Conky the Conker 

Anyone been Conker hunting yet? It’s definitely one of my all time favourite childhood activities! There’s something rather special about finding that spikey little shell and prizing it open, in sheer delight and hope that the conker hiding inside, will be a humungous one!! A conker to beat all conkers!

My favourite ones are the doubleses! Now they are special – two little conkers, squeezed into together like little twins!! What’s not to like!!!

Well as some of you know, we went conker hunting in the rain last week. It wasn’t quite planned that we were going in the rain, but it kind of made it all the more special! We found this mega tree, in the middle of a roundabout near us, that didn’t seem to have been found by any other little bods!! My daughter went bonkers, running back and forth from conker to conker, finding the big ones and zooming back to her Daddy so that he could prize them open!! Oh the joy if it all. They ended up being stored in a nappy bag and hung off the back of the pram. My son just watched in amazement, quite confused as to what they were doing. But ever since, when we have walked past a conker filled tree, he has made me bring one home for his sister!! Bless!!

So it was on this rainy conker hunting trip, when a little Conky Conker idea popped into my head. See that’s why I differ from others, as most people think about what they are having for dinner or how they are going to get a certain job done! Nope not me, I mull over conker patterns and how to create the best little crocheted conker for my little girl! Hee hee! Well here he is, Conky the Conker.

Now Conky is a rather shy little conker, as he had a bit of rough start in life. It all happened one blustery rainy Sunday afternoon. He was quite happy minding his own business, when a certain little brother of his, started yabbering to him. His brother was egging him on to try and twizel on his stalk. Conky usually didn’t listen to his rascally brother Colin, but today was one of those days.

He knew he could do it. His parents had always warned him not to, but he decided that if he did, it would keep his brother quiet.

So he took a deep breath…

1, 2, 3… whoosh!!!

Unfortunately, unbeknowns to Conky, at that split second, the wind picked up and Conky’s little stalk split into two. Down Conky fell onto the soft and damp grassy floor. Conky knew it was nearly time for all of them to follow their destiny’s and fall from the tree. But he wasn’t ready! Not one bit. He sat there, paralised with panic and worry as to what was going to happen. Where was he going to end up? Who would find him? What if no one found him and he didn’t have a home to go to?!?! What if he was eaten by a dog or a squirrel sneaked him into a hidden hole for winter feasts. But then all of a sudden, a little girl came running over. She had glittery pink pumps on her sweet little feet and curly locks spiralling in two little pigtails on the sides of her head. But the best part, was that she had the biggest smile that Conky had ever seen.

“Daddy, Daddy, there’s one here.. there’s one here..” she squealed.

She knelt down and gently picked him up and just beamed in pure excitement from ear to ear.

“Would you like to come home with me little guy?” She whispered. She held out her little hand and picked up Conky with such tenderness, not even his little spikes hurt her gentle hands. In that moment, little Conky knew he was in safe hands and was off to a whole new loving home. Conky, was happy.

I wonder how many little Conky’s will be collected this year and given new homes? I wonder how many of these little Conky’s will be made and loved by little ones?

Well, we had better get on with the pattern for him.

So this little guy is made from some rather special wool. My dear parents-in-laws are big adventurers. They have been to some amazing places in the world and I’m sure they will be off to many more, in time. One of their adventures was to Peru. Well they brought me back some lovely baby alpaca wool, Paddington Wool to be exact! It’s the perfect colour for a little Paddington and well our little Conky Conker. Apparently, the wool was bought from Aunt Lucy in the Home for Retired Bears. So it’s just right for a little Conker and all the more special. I just told my daughter about where the wool had come from and she now would like me to design and crochet a Paddington – think that’s a project for next year!

Level – Easy

Supplies –

So for Conky the Conker, you will need some green, brown and light brown yarn, I have used stylecraft cotton for the green, Toft light brown wool for the top of the conker and some rather nice baby Alpaca wool that my parents-in-law bought me back from Peru for the main body of the conker. So rather special. The baby alpaca wool is soooooo so soft!! You also need a tiny amount of white or cream dk wool. But remember, you can use any wool or yarn really. Great way of using up little odds and ends you’ve got lying around. Some scissors, a blunt ended tapestry needle, some toy stuffing and little bit of black yarn or black embroidery silk for the face. Oh and I nearly forgot a 3mm hook.

 

Stitches –

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 hook and pull through that first stitch then also 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.)

So here we go…

Body – use a 3mm hook with your brown yarn. You are working in the round for the body.

1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1, then dc6 into the ring. (There’s a tutorial for a magic ring in the tutorial page if you are unsure of how to make one.)

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 – 13 For each round, work 1dc in each stitch. (42)

14 – *5dc, then 2dctog*. Work ** 6 times. (See stitches explanation above if you are unsure of 2dctog.) (36)

15 – *4dc, then 2dctog* Work ** 6 times. (30)

16 – *3dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

Now we are going to change to the lighter brown coloured yarn. Remember to change your colour by working into the last part of the last stitch in the previous round. You can see in the photo below how it is being worked.

