Baby Fluffy Tribble

Remember what they say about never feeding tribbles? Well, I fed Myrtle, my first tribble. I ended up with Mac...


Supplies
Lion Brand Fun Fur, Red (a little less than one half skein)
Yarn Bee Wild Child, Pecan (a little less than one half skein)

K hook
Yarn needle

Polyester stuffing


Top half
Round 1: Using the magic adjustable ring, ch 1, then sc 8. Join.

Round 2: Ch 1 for the turning ch, then sc 2 in ea sc. (16 st)

Round 3: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in next sc, sc 1 in next sc* repeat 7 more times, then join. (24 st)

Round 4: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 1 in 5 next sc, sc 2 in next sc* repeat 3 more times, then join. (28 st)

Round 5: Ch 1 for turning ch, sc 1 in ea sc, join. (28 st)

Round 6: repeat

Round 7: repeat

Leave a very long tail on this, at least four times the circumference of the piece; you'll use it to sew the tribble together.


Bottom Half
Round 1: Using the magic adjustable ring, ch 1, then sc 8. Join.

Round 2: Ch 1 for the turning ch, then sc 2 in ea sc. (16 st)

Round 3: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in next sc, sc 1 in next sc* repeat 7 more times, then join. (24 st)

Round 4: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 1 in 5 next sc, sc 2 in next sc* repeat 3 more times, then join. (28 st)

Round 5: Ch 1 for turning ch, sc 1 in ea sc. (28 st)

Leave a short tail; weave it through a couple of stitches, then forget about it.


Assembly
Once again, this probably isn't the best way to sew a tribble, but it works.

First, decide which side you want to be on the outside. Every time I've made one, the wrong side has been fluffier. If that's the case for you, use a yarn needle to pull the tails from the adjustable ring to the less-fluffy side. From now on, the fluffy side is the right side.

Place the fluffy sides together. Thread your yarn needle with the long tails from the top half. Line up the stitches, and whipstitch the two pieces together using one or two stitches per pair of single crochet stitches. (The diameters of the two halves may be a little different, but you have the same number of stitches, so it will work out fine.) If the tails from the bottom half of the tribble are on the inside, pull them to the outside so they'll be hidden once it's turned and stuffed. Leave enough of a gap to turn your tribble right side out.

Once you've turned the tribble, stuff it. You don't want it packed firm, but you will probably need more stuffing that you think. (Unless you've made lots of stuffed toys.) Once you like your results, stitch the opening shut.

Knot the ends, then thread the needle with only one strand of the yarn. Squeeze the tribble flat, then push the needle into the seam near the knot and pull it out through the top or bottom of the tribble. Still squeezing the tribble, trim the end close to the body of the tribble; this is a little tricky, since it's so fluffy! Once you let it go, the end will disappear into the body. Repeat with the other strand of yarn.

The seam will probably be very visible, but you can fix that. The long fluffy pieces will be stuck in the seam. Use your needle or fingers to pull the fibers loose, and the stitching will disappear. Take care, though, that you don't snag the body of the yarn (the thick part you crocheted with.)


*About yarns: You can use any eyelash or fuzzy yarn you want! My first tribble used two strands of Wild Child, and the result was a blended, tonal look. (One strand was a solid, the other was two tone.) Mac used two different yarns: Lion Brand Fun Fur and Wild Child. The Fun Fur is longer, so it really took over; the brown yarn recedes, producing an undercoat. I just finished a tribble that uses two strands of Fun Fur, and it was a nightmare! The longer, unruly eyelashes tend to tangle horribly! But it's still cute as can be. :)