Ally Alicorn (winged unicorn)

Well hello my lovely ones!! I hope you are all well. Now this little guy is rather special, as he is off to a very special charity raffle at a quiz that my friend is running this Saturday. The Quiz is raising money for the charity Child Bereavement UK. It is the most incredible charity that brings so much support to so many families who have lost a little loved one. My friend Vicky, who is running the quiz, is one of the most bravest people that I know. She has been through so much and is now such an inspiration to others. She raised a mega amount last year for the charity and even ran the London Marathon!!! What a superwoman!! You can read her story in the link below. And if you would like to donate to this incredible charity, then follow the information in the link below too.

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VictoriaMalone

So here it is, this rather special winged unicorn pattern. I hope you all like Ally. Don’t forget you can make her in any weight yarn you wish. Just make sure you use the correct hook size. The little one here is made by using double knit yarn where are the large one is Aran/2 strands of double knit.

Level – Moderate

Stitches –

Magic Ring – Fold over the yarn to make the loop. Insert your hook through the loop and grab the working yarn (long piece) and pull through the loop. Hold the tail and the working yarn and pull so that the knot tightens, but you still have a loop. This has created a magic ring.

Slip stitch (ss) – This is where there is no height to the stitch. It’s usually used to join rounds. So insert the hook into the front of the stitch you are joining to. This is usually the first stitch you made in that round/row. So yarn over your hook and pull through that first stitch then also through the loop on your hook.

Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.

Double Crochet Decrease (2dctog) – This is where you crochet two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches in the round. So insert the hook through the front of the first stitch only (the front V) and then insert again through the front of the second stitch (the front V). Now yarn over your hook and pull it back through both stitches, so you will then have 2 loops on your hook. Yarn over your hook again and pull through both loops. And there is your 2dctog. (Basically 2 double crochet stitches crocheted together.)

Treble Crochet (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.

Double Treble Crochet (dtr) – A double treble is quite a tall stitch. So yarn over hook twice, insert hook through the stitch/space and then yarn over hook again. Now pull the yarn through the stitch. There will now be 4 loops on the hook. Now place the yarn over the hook and pull through the first 2 loops. Then yarn over the hook again and pull through the next two loops. Haha, now place the yarn over the hook again and pull through the last 2 loops. Phew! It’s a bit of a long process, but a lovely stitch with the height that it gives.

Supplies –

Right then so this pattern can be made in any weight you like, from 4ply to super chunky. It just depends on how big you would like to make her. My quiz one is made from 2 strands of dk, but normally you would use Aran yarn. Or just made in a simple double knit yarn for a smaller one.

For a double knit weight unicorn, you will need a 3mm and a 4mm crochet hook. You will need about 100g of the main cream colour and then 50g balls for the beige (the muzzle), light brown (the hooves) then all the colours you would like to use for the mane, tail and wings. You will obviously not use all of the 50g ball for all the different colours, it just depends on how long your mane pieces are.

For a double stranded dk or Aran weight Unicorn you will need a 5mm and a 6mm Crochet hook. You will need about 200g – 300g of Aran and about 200g of dk for the double stranded unicorn of the main cream colour. Then once again you need 50g of beige (the muzzle) and light brown (the hooves) For the mane, tail and wings you can either double strand for mane with 2 strands of dk wool or use Aran coloured wool. I just had 50g of each colour and double stranded it using the inner and outer ends of the ball of wool.

And don’t forget you will need some scissors, some black or grey cotton yarn for the eyes and a blunt ended tapestry needle to sew in all your ends.

Ok so here we go …

Head –

For the head start off with your cream yarn and then move onto a beige yarn for the muzzle. If you are making it with double strands, don’t forget you can mix the original cream yarn with a beige yarn if you want to.

1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1 then, dc6 into the ring. Pull the tail tight to create the ring. (6)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – *3dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

6 – 10 (5 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (30)

11 – *4dc, then 2dc in each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

12 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (36)

13 – *4dc, then 2dctog*. Work ** 6 times. (30) (See stitch information above if you are unsure of how to work a 2dctog.)

11 – *3dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

12 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

13 – Change colour to a cream in the last dc stitch of the previous round with your beige yarn, then work 1dc into each stitch. (18)

14 – In this round, you need to follow each stitch carefully. So work 2dctog, 2dc in next 5 stitches, dc, 2dctog, dc, 2dc in next 5 stitches, 2dctog. (25)

15 – 1dc in each, then 2dctog in last 2 stitches. (24)

16 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

17 – 18 (2 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (18)

19 – *1dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

At this stage, I usually stuff the head and use my thumbs to smooth and shape it. Shaping the head, helps the stuffing to sit where you want it to.

20 – *2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (6)

Now slip stitch into the next stitch, stuff with toy stuffing and sew up using your needle.

Ears – make 2

1 – Make a magic ring, then chain 1 and 4dc into the ring.

2 – 1dc into each stitch. (4)

3 – *2dc in each stitch.* Work ** 4 times. (8)

4 – *1dc, then 2dc into next stitch.* Work 4 times. (12)

5 – 6 (2 rounds) 1dc in each (12)

7 *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work 4 times. (8)

8 – 9 (2 rounds) Work 1dc into each stitch. (8)

Now fasten off your end, leaving a good long tail for you to sew your ears to the head.

Body –

1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1, then dc6 into the ring. Then pull the tail tight to create the first round. (6)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – *3dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

6 – *4dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

7 – *5dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (42)

8 – 9 (2 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (42)

10 – *5dc, then 2dctog*. Work ** 6 times. (36)

11 – 12 (2 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (36)

20 – *4dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

21 – 26 (6 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (30)

27 – *3dc, then 2dctog. Work ** 6 times. (24)

28 – 33 (6 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (24)

34 – *6dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (21)

25 – *5dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (18)

26 – 1dc into each stitch. (18)

27 – *4dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (15)

29 – *3dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (12)

30 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (9)

Now it’s time to stuff your body with toy stuffing, sew up and fasten off your body using your needle. Remember to leave a tail, so that you can sew your body onto your head.

Hooves and legs – make 4

Ok so we are going to now use the light brown yarn for the hooves and then cream for the leg/arm.

1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1, then work 6dc into the ring. (6)

2 – Now work 2dc into each stitch in the round. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc in each stitch* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc in each stitch* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – Now in this round, work 1 back loop dc in each stitch. (24)

Working in the back loop will help to shape the hoof. You can see where the back loop is, where the arrow is pointing in the picture below.

You can see in the picture below that I’ve crocheted only in the back loop, leaving the front loop.

This is what your round 5 should look like.

6 – Work the rest of the hooves in both loops as normal. Work 1dc into each stitch in the round. (24)

7 – Work *2dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

8 – Work *1dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

Change colour in last stitch of the previous round to the main cream colour.

Ok so two of your hooves are for the legs and two are for the arms.

For the legs (make 2) –

9 – 27 (18 rows) Work 1dc for in each stitch in the round. (12)

For the arms (Make 2) –

9 – 28 (19 rows) Work 1dc in each stitch in the round. (12)

29 – *1dc, 2dctog* Work ** 4 times. (8)

Now make a slip stitch and fasten off. Now it’s time to stuff the arms and legs. Start with stuffing the hoof. Now you can either leave the arms/legs empty or give them a little stuffing, but not too much. You don’t want them to stick out too much and not have any movement!

Now you have 2 arms and 2 legs done. You’ll be able to tell the difference easily between the two, as the arms are a little longer and taper in at the top. (Arms on the left)

Horn

Ok for the horn, I have used a strand of each of these as I wanted to give it real sparkle and texture. But obviously, you can just use some double knit wool. For the double stranded/Aran one use 2 strands of double knit together, but for the double knit size just use double knit as normal.

1 – Make a slip knot and chain 12. Now slip stitch into a ring.

