Crochet Pocket Pug

Imagine a cute little pug nestled inside a cozy crochet pocket, peeking out with its adorable eyes and wagging tail. This handmade creation combines the charm of a pug with the intricate art of crochet, resulting in a unique and lovable accessory. The pocket provides a safe and snug spot for the pug to rest, while also adding a touch of whimsy to any outfit or bag. The Crochet Pocket Pug is a delightful fusion of creativity and cuteness, perfect for pug lovers and crochet enthusiasts alike. Each stitch is carefully crafted to capture the essence of a playful pug, making it a charming addition to your collection of handmade treasures. Whether you display it as a decorative piece or carry it around as a charming keychain, the Crochet Pocket Pug is sure to bring a smile to your face and spark joy wherever it goes. 

Materials:

• Red Heart Super Saver in Buff (Less than 50g)
• Loops & Threads Impeccable in Chocolate for snout (small amount)
• Small amount of any worsted weight yarn in a medium brown for eye patch (I used an old skein from my stash)
• Any worsted weight pink yarn for tongue (very small amount)
• Caron Simply Soft in Harvest Red for bow tie (very small amount)
• Black crochet thread
• 8mm Safety Eyes
• 2.75mm hook
• Tapestry needle
• Stuffing

Stitches and Special Terms (US Terminology):

Ch – Chain

St – Stitch

Sc – Single crochet

Inc – Increase. Work 2 sc in the same st.

Dec – Decrease. Work a regular sc decrease.

Hdc – Half double crochet

Reading this Pattern:

There is some colour work involved in this pattern. You will want to divide your yarn into separate balls or bobbins and attach a separate ball for each “section” of colour. For example, you will want to add a new ball for the fur sections on each side of the face so that you can reduce the amount of yarn carries on the back as much as possible.

Carry the yarn on the back of the panels by dropping the working yarn when you switch colours and picking it back up again when you need it in the next row. Always carry the yarn on the wrong side (instead of carrying it inside the stitch as you go); this ensures the front of the panel has clear lines and colours without any of the yarn carries showing through.

When switching to a new colour, insert your hook into the stitch for the last stitch of Colour A and pull up a loop, then, with Colour B, yarn over and complete the stitch by pulling through both loops with Colour B. Drop your working yarn in Colour A and continue with Colour B. You will pick your Colour A working yarn back up again when you need it.

Since the whole pattern is worked in sc stitches, I have omitted the usual “sc” in front of the stitch counts and used the associated colour letter instead. For example, “LB4, DB4” means to work the next 4 stitches in Light Brown (fur) colour and the next 4 stitches in Dark Brown, “LBdec” means to work a regular sc decrease in Light Brown, and so on.

Colour Legend:

LB – Light Brown (Buff)

DB – Dark Brown (Chocolate)

MB – Medium Brown

P – Pink

Front Panel (make 1 panel) with 2.75mm hook:

The panels are worked from the bottom up. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row. First, you will make two separate legs and then join the legs in row 5 below.

Legs

Row 1: In Light Brown, ch 5, sc across (4 sts)

Row 2: LBinc, LB2, LBinc (6 sts)

Row 3: LB6 (6 sts)

Row 4: LBinc, LB5 (7 sts)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-4 for the second leg. You will want to make sure your yarn carries are on the opposite side for the second leg as they were for the first so that they are inverses of each other (hint: the “inc” of row 4 should be on the outside of both legs; the yarn tails from where you just tied off will be pointing inward on both, toward each other).

Body

Now you have two separate legs, as seen above. In row 5, you will join your yarn in the first st and crochet across both legs, joining them.

Row 5: LB6, LBinc in each of next 2 sts, LB6 (16 sts)

Rows 6-10: LB16 (16 sts)

Now we will start the arms.

Row 11: In LB colour, ch 5, LB4 along chs, then cont to crochet along previous row, LB16 (20 sts)

Row 12: In LB, ch 5, LB4 along chs, then cont along previous row, LB20 (24 sts)

Row 13: LB24 (24 sts)

Tie off.

Now we will start the head. Turn your work so that the back (wrong side) of the panel is facing you. Join your LB yarn into the 3rd stitch.

Head

Row 14: LB4, DB4, LB4, DB4, LB4 (20 sts)

Row 15: LBinc, LB2, DB6, P2, DB6, LB2, LBinc (22 sts)

Row 16: LBinc, LB3, DB14, LB3, LBinc (24 sts)

Row 17: LBinc, LB5, DB12, LB5, LBinc (26 sts)

Row 18: LB6, MB3, DB8, MB3, LB6 (26 sts)

Row 19: LB5, MB16, LB5 (26 sts)

Row 20: LB4, MB18, LB4 (26 sts)

Row 21: LB4, MB8, LB2, MB8, LB4 (26 sts)

Row 22: LB5, MB6, LB4, MB6, LB5 (26 sts)

Row 23: LB6, MB3, LB8, MB3, LB6 (26 sts)

Row 24: LB26 (26 sts)

Row 25: LBdec, LB22, LBdec (24 sts)

Row 26: LBdec, LB20, LBdec (22 sts)

Row 27: LBdec, LB18, LBdec (20 sts)

Row 28: LBdec, LB16, LBdec (18 sts)

Row 29: LBdec twice, LB10, LBdec twice (14 sts)

Tie off.

Back Panel (make 1 panel) with 2.75mm hook:

The back body panel is worked nearly exactly the same as the front, except it is worked entirely in the main colour and the right/wrong side of the panel will be the opposite as it was for the first panel (this is so that the panels will match up exactly when we are ready to join them with all the yarn tails and carries on the inside).

