PATTERN: Piranha Plant Crochet bookmark

Hello from Little Craftisan!

It’s done. And I really love it. It looks like a little piranha plant growing out of the book. I need to hide it somewhere where Mr7 won’t find it until his birthday this weekend.

He‘s a big fan of Mario Maker on the family Nintendo Switch. And Mario 3D Bowser’s Fury! You can even pick up the piranha plants as tools to eat your enemies!

Here’s how to make the crochet design for the piranha plant bookmark below:

Materials:

For the pipe

4 shades of green cotton dk (2 mid shades of green with one darker, pale pistachio shade, dark bottle green shade to get the stripey pipe pattern)

Shades I used:

shade A Paintbox Cotton DK Grass Green

shade B Ricorumi Pistachio

shade C Ricorumi Green

shade D Paintbox Cotton DK Racing Green

For edging around the pipe:

Ricorumi Black

For the piranha head:

Ricorumi Red

Ricorumi White

Tools

3.5mm hook

3.00mm hook

Tapestry needle for sewing in ends

Stitches

(UK crochet terms)

Ch = chain

st = stitch

dc = double crochet

Dc inc = Increase 2 dc into st (you can do it invisibly, by doing a dc into front loop, then dc into both loops)

htr = half treble

tr = treble

mc = magic circle

sl st = slip stitch

bk bp = back bump

yo = yarn over

wide dc decrease = insert hook into next st, yo and pull up a loop, skip the next st, insert hook into next st, yo and pull up a loop. Yo and pull through the loops on hook.

Pipe

Note: I used the yarn under method for wrapping my yarn around my hook. This is normally used for amigurumi and I’ve used it here to give a denser bookmark to avoid holes/gaps showing in the bookmark. But it will work just as well with the regular yarn over method 😉

Row 1:

With 3.5 mm hook and shade A, the lighter of the middle green shades (Paintbox Grass Green) ch 61.

Row 2:

Turn, dc in 2nd st from hook. dc 59 (60 st in total)

Row 3:

Join shade B (pistachio). ch 1, dc 60 in the front loops (gives a lovely straight line effect and cuts down on the weird houndstooth effect when changing colours)

Ok, so going to do a short cut now. For the colour change rows, dc in front loops. Below is the key for the shade orders

Row 4: shade A

Row 5-6: shade B

Row 7-8: shade C

Row 9: shade D

Row 10: shade C

Row 11-12: Shade D

Weave in ends.

Using black yarn, dc around the edges. When going round a corner, dc, ch2, dc into same st. DON‘T dc around one of the short sides as you’ll be joining the lip of the pipe to it.

Top of pipe

Row 1:

With 3.5mmm and shade A, ch 7.

Row 2-3: ch 1, turn, dc 6.

Row 4: change to shade B, ch 1, dc 6 in front loops.

Row 5: change to shade A, ch 1, dc in front loops.

Remember to dc in front on the colour change rows.

Rows 6-7: shade B

Rows 8-11: Shade C

Row 12: Shade D

Row 13: Shade C

Rows 14-16: Shade D.

Sew in ends.

Dc round with black yarn, in same manner as for the main pipe. When coming up to one of the longer sides, pin it into place so it hangs off symmetrically (I wasn’t so great at this and should’ve spent more time perfecting it, but birthday present pressure 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Dc with black yarn through the main pipe and pipe lip together. If you prefer, you could sew it together, but I like the consistency of having a dc edging all the way around.

Piranha head

I’ve staggered the increases in the pattern which results in a rounder head which shouldn’t have any weird and obvious hexagonal type sides to it. Let me know what you think!

Row 1: With 3.5 mm hook and red yarn, mc and dc 6 into circle. Turn. (6)

DO NOT SLIP STITCH TO JOIN CIRCLE 😁 Row 2: Ch 1, dc inc into each st. Ch1. Turn. (12)

Row 3: Dc, ( dc inc, dc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (17)

Row 4: Dc, (dc, dc inc, dc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (22)

Row 5: Dc, (dc inc, dc3) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (27)

Row 6: Dc, (dc 2, dc inc, dc 2) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (32)

Row 7: Dc, (dc 5, dc inc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (37)

Row 8: Dc, (dc 4, dc inc, 2 dc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (42)

Row 9: sl st round.

Sew in ends.

Piranha teeth

Using 3mm yarn and white cotton yarn.

Join with sl st to the inside open jaws of the red piranha plant head.

Row 1: dc 7, wide Dec, dc 7. Turn. Row 2: sl st into next st.

1st tooth = Ch 4, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, dc 2, sl st into base of ch4.

sl st 2.

2nd tooth = ch 3, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, dc, sl st into base of ch 3.

sl st 2

3rd tooth = ch 2, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, sl st into base of ch 2.

sl st 3.

Now working up the other side of the jaw. Working mirror image of teeth, using sl st 2 to separate the teeth.

Cut yarn and sew in ends.

Piranha lips - make 2

Using 3.5 mm hook and white yarn.

Row 1: Ch 22, starting in 2nd st from hook and working in bk bp, dc 9, wide dc decrease, dc 9.

Row 2: ch 1 and turn. Htr, 2tr, 2tr, htr, dc 4, wide decrease, dc 4, htr, 2tr, 2tr, 2htr.

working round to the underside of the lips, 3htr, dc, sl st 5, dc, 2htr, dc, sl st 5, dc, 3htr. htr in starting st. Cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing the lips to the piranha.

Pin lips to the piranha head so that the teeth are still showing.

Piranha spots

Small spot (make 1)

With 3mm hook and white dk cotton.

Row 1: Mc, dc 6 into mc. sl st into first dc to close ring.

Leave a long tail to sew onto piranha head.

Large spot (make 2)

With 3mm hook and white dk cotton.

Row 1: Mc, dc 6 into mc. sl st into first dc to close ring.

Row 2: Ch 1, 2dc into each st (12)

Cut yarn and leave a long tail to sew onto piranha head.

I positioned the spots asymmetrically. I might be tempted to make a few semi circles to put along the edges to complete the look if I made this again.

Piranha leaves - make 2.

Using 3.5mm hook and shade A.

Row 1: Ch 6. Ch 1 and turn.

Row 2: Working in back bumps:

dc, htr, tr, htr, dc. Ch 1.

Working round to the other side of the ch:

dc, htr, tr, htr, dc, sl st.

*Ch 3, turn, (working in bk bp) sl st, dc, sl st into next st.* repeat 3 times. This creates the fronds on the leaves.

Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing onto stem.

Stem

In shade A and 3.5mm hook, ch 8.

turn, dc 7. *ch 1, dc 7.* repeat 3 times so you have 5 rows of dc. Sew onto pipe and bottom of piranha head.

I was lazy as I’m not a fan of sewing, and dc7 straight onto the piranha head rather than ch8 at the start, then dc straight onto the pipe at the end to secure the other end.

Final tip, I used embroidery chain stitch with black yarn in the reverse of the pipe to match the edging as the other side of the dc edging didn’t show very well. But feel free to omit that part of you’re sick of sewing!

Let me know if you make you’re own pattern and use #littlecraftisan on IG or FB if you make your own.

See you around and stay crafty!