If you go online and search 'scrapbuster yarn' or 'ways to use scrap yarn', I guarantee you will find more patterns and listicles than you can ever comprehend. Therefore, I am here to advocate for the humble sea slug as my go-to. If you've only got little bits of each colour? Great, now it's a rainbow slug! Different textures? Use them on the frills! Run out of yarn entirely? See if there's scrap ribbon arround you can use for the tail poofs! So many possibilities contained in such a small slug. And I may or may not be using My Slug (fursona colours) as a pin cushion for my blocking pins and yarn needles now, so you can't say they aren't useful either!
(pre-acupuncture photo, obv)
Now, I don't know about you, but two things I cannot stand in crochet patterns are a) unnecessary stitching and b) video patterns. Therefore, I've typed out and adjusted this pattern, for both my use and now yours! Makes life so much easier when you can work at your own pace and not the pace of the video huh?
Body
Chain 21 st
(sc19 3sc) x2
(sc19 inc1 3sc inc1) x2
SC 52
(sc7 inc1 sc7 inc1 sc7 inc1 sc inc1) x2
SC 60
(sc9 inc1) x6
SC 66
BLO (sc9 dec1) x6
(sc7 dec1 sc7 dec1 sc7 dec1 sc dec1) x2
(sc19 dec1 dec3tog dec1) x2
(sc19 dec3tog) x2
Stuff then stitch up bottom slit
Antennae
Magic circle 4 st
(sc1 inc1) x2
(sc2 inc1) x2
(sc3 inc1) x2
SC 10
(sc1 dec2) x2
SC 6 x3
Frills
These can vary a lot, but a good starting point is:
Attach at one of the spare loops of the BLO round
Chain 3, DC in same st
(dc 2dc) round
See how that looks, decide if you want a second round.
To make the ruffles denser, increase more in the round (eg. doing 2DC or even 3DC in every st)
To make the frills longer, either use a longer stitch (eg. TC or QC) or do multiple rounds. Multiple rounds is obviously better if you want to change colours, maybe do a gradient like on my greyscale or yellow/orange/red slugs
Tail Poof
Again, this is where you can get creative with it, but the basics are:
Attach around on of the stitches at one end of the slug
Chain between 12-16 st
SL around same st
Surface SL your way to where you want the next loop to go
Repeat until happy with result
Other options include threading ribbon/plaited yarn through in the same sort of arrangement – tie the material you’re using in place if doing this, to make sure the loops don’t pull out of position
For some of mine, I’ve also done the chains so that there are shorter loops in the middle, going down to 8st. It just makes a nice variance in texture.
Additional Decoration
This can be pretty much anything you want! Embroidery, appliqué, more surface stitching, just have fun with it!