Please note: This listing is for a downloadable PDF of the pattern instructions for making Tomato …there is no hard copy of the pattern available, nor a finished item. The pattern is available only in English :)

Tomato is the third of my patterns that makes use of the African Flower hexagon crochet motif and variations thereof, joined in a specific order to make a recognizable 3D toy. I love this African Flower pattern and the creative possibilities of using it to make 3D items :) Tomato is made using three different African Flower motifs: Hexagon, Pentagon and Heptagon. It’s also an excellent stash buster project, since if you are going to make a multi-colored Tomato, you only need small amounts of yarn to make one motif.

Tomato can be made to resemble a Poison Dart frog, or you can make a Frog Prince by changing the colors (poison dart frogs are extremely beautiful, brightly colored little frogs) to perhaps a more dignified colorway for a Prince. Don’t forget to add his crown as befits a member of the Royal Pond :)

Tomato is a slightly more challenging project than my previous patterns, not because any of the techniques used are difficult at all… the challenge comes in that you will need to sew up the legs and feet of Tomato. Now remember, I absolutely hate sewing up ! Unfortunately, due to the small nature of Tomato’s legs (especially the lace weight sized frog), this becomes inevitable…but, dear readers, never fear! I have provided a step by step photo tutorial on how to easily and neatly sew up the leg motifs, so that you will have a clean, pretty seam, and it really works up quickly  The second reason that this project is a bit more challenging, is that you will need to know how to knit an i-cord for each of the toes. There are loads of resources on the internet to show you how, and I have linked below to one of them. I-cords are really very easy to knit, so please, crocheters, don’t be put off by this! To encourage you that anyone can make an i-cord, recall that the “i” stands for “idiot” …it’s idiotically easy 

:: Steps to making your own Tomato ::

1. Read the whole pattern through properly, so you have a good overview.

2. Make sure you know how to crochet the African Flower hexagon crochet motif. I have included both written and charted instructions for the African Flower hexagon in this pattern. If you are a visual learner, you can see a step by step photo tutorial on my blog: http://heidibearscreative.blogspot.com/2010/05/african-fl...

3. Make sure you are able to crochet the different variations of the African Flower motif, including how to make an African Flower Pentagon and Heptagon… for clarity: the pentagon has five petals and five sides and the heptagon has seven petals and seven sides. The difference is simply the number of “petal” repeats that you crochet…each variation is therefore equally easy to crochet. I have included written and charted instructions in this pattern on how to crochet each of these African Flower motif variations. I have also posted a fully explained tutorial on how to crochet an African Flower pentagon , on my blog, which can be found here: http://heidibearscreative.blogspot.com/2011/09/african-fl...

4. Make sure you have gone through and practiced the join-as-you-go technique. This has been explained and illustrated in the section named Appendix : Joining Tutorials. Since the joining method is really very important to the success of the project, I strongly suggest that you practice joining on scrap yarn motifs before starting the project. If you would prefer to sew your motifs together, you won’t need to practice the join-as-you-go technique, but will need to be confident in your neat sewing ability. If you use the join-as-you-go technique for the body of the frog, you will still have to sew together the motifs for the legs and feet. Since they are such narrow items, it is extremely difficult to join-as-you-go when making them. I have included a photo tutorial on exactly how to sew these motifs together in order to achieve a neat finish. Please practice this sewing technique before starting your project.

5. Either choose your yarn for this project or use the scrap yarn that you have left over from other projects. Make all the required motifs for Tomato, BUT only up to Round 4 of the African Flower motif if you are doing a join-as-you-go method for the frog body, or the full motif up to Round 5 if you are sewing up the motifs. All leg motifs are completed up to Round 5 as they are all sewn together.

6. Know how to knit an i-cord. Below are excellent links to learn how  Knit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700AG7Kvbhc

7. Know how to Knit two stitches together and Knit two stitches together through the back loop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Ko-GJ8Vbk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXBiWdbxmMk

:: Materials Requirements ::
Sock Weight Yarn Tomato

The sock weight yarn Frog Prince that has been crocheted for this pattern, was made using sock weight/fingering/#1 weight yarn. Using this weight yarn will give you a Tomato measuring 26cm nose to tail, and around 16cm tall.
ALL THE CROCHET STITCHES USED IN THIS PATTERN ARE BASED ON AMERICAN CROCHET TERMS
Abbreviations : sc = single crochet dc = double crochet
Sock weight / Fingering weight yarn/ #1 in colors of your choice… this little frog is a great stash busting project as you can use small amounts of sock yarn for each motif. I used four colors, but you can make a multi-colored frog if you prefer. Although I can’t tell you how much yardage of each color I used, I can tell you that the total weight of yarn for the whole frog was around 130 g (unstuffed).
The yardage for the sock yarn I used is around 320m/100g (350yds/100g). It is a superwash merino yarn, but you can use any alternative fingering weight yarn you like…I suggest that animal fibre yarns would be preferable, as they have more stretch, making the stuffing and shaping of the frog easier.
Crochet Hook 2.0mm Double Pointed Needles : one pair 2.75mm
Polyester toy stuffing Curved sewing needle (optional)
Frog Eyes (plastic safety eyes or glass looped eyes). PLEASE NOTE THAT ATTACHED EYES ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR TOYS CREATED FOR CHILDREN! They can be a suffocation hazard. If you are making this frog for a child, rather embroider the eyes using embroidery thread! I would still suggest sculpting the eye sockets before embroidering the eyes…it adds a lovely realistic element  I have used 18mm wire looped glass eyes. These can easily be sourced from sellers on eBay.
Embroidery Thread Haemostats (makes stuffing easier)
Scissors Tapestry Needle used for sewing in ends
Long sewing needle (doll making needles work well)
Patience and Determination!

:: Materials Requirements ::
Lace Weight Yarn Tomato

The smaller frog that has been crocheted for this pattern, was made using lace weight/# 0 yarn. Using this weight yarn will give you a Tomato measuring approximately 15cm measured nose to tail, and approximately 10cm tall.
ALL THE CROCHET STITCHES USED IN THIS PATTERN ARE BASED ON AMERICAN CROCHET TERMS
Abbreviations : sc = single crochet dc = double crochet
Lace weight/ #0 in colors of your choice… this little frog is a great stash busting project as you can use small amounts of sock yarn for each motif. I used four colors, but you can make a multi-colored frog if you prefer. Although I can’t tell you how much yardage of each color I used, I can tell you that the total weight of yarn for the whole frog was around 70g (unstuffed).
The yardage for the sock yarn I used is around 680m/100g (746yds/100g). It is a superwash merino yarn, but you can use any alternative lace weight yarn you like…I suggest that animal fibre yarns would be preferable, as they have more stretch, making the stuffing and shaping of the frog easier.
Crochet Hook 1.0mm Double Pointed Needles : one pair 2.0mm
Polyester toy stuffing Curved sewing needle (optional)
Frog Eyes (plastic safety eyes or glass looped eyes). PLEASE NOTE THAT ATTACHED EYES ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR TOYS CREATED FOR CHILDREN! They can be a suffocation hazard. If you are making this frog for a child, rather embroider the eyes using embroidery thread! I would still suggest sculpting the eye sockets before embroidering the eyes…it adds a lovely realistic element  I have used 10mm wire looped glass eyes. These can easily be sourced from sellers on eBay.
Embroidery Thread Haemostats (makes stuffing easier)
Scissors Tapestry Needle used for sewing in ends
Long sewing needle (doll making needles work well)
Patience and Determination!

: : Skills Requirements : :

Basic Crocheting Skills: Chain stitch (ch) , Single Crochet (sc), Double Crochet (dc), Slip Stitch (sl st) joining a chain to make a ring, joining in a new color yarn.
Join-as-you-go motif joining: This pattern will require that you join the crocheted motifs each stitch to each stitch. This is necessary to prevent the stuffing popping out of the toy. It is imperative that you are confident in your join-as-you-go ability. The method I use is explained in the Appendix pages found at the end of the pattern. These tutorials are illustrated by using actual motif chart illustrations with explanatory notes. This cuts down on printing  Tomato’s body is made using the Join-as-you-go technique, but all the legs and toes are sewn. So you will need to do some sewing up even if you use the join-as-you-go technique for the body. However, if you are scared witless by the thought of doing a join-as-you-go joining method, all is not lost…you can simply make all your motifs in full (including Round 5), then sew them together. The order of motif placement and the number of sides needing to be joined stays exactly the same whether you join-as-you-go or sew up.
Basic sewing skills: I have included a step by step photo tutorial for the legs sewing up process. It is really very easy to do and leaves a pretty, neat seamed edge.
Knit an i-cord: The toes are made using an i-cord. Each toe is a separate i-cord, with a crocheted round end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700AG7Kvbhc
Knit two stitches together, Knit two stitches together through the back loop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Ko-GJ8Vbk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXBiWdbxmMk