Jeri the Frog - free frog crochet pattern

Earlier this year I decided to have a go at making a pattern for a frog. 

I'd started noticing frogs popping up all around, then a friend actually suggested I make one. I remembered making one several years before without writing any notes. 

I was in the midst of many other projects so I put off starting this pattern. As always though, I was thinking about how I would go about the design, what's in a frog after all? 

(5 minute read)

froggie frogs

When I'd finally made headspace to look at this project, I was then overwhelmed by options. 

I started with sketching them out because I wanted to pinpoint what makes the toy look like a frog, I looked up actually frogs, plushie frogs, toy frogs, and more. Over breakfast on a couple mornings I sketched and doodled and floundered on options some more.

I was really enchanted by blobby boy to the top right of with the creepy clear eyes, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around how I would achieve that, let alone write the pattern. 

sketchy sketches

I had a bad day where I needed to rest in bed, but to distract I dug out my green yarn - left over Scheepjes Cahlista - and started toying with possible patterns. 

Starting with a sphere for the body, once I got that down, the rest was came quite easily. 

While the legs gave me a bit of problems at this stage, it was the building blocks for the pattern. 

I had a basic draft written up and this happy frog sitting pride of place on my shelf until I was ready to test what I'd written (it's amazing the mistakes you can find on first drafts!). 

surprisingly close to final

On digging through my stash for a separate project, I remembered I had a stash of fluffy yarn left over from a commission. This isn't the type of yarn I like working with, but the idea of a plush frog wouldn't leave my mind. 

Sizing up my hook to a 5mm and using Bella Baby Nippers in mint, I was really happy with how it came together. 

I still used Flinders Cotton 8 ply for the eyes and mouth, since the fluffy yarn only comes in pastels. It gives it a nice contrast I think. I did have to alter the pattern a little to make those work together, or they'd be very beady eyes indeed. 

Come at me, bro

The final step was recording the video tutorial and taking supportive photos for the PDF pattern. 

The fluffy yarn would never work for either of those, so it was back to stash yarn. I had run out of green, but orange is such a great replacement I feel. 

Through this process I was watching a Twitch streamer called Kate playing GTA 5 on a Role Play server, which is an absolute wild ride. You can see it on my laptop, which was handy to have on hand to power the lighting too!

With all the bits made and the final frog complete, I was able to focus on editing the video and polishing the written pattern.

Editing is generally pretty smooth for me these days. I use HitFilm Express for editing, Audacity to record the audio, Canva for on screen graphics like the pattern and credits. These are all free to use and have helped me get the process down tidily. 

behind the scenes

The only thing in my way lately (other than mystery health goings on) has been the construction next door. As with everywhere in Sydney, there's a new apartment building going up. So six days a week, from 7am to 5pm there's all the joyous sounds of construction. 

Then when they knock off, the local birds give them a run for their money in celebration of the quiet (or that's what it feels like sometimes, hah!).

So a few days of trying to do recording at night, which is then more disruptive to my partner and I have less energy, I finally gave in and recorded it during the day. There's some of the hammering coming through, but I did my best to work around it. 

Finally the video was finished off, the last detail was naming the pattern. I asked around some online communities I'm in and settled on Jeri. I liked it's a gender neutral name, still keeping a connection to Jeramiah (was bullfrog, was a good friend of mine).

le frog

And so at long last, the PDF Pattern is available free now on my Ravelry store:

Free PDF Pattern available here

If you're giving the pattern a go, I'd love to see it. 

You can create a "Project" on Ravelry to make notes, record the yarn used and upload progress and finalised photos. It's a great way to share for others to see and give feedback (hopefully constructive) to the designer. 

And the YouTube tutorial is available here. Be sure to drop a comment and like the video, it really helps me continue to grow. 

Shortly after this video came out, I was so excited to find I had passed 1k subscribers! This doesn't mean too much in the grand scheme, though I do now have the community tab, which is very cool. 

However it's still an exciting milestone on the way to monetisation (yes, there's more to be done, but we'll get there). 

dem frogs legs

So, what's been on your hook, needle or canvas lately? Drop a comment of your recent crafts, I love hearing what people are up to.

Oh, remember the original frog I mentioned from a few years ago, I managed to find a photo! Well, a download of a screenshot of a photo that I took. I really was bad at keeping track of projects before Instagram!

I love the simplicity of his design, it was made as a gift for a work program where they provided toys to the day care of the factory (I worked in IT at a fashion company). I didn't find this until after I'd made Jeri, so I think I'll have a go at recreating this design and share it in the future!

the original

Have a lovely day.