Row 1: In Light Brown, ch 5, sc across (4 sts)

Row 2: LBinc, LB2, LBinc (6 sts)

Row 3: LB6 (6 sts)

Row 4: LBinc, LB5 (7 sts)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-4 for the second leg. Again, you will want to make sure your yarn carries are on the opposite side for the second leg as they were for the first so that they are inverses of each other (hint: the “inc” of row 4 should be on the outside of both legs; the yarn tails from where you just tied off will be pointing inward on both, toward each other). And remember, the “right” side is now the opposite, so the yarn tails should be facing you as you rejoin your yarn!

Body

Now you have two separate legs. In row 5, you will join your yarn in the first st and crochet across both legs, joining them.

Row 5: LB6, LBinc in each of next 2 sts, LB6 (16 sts)

Rows 6-10: LB16 (16 sts)

Now we will start the arms.

Row 11: In LB colour, ch 5, LB4 along chs, then cont to crochet along previous row, LB16 (20 sts)

Row 12: In LB, ch 5, LB4 along chs, then cont along previous row, LB20 (24 sts)

Row 13: LB24 (24 sts)

Tie off.

Now we will start the head. Turn your work so that the back (wrong side) of the panel is facing you. Join your LB yarn into the 3rd stitch.

Head

Row 14: LB20 (20 sts)

Row 15: LBinc, LB18, LBinc (22 sts)

Row 16: LBinc, LB20, LBinc (24 sts)

Row 17: LBinc, LB22, LBinc (26 sts)

Rows 18-24: LB26 (26 sts)

Row 25: LBdec, LB22, LBdec (24 sts)

Row 26: LBdec, LB20, LBdec (22 sts)

Row 27: LBdec, LB18, LBdec (20 sts)

Row 28: LBdec, LB16, LBdec (18 sts)

Row 29: LBdec twice, LB10, LBdec twice (14 sts)

Tie off.

Ears (make 4 panels in twos as described below):

In Dark Brown yarn and 2.75mm hook:

Row 1: Ch 3, sc across (2 sts)

Row 2: Inc twice (4 sts)

Row 3: Inc, sc 2, inc (6 sts)

Row 4: Inc, sc 4, inc (8 sts)

Tie off. Repeat rows 1-4 for second panel. Place both panels together, matching up all sides and attach the panels by crocheting around the outside. (Sc, ch, sc) in the corners (the two that will attach to the head). I did not stuff the ears. Repeat the above for the second ear.

Tail (make 1):

Row 1: Ch 10, inc in next 4 chs, sc across rem 5 chs (13 sts)

Tie off.

Bow tie (make 1):

Row 1: Ch 6, hdc in first 2 sts, sc in next, hdc in last 2 sts (5 sts)

Tie off. Tightly wind piece of yarn around the middle of the rectangle to create bow tie shape. Tie a knot to secure, leaving a few inches to attach to your pug.

Assembly:

Step 1: Face

The first thing we need to do is stitch the facial features onto the front panel.

Using your tapestry needle and black crochet thread, stitch on a little nose on the top (and in the middle) of the Dark Brown snout. I did this by simply stitching around one stitch several times. Then stitch a straight line beneath the nose to the top of the tongue.

Attach 8mm safety eyes or stitch on happy/sleepy eyes using black crochet thread.

Stich on two eyebrows with black crochet thread to create a cute surprise when you lift the ears

Step 2: Body and Ears

Time to join! Here’s what you’re working with (minus the bow tie, which I forgot to include in this pic):

Place the two panels together, matching up all sides.

**Make sure the front is facing you as you crochet around the outside.**

We need to make sure we leave enough space to attach the second ear so for this guy, we’re going to start on the left side at or below the middle of the head. Begin attaching the panels together by chaining one and single crocheting around the outside of the panels in the main colour.

Crochet down the side and around the arm, being sure to (Sc, ch, sc) into the same stitch for each of the two corners of the paw to give the arm a nice rectangular shape.

Continue crocheting down the side of the leg, up the other side of the first leg and then down the second leg, then back up the other side.

Crochet around the arm; don’t forget to (sc, ch, sc) into the same stitch in each of the corners of the paw.

Continue crocheting up the face and stop about half-way.

Stuff your Pocket Pug. Use the back of your crochet hook to pushing stuffing right down into each of the legs. I didn’t add much stuffing to the arms because they are very small and don’t really need it.

Now it’s time to attach our first ear. The ears are attached a little differently than usual. Instead of inserting the ear in between the body panels, we are going to lay the ear on top of the body panels and attach it.

The ears are attached in the “corner” of the head (as much as a round head can have a corner) where the last row ends (row 29) and the side of the panel begins, such that you will use three stitches from row 29 and the rest of the stitches will be down the side. Count your stitches backward from the third last stitch of row 29 to find out where to start. You will be crocheting 9 stitches across the top of the ear so you will need to count back 3 stitches on row 29 and 6 stitches along the side.

Switch to Dark Brown yarn (when switching colours, insert your hook into the last stitch before the switch with Light Brown but join Dark Brown and finish the stitch with Dark Brown before continuing on with Dark Brown). Attach the ear by crocheting through all three pieces; the ear and both body panels beneath.

When you get to the last stitch of the ear, change back to Light Brown yarn.

Continue crocheting across the top of the head. Top up stuffing as you go. When you reach the 3rd last stitch of row 29, switch back to Dark Brown and attach the second ear the same way as the first. Continue to top up stuffing as necessary. Switch back to Light Brown and close with a slst to first st and tie off. Poke the yarn tails back inside the piece.

Step 3: Finishing Touches

Finally, attach your Pug’s little curly-cue tail and his dapper bow tie to finish!

I also used some needle sculpting to give some character to this little pug.