Let’s start this fun free clownfish family crochet along with Jimbo the clown fish amigurumi pattern! I love him with his large clown glasses, I love them all but I think he may be my favorite. I hope you will have fun crocheting him, and don’t forget to send me your pictures, there are free patterns to win! You can check all the crochet along rules in this article on the blog: Clownfish family crochet along.
At the end of the crochet along, I will publish instructions to assemble a baby mobile, or you can just keep them as a play set.
No time right now? Pin this crochet pattern for later.
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Jimbo the clownfish amigurumi pattern: his story
If you think “clownfish”, you think “Nemo”, and then you think “orange and white”. Well this guy is the clownfish with the blue skin color. Blue is the new orange. Orange is so 2022…
I could go on like that but if you want the real story when I started working on this clownfish family I had planned a totally different look and feel, it was supposed to be with pastel colors, classy and dreamy for a poetic baby mobile. But then I was playing with my son, and he is such a clown… you got it. I suddenly found them a bit boring, and started adding a clown nose. And I guess I got a bit carried away and kept adding more clown accessories!!!
This is how my creation process goes, the final result is rarely what I first had in mind. But that’s what makes if fun, although it gives me much more work because I keep adding things!
Scroll down for the free patterns and links below.
Before you start Jimbo the clownfish amigurumi pattern
- Pin the clownfish family amigurumi pattern to your Pinterest boards here.
- If you haven’t already, subscribe below to receive reminders for the next free pattern releases for this CAL, and the next ones! Don’t worry, if you don’t want to receive them anymore, you can unsubscribe anytime, no hard feelings!
MATERIAL
- 2.5mm crochet hook / US C-2
- Yarn:
- DMC Happy cotton: shades 788 (yellow), 786 (electric blue), 761 (off-white), 754 (pinkish red), 750 (blue petrol), 755 (fushia), 780 (green)
- Rico Design Creative Lamé Gold
- DMC Cotton Perle N°8 shade 310 (black) to embroider the smile
- Tapestry needle
- Fiberfill
- Stitch marker or a strand of thinner yarn
- A pair of 8mm safety eyes
- Ball point pins for assembly
LEVEL
Beginner to intermediate.
CROCHET LANGUAGE
This pattern uses US terms abbreviations.
GAUGE AND SIZE
Gauge for the clownfish with the above material (2.5mm hook): 5-round circle = 4cm (1.6″). Find out how to measure gauge for amigurumis in my tutorial here.
With the material mentioned above and when gauge is achieved:
- The clownfish is about 10cm long (4″)
PATTERN NOTES AND SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
- The number before the abbreviation represents how many times to work one type of stitch into consecutive stitches from the previous round (unless stated otherwise). Ex: 3inc = work one increase into each of the next 3 stitches.
- This pattern is worked in continuous spiral rounds (i.e. without closing the rounds with a slip stitch) unless stated otherwise. It may help to mark the first stitch of each round with a stitch marker.
- For amigurumi in general, I always use an invisible decrease (unless stated otherwise) to minimize the gaps between these stitches so that the fiberfill doesn’t show too much. You can check this simple technique in a video tutorial here, but if it’s too much hassle and you prefer to start right away you can also work with normal decrease, no big deal!
STITCHES AND ABBREVIATIONS (US CROCHET TERMS)
st: stitch/es
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
dc: double crochet
tr: treble crochet
sl st: slip stitch
inc: single crochet increase (work 2 sc into the same st)
dec: single crochet decrease (single crochet two stitches together)
hdc inc: half double crochet increase (work 2 hdc into the same st)
[number]: total number of stitches of the round
Rnd: round
(…) x 2: repeat whatever is inside the brackets the number of times indicated
(…) in next st: work all the instructions inside the brackets in the next stitch
in BLO: in the back loop only
in FLO: in the front loop only
JIMBO THE CLOWNFISH AMIGURUMI PATTERN
THE BODY
With blue yarn.
Rnd 1: Work 6sc into a magic ring. [6]
Rnd 2: inc in each stitch around. [12]
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x 6. [18]
Rnd 4: (2sc, inc) x 6. [24]
Rnd 5: (3sc, inc) x 6. [30]
Change color (finish the last stitch with off-white).
Rnd 6: (4sc, inc) x 6. [36]
Rnd 7: sc around. [36]
Rdn 8: sc around. [36]
Change color (finish the last stitch with blue).
Rnd 9: sc around. [36]
Rnd 10: (dec, 16sc) x 2. [34]
Rnd 11: dec, 11sc, in BLO 3sc, sc in both loops, dec, sc, in BLO 3sc, in both loops 11sc .[32]
Change color (finish the last stitch with off-white).
Rnd 12: sc around. [32]
Insert 8mm safety eyes between rounds 4 and 5, 9 stitches apart (counting stitches from beginning and end of round 4, see picture number 3). Double check each eye
is at the same distance from the 3BLO from round 11, this is where the pectoral fins will be crocheted).
