Pokemon #0121: Starmie

Difficulty: 2/5

I know, I know. I just did Staryu in my last post. But work as been SUPER crazy these past two weeks (end of the semester working at a college) and it was really easy to modify the Staryu pattern to make this one. It's a bit larger than the Staryu doll and a little trickier to assemble due to the extra set of arms, which bumps the difficulty up a notch.

The design did take some trial and error to get right. In the games, Starmie's model is basically two Staryu on top of each other, but that doesn't translate well to 3d. My Staryu doll pattern makes arms that look good, but are too chunky to just stack on top of one another. Flattening them out by removing stuffing worked, but also didn't look great. I ended up taking inspiration from the real-world crown of thorns starfish, whose many branches that stick out in all directions, more like a sea urchin. The result is something that I'm really proud of, although I worry the photos don't quite do it justice - my phone camera seems to hate this purple yarn, no matter what lighting or background I use. I promise though, it looks MUCH better than the pictures make it seem - give it a try and you'll see!

Materials 


-Yarn. Use a worsted or aran weight in a material of your choice. I use acrylic for my doll patterns due to its firm weave, which provides the doll with some structure, but you may use any material you wish. You will need:
For regular Starmie: (A) ~20m of scarlet, (B) ~30m of yellow gold, (C) ~250m of royal purple
For shiny Starmie: (A) ~20m of sky blue, (B) ~30m of red-gold, (C) ~250m of cobalt blue

-4.0 mm (size G) crochet hook


-Fiberfill or crafting scraps for stuffing


-Yarn needle


-Pins


-Scraps of yarn for round markers




Gauge: Gauge is not important for this work. With the given yarn and hook size, the finished doll will stand about 10 inches (25 cm) in height; adjust yarn and/or hook size if a bigger or smaller doll is desired. Just make sure your stitches are of a consistent size and tightness.

Notation (US crochet)


ch: chain


st: stitch


sc: single crochet


hdc: half-double crochet

dc: double crochet


slst: slip stitch


inc: increase stitch (perform 2 sc in the next stitch)


dec: decrease stitch (insert hook into next stitch, yarn over and pull through the stitch. Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over and pull through first loop. Yarn over again, pull through all 3 loops on hook.)

Pattern
Core (Make 1)
Round 1: With A, 8 sc in starter circle. (8)
Round 2: inc in each st around. (16)
Round 3: *sc in next st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (24)
Round 4: *sc in next 2 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (32)
Round 5: Working in front loops only, *sc in next 3 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (40) Return to normal crochet at the end of the round.
Rounds 6-7: sc in each st around (40) Change color to B.
Round 8: Working in back loops only, *sc in next 4 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (48) Return to normal crochet at the end of the round.
Round 9: *sc in next 5 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (56)
Round 10: *sc in next 6 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (64) Change color to C.
Round 11: Working in front loops only, sc in each st around. (64) Return to normal crochet at the end of the round.
Rounds 12-20: sc in each st around. (64)
Round 21: *sc in next 6 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (56)
Round 22: *sc in next 5 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (48)
Round 23: *sc in next 4 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (40)
Round 24: *sc in next 3 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (32)
Round 25: *sc in next 2 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (24) Begin to stuff, and continue to do so as you work.
Round 26: *sc in next 1 st, dec.* Repeat from * to * around. (16)
Round 27: dec in each st around. (8)
Round 28: continue to dec until closed. Finish off, and weave in loose ends.

Front Arms (Make 5)
Round 1: With C, 4 sc in starter circle. (4)
Round 2: inc in each st around. (8)
Round 3: sc in each st around. (8)
Round 4: *sc in next st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (12)
Round 5: sc in each st around. (12)
Round 6: *sc in next 2 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (16)
Round 7: sc in each st around. (16)
Round 8: *sc in next 3 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (20)
Round 9: sc in each st around. (20)
Round 10: *sc in next 4 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (24)
Round 11: sc in each st around. (24)
Round 12: *sc in next 5 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (28)
Round 13: sc in each st around. (28)
Round 14: *sc in next 6 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (32)
Round 15: sc in each st around. (32)
Round 16: *sc in next 7 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (36)
Round 17: sc in each st around. (36)
Round 18: *sc in next 8 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (40)
Round 19: sc in each st around. (40) Finish off, leaving a tail, and stuff with fiberfill.

Back Arms (Make 5)
Round 1: With C, 4 sc in starter circle. (4)
Round 2: inc in each st around. (8)
Round 3: sc in each st around. (8)
Round 4: *sc in next st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (12)
Round 5: sc in each st around. (12)
Round 6: *sc in next 2 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (16)
Round 7: sc in each st around. (16)
Round 8: *sc in next 3 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (20)
Round 9: sc in each st around. (20)
Round 10: *sc in next 4 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (24)
Round 11: sc in each st around. (24)
Round 12: *sc in next 5 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (28)
Round 13: sc in each st around. (28)
Round 14: *sc in next 6 st, inc.* Repeat from * to * around. (32)
Round 15: sc in each st around. (32) Finish off, leaving a tail, and stuff with fiberfill.

Ridges (Make 8)
Work in rows.
Row 1: With B, ch 7. (7) ch 3, turn.
Row 2: dc in 4th st from hook. Continue to dc to the end of the row (7). ch 1, turn.
Row 3: sl st in 2nd st from hook. Continue to sl st in each st across. (7) Finish off, leaving a tail.

Assembly
1. Pin and whip stitch the 5 front arms around the core to make the primary star shape. As you can see in the picture below, you’ll want to do this one arm at a time and overlap the sides of each arm a bit to make them fit together smoothly. This assembly is identical to the construction of my Staryu doll, so if you’ve made that doll already you should be familiar with the method.

2. Flip the doll over, and pin and whip stitch the 5 back arms to make Starmie’s secondary star, as shown in the pictures below. Position the legs such that they stick slightly backwards rather than straight up and down or straight back - aim for something that looks a bit like the arms of a sea urchin. Overlap the edges of the legs as you sew, just like with the arms for the primary star.

3. Pin and whip or appliqué stitch the ridges around the core to sew them down. Weave in all loose ends.

Conclusions

If you liked this pattern, please feel free to make it and post on your blog of choice! All I ask is that you please provide credit to me (Danielle Delp) as the pattern author, and if you’re on Ravelry to add your photos to the pattern’s page - the more the merrier! Please do not sell dolls made from this pattern, to respect the intellectual property rights of the original artist that designed the character. If you like my work and would like to support my pattern-making, please consider subscribing to my Patreon! Links to Ravelry and Patreon are in the About Me section above.

See you next week!