2 – 3 (2 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (12)

4 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work 3 times. (9)

5 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (9)

6 – Work *1dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (6)

7 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (6)

8 – Work *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 2 times. (4)

Now slip stitch and sew up the top so that it has a point and fasten off. Leave a long tail, so that you can sew on the horn to your unicorn’s head.

Phew that’s all the body parts done.

Right then, you should now have 2 legs, 2 arm, 1 body, 1 head, 1 horn and 2 ears.

So it’s now time to start sewing up your lovely unicorn. After many slightly wonky sewn up crocheted animals, I have come to the conclusion that the best place to start is the arms. If you attach both arms first and then the head, the whole toy seems to come together easier. Right so let’s get started.

To sew any of these lovely body parts on that you have created, you need to use your needle and obviously scissors to chop all the ends off.

First things first, use the tail from the top of the arms to sew each arm on to the top of the body.

When you’re sewing on the arms and legs, make sure you sew the top of the arm/leg and the under side of it. You wouldn’t want an arm or leg to fall off – how traumatic would that be to your little bod. You can also see in the picture below, that I am sewing through both arms and the body, to really secure them on and give a good little ledge for the head to sit on.

Now it’s time for the head. Make sure you sew the head on in the correct orientation. Can you see there is a dip where the head and the muzzle come together on the side, where as the other is flatter. The flat side is the side that you are going to attach to your body.

Now you may have noticed there are no ears on our head. This is due to the fact that they need to go on at the end of the sewing up process. (Once again, I have learnt from experience – if you sew them on before, it’s really hard to line up all the body parts i.e wonky toys!!)

Right now with this head, you really need to make sure that you anchor it down to the body, as the mane can become quite heavy.

The key is to keep checking that it’s all in line.

Right now for those legs. You can decide how you want them to lie, but this is the angle I tend to use, as it helps the toy to sit properly.

Sew your legs on with the same kind of technique as the arms. Just need to make sure you keep checking the angle they are sitting at to each other and that you sew both sides of them on securely.

Right then, ears. These definitely need to be left till one of the last parts to sew on. Again it’s all to do with alignment and how it looks at the end. So start by pinching the bottom of the ears together, now sew a few stitches through the bottom to secure the ears into this little pinched shape.

Now sew your ears in place. Make sure you work your way around the base of each ear.

Make sure you keep checking the alignment!

Ok, so now it’s time for the eyes and eyebrows. Start by threading your needle with black/grey yarn and then knotting the end. Then thread it through from the back, through the middle of the white part of the eye. The knot at the back should be small enough to fit through the middle of a stitch so that it is hidden, but be able to nestle in the stuffing to anchor the eye in place. Now finish your eyes by working little pupils on each eye, by sewing up and over a stitch. You can make these pupils as small or as big as you like. I seem to usually go over 2 stitches and usually sew it over about 4 times.

To work the eye brows, you can carry on using the black yarn from the eyes. So come up where you want the eyebrow to start and then literally insert it back into the stitch where you want the eye brow to end. It’s pretty simple, but very effective. Don’t make it too big, as they can get caught and snag later on! Obviously you can make any expression you would like to, just by changing the angle of the eyebrows!

Now for the nostril. These are worked exactly the same as the eyes, but with a beige coloured yarn. Work 2 little nostrils on the end of the muzzle, quite close together.

Right then, so all we have left is the mane, tail and wings.

Mane –

Right now it’s time for the fun bit. The mane. So you can use whatever colours you like. (Remember if you have made a double knit Unicorn, just use double knit yarn as normal for the mane. But if you are making an Aran or double dk stranded Unicorn you need to use double strands of dk or Aran yarn to make the mane.)

Ok so attach your yarn and chain 1.

Now work 19 more stitches, so you have 20 in total.

Now work 2dc in the second chain from the hook. *Now miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next chain.* Repeat this back to towards the head, down the side of the chain. This will give you a nice gentle spiral effect. If you wanted a really tight strand, work 2dc in each chain. This gives a spiral effect like on the my Octopus’s tentacles.