Rnd 13: (dec, 14sc) x 2. [30]
Change color (finish the last stitch with blue).
Rnd 14: sc around. [30]
Rnd 15: (dec, 13sc) x 2. [28]
Rnd 16: (dec, 5sc) x 4. [24]
Change color (finish the last stitch with off-white)
Rnd 17: (dec, 10sc) x 2. [22]
Rnd 18: (dec, 3sc) x 4, dec. [17]
Change color (finish the last stitch with blue).
Rnd 19: (dec, 2sc) x 4, sc. [13]
Cut the white yarn, and make a small knot inside to secure it.
Rnd 20: dec, 4sc, dec, 5sc. [11]
Finish stuffing with fiberfill.
Rnd 21: Flatten and sc both sides together so that you end up with 5sc. [5]
Now let’s crochet the tail:
The chain doesn’t count as a stitch.
Row 1: Chain 1, turn, (sc, hdc) in the same st, (2dc) in the next st, (2tr) in the next st, (2dc) in the next st, (hdc, sc) in the last st. [10]
Fasten off leaving a tail, make a knot to secure it, and hide the yarn end inside the fish.
THE PECTORAL FINS
With blue yarn.
Make a slip knot.
The pectoral fins are crocheted using the front loops from round 11. The fin is crocheted in rows, and the right side of row 2 is prettier than the wrong side: for the left fin, start crocheting from top to bottom (in other words, start in the loop that is closer from the back of the fish, and crocheting towards the belly).
For the right fin, start crocheting from bottom to top (or from the belly towards the back).
Row 1: 3sc. [3]
Row 2: chain 1, turn, (sc, hdc) in first st, (2dc) in next st, (hdc, sc) in last st. [6] (The chain doesn’t count as a stitch)
Fasten off leaving a tail, secure it with a knot, and hide it inside. Hide the other yarn tail inside as well.
Note: on the third picture above, the wrong side of the left fin is facing you (and the right side of the right fin is facing you). I instructed just above to have the right side facing you on both fins, this way you can choose what you prefer!
THE DORSAL FIN
With blue yarn.
Make a slip knot.
Start on the top of the fish, insert your hook between row 9 and 10, and exit between row 10 and 11.
Row 1: Sl st, (hdc, dc) in next st, (2dc) in next st, (2dc) in next st, skip 1, sl st. [7] (The first sl st doesn’t count as a stitch).
Fasten off, leaving a tail, make a knot to secure the yarn end and hide the tails inside.
THE VENTRAL FIN
With blue yarn.
Make a slip knot. Under the fish belly, at the center, insert your hook between rounds 13 and 14, and exit between rounds 14 and 15.
Row 1: (sl st, hdc) in the first st, (2hdc) in next st, hdc in next st, sl st in next st. [5] (The first sl st doesn’t count as a stitch).
Fasten off, leaving a tail, make a knot to secure the yarn end, and hide the tail inside.
THE CLOWN NOSE
With Happy Cotton shade 754 (pinkish red).
Rnd 1: work 4sc into a magic ring. [4]
Rnd 2: (inc, sc) x 2. [6]
Rnd 3: sc around. [6]
Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing, fill slightly with the starting yarn tail or fiberfill if needed, and sew closed.
THE HAT
With DMC Happy Cotton shade 788 (yellow).
Rnd 1: work 4sc into a magic ring. [4]
Rnd 2: (inc, sc) x 2. [6]
Rnd 3: sc around. [6]
Rnd 4: (inc, 2sc) x 2. [8]
Rnd 5: (inc, 3sc) x 2. [10]
Rnd 6: sc around. [10]
Rnd 7: (inc, 4sc) x 2. [12]
Fasten off, leaving an extra long tail for sewing.
With DMC Happy cotton shades electric blue, orange, fuchsia and orange, add some double french knots to decorate the hat, secure them with knots inside the hat and hide the tails inside as well.
THE CLOWN GLASSES
With DMC Happy Cotton shade 788 (yellow).
Make a slip knot, leaving a long starting tail (20cm / 8″). Chain 40 (you can adapt the number of chains +/- 1 later when sewing to the fish).
Fasten off leaving again a long tail to sew the glasses to the fish head.
ASSEMBLY OF JIMBO
- Sew the nose at the center of the head (on Rnd 1 of the head).
- Embroider a smile.
- Sew the hat to the head, slightly on the side.
- Position the glasses with ball point pins and adjust the number of chains if needed to obtain the correct length. Using a tapestry needle and the two tails, secure the position of the glasses by grabbing a chain here and there, don’t pull too tight to keep a nice shape. Hint: To secure the glasses position after you grabbed your last chain, you can exit through the hat and make your knot there, then hide it inside the hat by going through the hat again.
- Decorate the tail with Rico design lame gold strands.
Congratulations on completing the first part of this clownfish family set! I can’t wait to see your makes, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @octopuscrochetdesign and use the hashtag #clownfishcal .
Let’s jump to his friends on March 9 !