17 – 1dc in each stitch in the back loop of each stitch in the round. You can see in the picture below how I am only picking up the back loop of the stitch. (24)

17 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times.(18)

18 – *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times.(12)

Now it’s time to stuff your body with toy stuffing. It’s important to do it at this stage, before the hole gets too small.

19 – Now work 2dctog – 6 times in the round. (6)

Now sew up and fasten off your body using a blunt ended tapestry needle.

 

And now for the fun part. The eyes, eyebrows and smile. You need your black yarn, needle and scissors. (Don’t forget you can make the expression anyway you like.)

For the eyes. Attach by knotting one end and threading it through a gap in between a stitch at the back of the body. This will hide the end. Now pull the needle through where you would like the eye to be.

I tend to sew over one stitch to make the eye and sew over this stitch about 5 times.

Then move across and complete the next eye in the same way, checking that both eyes are in the correct place on the conker.

You can add eyebrows in the same way as the eyes, but with one stitch. I love the simpleness of the eyebrows. They can make such a difference to a face!!

For the mouth. Pull the yarn through where you would like the mouth to start then thread back through where you want the mouth to finish. Now here’s the tricky part. You now need to anchor the mouth in the middle to make it a smile.

So simply push the yarn back up in the middle of the mouth by one stitch lower, go over the top of the mouth, then back through the same stitch.

This will give you the smile. Again, simple, but effective.

 

Right then so now it’s time to make his little house. His green spiky shell. Now we start off exactly the same as the body of little Conky.

Conker Shell Half – make 2 of these.

1 – So first things first, using your green yarn 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 – 9 Work 1dc into each stitch in the round. (30)

Now for both halves of your Conker shell, slip stitch your yarn and pull through and fasten off as usual. Note to self here, with one half of the shell you can fasten off and sew in your end straight away, now with the other half of the shell, leave a long tail. This is so you can use this to sew the two halves together to create the shell.

Right so to do this place,  your two halves with the wrong side of the crocheting facing each other. Now if you are unsure which side this is, you can usual tell by the crocheting looking a little tighter on the wrong side. (But if you get it wrong in this project it really isn’t a problem.)

Once they are facing each other, use your tapestry needle to sew the two halves together, weaving in and out of each stitch. I tend to match the stitches up on either side of the halves, but you don’t have to.

Now here’s the tricky part, you need to sew the halves up, but only to a point of where little Conky can live in the shell, but not fall out or on the other hand be too tight and not be able to get back into his shell. So keep checking that he fits properly. 

When you are happy with the size, (it’s roughly about 2/3 around), fasten off, by sewing over the same stitch a few times to secure it. You need to make sure it doesn’t become loose over time. Then hide your ends by weaving in and out of the inside of the conker shell stitches.

This is what it should look like.

Ok so now it’s time to create little Conky’s sharp points on the outside of his shell. Now I tried lots of different ways to create these little points. I had a go at making the shell with lots of different cluster stitches or other bumpy stitches, but I found that the most realistic way, was to sew them on with simple little knots.

So all you need to do is take a length of your green yarn, maybe an arms length and thread it with your tapestry needle again. Now attach it to the inside of your shell and weave it in and out of some stitches to secure it. Try to do this as hidden as possible, then poke it through where you want to make your first little point and simply make 2 double overhand knots in the same place and then thread it back through the next stitch along. This then creates a little pointy bump.

To make a double overhand knot – *make a loop and feed the yarn into it.

Now take it outside the loop and pass through once more.

Now pull end and push knot towards the shell of the conker, so the knot sits on the shell.* So for this pattern, you need to work this knot twice, so repeat this process ** again. The second knot will sit on top of the first. Now thread the yarn back into the next stitch along to bring it back through to the back of the shell. This will create a little point.

Now weave you needle through the back of the stitches on the inside of the shell and then pop back up through where you want the next stitch to be.

Repeat this process until you are happy with the amount of little spikes and then simply fasten off in the usual way, by cutting your end and sewing in your end.

So to give you conker shell a little white edge, just grab a little handful of white or cream dk wool/yarn and using your 3mm hook again, attach the yarn in the back loop of the last row of stitches in one end of the opening of the shell. Now simply work 1dc in each back loop of each stitch on the one side of the shell.

Then work your way up the other side of the shell, with 1dc being worked in the back loop of each stitch. Once you have completed the round, fasten off and sew in your ends using your tapestry needle.

And there you have one little conker shell.

Awwww!! A little Conky of your very own. He’s definitely a bit of a cutie. Imagine a whole family of them. I can imagine my daughter would love that!!

Hope you have enjoyed this little guys pattern. Don’t tell anyone, but I think he is one of my favourites at the moment!!

Shout if you need any help.

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈 Xx