Once you have worked all of your dc stitches into your chain and you are back at the head of the unicorn, slip stitch into the stitch next to the base of your first chain. This will anchor your strand of mane to the head.

Now repeat this process as many times as you like. I used 6 different colours on my daughter’s and maybe worked 4 chains of each one. Just remember the more you add the heavier the head will get.

Whooops – now we have all those lovely ends to thread using your tapestry needle.

And there you have your beautiful mane!

Tail –

So for the tail we are going to work it exactly the same as the mane, but only one strand of each colour. I have also made sure they are all worked in the same area, so they look like they are sprouting out of one place.

Liking the smaller amount of ends to weave in!

Wings –

Ok so now it’s time to make the wings. Now if you are making a double knit sized Alicorn, you will need to use a 4mm crochet hook for the wings, but for the Aran sized/double stranded dk Alicorn you will need a 6mm crochet hook. As mine is a double stranded Alicorn, I am using a 6mm hook.

1 – So start by chaining 11.

So start by working 2dc stitches together in the second chain from the hook. This is where the arrow is pointing in the photo above. Then work 8dc stitches then 2dc stitches into the last chain. (12)

Now work down the other side of the foundation chain. Start by working 2dc stitches in the first chain. This is where the arrow is pointing in the picture below.

Then work 8dc stitches along the side of the foundation chain. Finally work 2dc stitches in the last chain. (24)

2 – Right then, now it’s time to use a stitch marker again. Work 2dc in the first stitch and then work 10dc stitches. Then work 2dc in the next stitch.

Now turn your wings and work a further 2dc stitches in the next stitch. Now work 10dc stitches and then finish the round with 2dc in the last stitch. (28)

3 – Now you are going to start your first fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch.

Now miss a stitch and then work 1dc into the next stitch. This creates your fan.

Now work 1dc in the next 6 stitches.

Then miss a stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch. Then miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next stitch. This finishes the second fan stitch.

Now you are going to start your third fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 6tr stitches in the next stitch. Now miss a stitch and then work 1dc into the next stitch. This creates your third fan.

Now work 1dc in the next 6 stitches.

Then miss a stitch and work 6tr stitches in the next stitch. Then miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next stitch. This finishes the fourth fan stitch and the first stage of our wings. (44)

Now you are going to start your fifth fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch. Now miss a stitch and then work 1dc into the next 2 stitches.

Now you are going to start your sixth fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch. Now miss a stitch and then double crochet into the next stitch. Then work 1dc in the next 8 stitches.

Now you are going to start your seventh fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch. Now miss a stitch and then double crochet into the next stitch. Then work 1dc in the next stitch.

Now you are going to start your eighth fan stitch. So to do this, miss 1 stitch and work 8tr stitches in the next stitch. Now miss a stitch and then 1 double crochet into the next stitch.

Now work 1dc in the next 2 stitches and then miss a stitch and work 6htr stitches in the next stitch. Then miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next stitch.

Now work 1dc in the next 6 stitches. Then miss a stitch and work 6htr stitches in the next stitch. Then miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next 3 stitches. (70)

Ok now work 1dc in the next 9 stitches. Slip stitch into the next stitch. Then work 2htr in the next stitch, then 2tr stitches in the next stitch. Now work 8dtr stitches in the next stitch. Then work 2tr stitches in the next stitch and 2htr stitches in the next stitch. Now work 1dc in the next 4 stitches.

Now work 8dc stitches.

Ok so now work 2htr in the next stitch, then 2tr stitches in the next stitch. Now work 8dtr stitches in the next stitch. Then work 2tr stitches in the next stitch and 2htr stitches in the next stitch. Then work 1dc in the next stitch and then slip stitch into the next stitch.

Ok so finally 36dc stitches and then slip stitch and fasten off leaving a long tail so that you can gather the middle and sew the wings on to the body. (92)