters is that the fabric is dense enough that the stuffing does not show between stitches — if it does, drop to a 3.5 mm hook. A looser hand gives a bigger octopus, not a worse one.
Finished size
~8 cm tall, ~17 cm across with the tentacles spread
How to make the octopus, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US6 sc in mrUK6 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The head
Out to twenty-four stitches, five rounds straight, then back in. The…12 RNDS
starts in coralPink· magic ring· Piece 1 of 9
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [24] [24]
Opening out
RND 1–41[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
Straight sides
RND 5–95[24]
6[24]
7[24]
8[24]
9[24]
Closing in, in cream
RND 10–1210[18]
11[12]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneRound 9 is the ring the tentacles hang from — twenty-four stitches, three each. Keep it in mind while you make the arms.
2
02The first tentacle
Six stitches from a magic ring, then eleven rounds of six. The first…12 RNDS
starts in lilac· magic ring· Piece 2 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneStuff only the last two rounds, at the tip. A soft arm curls; a stuffed one sticks out.
3
03The second tentacle
The same twelve rounds in teal. Alternating the colours is what makes…12 RNDS
starts in teal· magic ring· Piece 3 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneHold it against the first one. They should be the same length — if not, this is the moment to add or take out a round.
4
04The third tentacle
Lilac again. Twelve rounds, no shaping, nothing to watch except the…12 RNDS
starts in lilac· magic ring· Piece 4 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneFour lilac and four teal in the end. This is the second lilac.
5
05The fourth tentacle
Teal, and the fourth of eight. The head has been finished since…12 RNDS
starts in teal· magic ring· Piece 5 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneLay them out in a fan and check they match. Four the same length is easier to fix now than eight.
6
06The fifth tentacle
Lilac. Six stitches is a small round to keep your place in, so move…12 RNDS
starts in lilac· magic ring· Piece 6 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneThree left. Stuff the last two rounds at the tip like the others and put it with the pile.
7
07The sixth tentacle
Teal. The same twelve rounds of six, and the second to last arm of…12 RNDS
starts in teal· magic ring· Piece 7 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneTwo left. Hold this one against the first teal arm — twelve rounds of six can drift by a round without showing until they hang side by side.
8
08The seventh tentacle
The last lilac one. Four lilac against four teal is what makes the…12 RNDS
starts in lilac· magic ring· Piece 8 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneOne more, then the sewing. Line the four lilac arms up now and redo any that ran long.
9
09The eighth tentacle
The last teal one, and the last piece of the octopus before the…12 RNDS
starts in teal· magic ring· Piece 9 of 9
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is donePin every arm around round 9 of the head before you sew any of them — three stitches each, alternating lilac and teal, and the twenty-four stitches come out exactly even.
You are here
Nine notes on the octopus
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Everything is worked in a continuous spiral. Nothing is joined and nothing is turned, so mark the first stitch of every round or the count will drift.
03Set the safety eyes between rounds 6 and 7 of the head, about 8 stitches apart, while the head is still open. Once the decreases start you cannot reach the backs of the posts.
04Stuff the head firmly during rounds 10 and 11, before round 12 closes it. Cinch the last 6 stitches shut through the front loops with the tail.
05The tentacles are stuffed only in the last two rounds, at the magic-ring tip. The rest stays soft so the arm curls instead of standing out straight.
06Fasten off each tentacle leaving a long tail, pinch the open end flat and close it with 3 single crochet through both layers. That gives you a 3-stitch edge to sew down.
07Round 9 of the head has 24 stitches and each flattened tentacle covers 3 of them, so eight tentacles use the ring exactly. Pin all eight before you sew any, alternating lilac and teal.
08The brief's no-sew version works all eight arms as long chains straight out of the body. Chains are outside what this app counts, so the tentacles here are separate pieces that get sewn on — the finished octopus looks the same.
09Embroider the smile in black across rounds 8 and 9, below and between the eyes, after the head is stuffed and closed.
Four questions this pattern answers
Not questions anybody asked. Each one is written from this pattern's own record, and every answer is read off the fields it names.
How many pieces make up the octopus?
How much yarn will the octopus take?
What hook will the octopus need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the octopus take to crochet?
A round that will not add up?
Tell us the piece and the round number — the stepper already knows where you are.There is nowhere to send one yet.
Put the laptop down mid-round
The iPhone app keeps your place — piece of 9, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
