Meet Sunflora! (Pattern)

Hello everybody! After I brought you Sunkern last month, I’m following right up with its evolution – Sunflora! Sunflora was truly a challenge, not because of the pattern itself, but the question “how do I keep that heavy head up?!” cost me a lot of nerves, haha. I ended up having to insert an external wire, which I am not happy about, but hey, sometimes things just don’t work the way you intended them to and that’s okay. Creative problem solving is never wrong! So grab your hook and get crafting to bring a never withering, always happy sunflower into your house!

Pattern

Materials
To make Sunflora you will need:
– A 2.5mm Crochet hook
– Green, light yellow and medium yellow yarn as well as black thread for the face (note: I used 2 different medium yellows for the petals as I ran out of yarn)
– Felting supplies and pink felting wool for the mouth (optional)
– A tapestry needle and scissors
– Stuffing
– A stitch marker to help you keep track of the start of the round
– Strong wire or pipe cleaners to support the neck and the feet
Please note that you can make Sunflora using any size crochet hook and yarn weight for a smaller or bigger result. I like using DK as it’s most commonly available. If you make amigurumi, it is usually recommended to go down a bit from the recommended hook size for the yarn to allow for a no-hole look (we don’t want to see the stuffing show through in between stitches)! Using DK yarn and a 2.5mm crochet hook, Sunflora should be about 20cm tall.

Stitches & Abbreviations
The pattern is written using US crochet terms in continuous spirals. You will need to know the following kinds of stitches to make him:
– Magic Ring (MR)
– Chaning (Ch)
– Single crochet (sc)
– Double crochet (dc)
– Decrease (dec); preferably using the invisible decrease method
– Increase (inc)
And now, let’s get started!

Head (in light yellow)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3: Sc 3, inc 3, sc 3, inc 3 (18)
Round 4: Sc 3, (sc, inc) x3, sc 3, (sc, inc) x3 (24)
Round 5: Sc 3, (sc 2, inc) x3, sc 3, (sc 2, inc) x3 (30) (this will make the head more oval and less round)
Round 6-13 (8 rounds): Sc around (30)
Round 14: Sc, dec, sc 3, (sc 2, dec) x3, sc 3, (sc 2, dec) x2, sc (24)
Round 15: Dec, sc 3, (sc, dec) x3, sc 3, (sc 2, dec) x2, sc (18), stuff
Round 16: (Sc, dec) around (12)
Round 17: Dec around (6), fasten off

Body (In green)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Inc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) around (18)
Round 4: (Sc 2, inc) around (24)
Round 5-7 (3 rounds): Sc around (24)
Round 8: (Sc 6, dec) around (21)
Round 9-10: Sc around (21)
Round 11: (Sc 5, dec) around (18)
Round 12: Sc around (18)
Round 13: (Sc, dec) around (12), stuff
Round 14: Sc 3, dec 3, sc 3 (9)
Round 15-17 (3 rounds): Sc around (9)
Round 18: (Sc, dec) around (6)
Round 19-24 (6 rounds): Sc around (6)
Round 25: Inc around (12)
Round 26: (Sc, inc) around (18), stuff
Round 27: (Sc 2, inc) around (24)
Round 28: (Sl, ch 2, dc, ch 2, sl) around, fasten off, insert a very strong wire

Arms (in green; make 2)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 6
Round 2: Sc around (6)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) around (9)
Round 4: (Sc 2, inc) around (12)
Round 5: Sc around (12)
Round 6: (Sc 3, inc) around (15)
Round 7-9 (3 rounds): Sc around (15)
Round 10: (Sc 3, dec) around (12)
Round 11-12: Sc around (12)
Round 13: (Sc 2, dec) around (9)
Round 14: (Sc, dec) around (6)
Round 15: Sc around (6), fasten off

Feet (in green; make 2)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 4
Round 2: Sc around (4)
Make a 2^nd like this, but do not fasten off! Instead, we will join these together to form the feet:
Round 3: Sc 2, then on the other piece, sc 4, then back on the piece you started this round on, sc 2 (8)
Round 4-8 (5 rounds): Sc around (8)
Round 9: Sc 3, dec, sc 3 (7)
Round 10-12 (3 rounds): Sc around (7)
Round 13: Sc 3, dec, sc 2 (6)
Round 14-15: Sc around (6), fasten off and insert some wire/pipe cleaner

Petals (in medium yellow) (make 16)
Round 1: In a MR, sc 4
Round 2: (Sc, inc) around (6)
Round 3: Inc around (12)
Round 4: (Sc, inc) around (18)
Round 5: (Sc 4, dec) around (15)
Round 6: (Sc 3, dec) around (12), fasten off

Assembly
Pat yourself on the back, you’ve come a long way! I recommend you start by sewing the petals to the head. The petals will be attached in two rows, 8 petals in each row. In the front row, there should be a petal each at the top, bottom, left and right side of the head; the other four should go in between these first four. In the back row, you should place them in between the petals of the front row (else you wouldn’t see them!). Then, take the body and sew it to the back of the head. Make sure you’ve inserted a very strong wire that can extend into the head to help support the head; I did not do this and ended up having to insert a wire through the head from below (through the petals) to make the head stand up. You might still need to do this depending on how strong you can make the neck. Next, sew on the feet (you should bend the wire so that Sunflora also has a bit of a leg, not just the foot), and lastly, the arms. Finally, take some black embroidery thread and embroider a happy little face! I filled the mouth with some pink felt, but this is entirely optional.

And that’s it! Enjoy your new little friend! You may post pictures of your Sunflora online as well as sell amigurumi made from this pattern, but I ask that you credit me as the creator of this pattern. Please do not redistribute the pattern.
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