Snail crochet pattern — four pieces, fifty-six rounds written out
A snail about 11 cm long with a shell around 6.5 cm across, worked on a 3 mm hook in four colours over about two hours. The body holds fourteen stitches for fourteen straight rounds and then steps down in twos — twelve, ten, eight, six — with plain rounds between each step, which is what gives the tail a taper rather than a point. This snail crochet pattern writes out all fifty-six rounds across the four pieces, each with the count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 56 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 Easy
Easy: plain single crochet throughout, one colour change and one back-loop round. The length is the work — twenty-nine rounds in the body, fourteen of them at the same count.
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
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What you need before you start
Yarn — four colours, all weight 3
1 small ball (~30 g)DK cotton, worked tightly
1 small ball (~20 g)DK cotton
scrapsDK cotton
scrapsDK cotton, one strand, for embroidery only
Tools
5 you probably own, 3 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
Polyester stuffing (~15 g)
5 mm black safety eyes x2
Black embroidery floss (for the mouth, and for eyes instead of the safety eyes on a toy for a small child)
Optional
Blush and a soft brush for the cheeks
A contrast stitch marker for the round start
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Not critical. Work tightly enough that no stuffing shows between stitches; a looser hand gives a bigger snail on the same counts.
Finished size
~11 cm / 4.5 in long, with a shell about 6.5 cm across
DK cotton on a 3 mm hook keeps the fabric tight enough to hide the stuffing. Worsted on a 4 mm hook gives a larger snail on the same counts.
How to make the snail, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US7 sc in mrUK7 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The shell
A disc that opens out to forty-two stitches and then mirrors itself…15 RNDS
starts in cream· magic ring· Piece 1 of 4
First six rounds[7] [14] [21] [28] [35] [42]
Opening out
RND 1–61[7]
2[14]
3[21]
4[28]
5[35]
6[42]
The rim
RND 7–107[42]
8[42]
9[42]
10[42]
Closing in
RND 11–1511[35]
12[28]
13[21]
14[14]
15[7]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff it lightly and press it flat before the last round closes. It should feel like a thick biscuit, not a ball.
2
02The body
Fourteen stitches held for fourteen rounds, then a slow taper down…29 RNDS
starts in sageGreen· magic ring· Piece 2 of 4
First six rounds[7] [14] [14] [14] [14] [14]
Out to fourteen
RND 1–21[7]
2[14]
The head and foot
RND 3–163[14]
4[14]
5[14]
6[14]
7[14]
8[14]
9[14]
10[14]
11[14]
12[14]
13[14]
14[14]
15[14]
16[14]
The tapering tail
RND 17–2917[12]
18[12]
19[12]
20[12]
21[10]
22[10]
23[10]
24[10]
25[8]
26[8]
27[8]
28[6]
29[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuffed to round 16 and empty after it, so the tail lies flat. Flatten the last round and close it with a few stitches through both layers.
3
03The eye stalks
Two the same. Six stitches around, six rounds up, left open at the…6 RNDS
starts in sageGreen· magic ring· Piece 3 of 4
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff each one lightly and leave the top open. They sew to the head around rounds 3 and 4, two stitches apart, so keep both tails long.
4
04Right eye stalk
— the same 6 rounds again, worked from piece 036 RNDS
starts in sageGreen· magic ring· Piece 4 of 4· mirrors the eye stalks
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
You are here
Four pieces from three lists. One list — the eye stalks — is written once and worked twice, identical round for round; the grey bars are piece length, all drawn to the same scale.56 ROUNDS IN ALL
Ten notes on the snail
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Everything is worked in a continuous spiral. Move a marker up as you go — there is no join and nothing to turn.
03Round 7 of the shell is worked in back loops only. That ridge is the fold line where the flat face of the shell turns into its rim, and it is what keeps the shell reading as a disc rather than a ball.
04The shell starts cream and changes to terracotta at round 4, so the pale middle looks like the centre of a spiral. Change colour at the start of the round and weave the cream tail in behind the terracotta.
05Stuff the shell very lightly and press it flat between your palms before you close round 15. A firmly stuffed shell turns into a bun.
06Stuff the body only as far as round 16. From round 17 on, leave the tail empty so it lies flat against the table and the snail sits still.
07Put the safety eyes into the eye stalks at round 2, near the closed tip, before you stuff them. On a toy for a child under three, work French knots in black floss instead.
08Sew the shell to the back of the body over rounds 6 to 14, tipped slightly back. Pin it first and look at it from the side — the angle is what makes it a snail.
09The eye stalks are left open at round 6 and sewn to the top of the head around rounds 3 and 4, two stitches apart.
10Cheeks are two small dusty pink stitches either side of the mouth, worked on after the head is stuffed.
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 snail?
How much yarn will the snail take?
What hook will the snail need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the snail 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 4, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
