Giant amigurumi tardigrade (water bear) plushie/pillow made from 1 skein of Bernat Blanket yarn, plus scraps in another color

There are some great tardigrade patterns on Ravelry, but I wanted something big-- something really huggable and soft. So I made this pattern! At ~17 inches long, this huge friend is around 800 times bigger than the average tardigrade. And who doesn’t need a giant cuddly tardigrade in their life?? It makes a great pillow, too!

Science note: Tardigrades (a.k.a. water bears) are incredible 8-legged near-microscopic animals that are famous for being able to survive pretty much anything, including the vacuum of space, the deepest parts of the ocean, and being boiling or frozen.

Crochet note: This pattern works up fast with super bulky yarn and is relatively simple, suitable for beginners with some familiarity with amigurumi. The instructions include lots of photos of any steps that might be confusing.

Materials:

• 1 skein (200-220 yards) of Bernat Blanket yarn or another super bulky (#6) yarn.
• Scraps (~8-10 yards) of Bernat Blanket yarn in another colorway (only needed if you want to use a secondary color for the mouth and claws as I did)
• 8.0 mm (L) crochet hook
• Tapestry needle (must be big enough to use with super bulky yarn!)
• Stitch markers
• Scissors
• 2 safety eyes, ~12 mm size, or alternative eyes (buttons, felt, etc.)
• Polyester stuffing

Stitches used:

• Magic ring
• Chain (ch)
• Slip stitch (sl st)
• Single crochet (sc)
• Increase (inc) -- a.k.a. “2 sc in one stitch”
• Decrease (dec) -- a.k.a. “sc 2 together”
• Half-double crochet (hdc)
• Working in the front or back loop only

Construction: The tardigrade is worked top-down, starting with the mouth. The 8 legs are made separately and sewn on. The details (claws and mouth) in the secondary color are done last.

Accessibility statement: All instructions are fully written out with no charts or diagrams. Photos are included to supplement the written instructions but are not necessary to understand the pattern. I’m currently working on more accessible versions of this pattern! In the meantime, please message me if you have issues with any aspect of the pattern and we can work out a solution.

Hope you enjoy! This is one of the first patterns that I have shared, so please let me know if you find any mistakes or have suggestions for how to make things more clear!!