For the past two years, I've made Christmas ornaments for friends and family instead of sending them a card. This year, I found the most adorable little bat pattern. Turns out it's AI...
(You can recognize its AI by looking at the hand, which AI hasn't figured out yet. In this case, there are no fingerprints; more obviously, the keyring goes right through the finger!)
The provided pattern started fine. The body worked well enough, but there were no instructions for the legs. The wings were just rectangles, and the bow did not have the shape shown here at all.
Unfortunately, I was already totally in love with this bat, so I tried to freehand it. And if I say so myself, it turned out quite nice :)
Next, I wanted to make this bat Christmassy. For inspiration, I asked the Crochet community on Reddit (r/crochet) for help, and they came up with many fantastic ideas. You can read all their suggestions here.
I've slowly been using their feedback to make different versions of this bat and will gladly share the patterns with you so you can make your own. So far, I have written one version of the pattern: a winter bat with a Christmas hat and scarf. And I'm currently working on a mistletoe/holly bat. I aim to update this page when I've made more accessories or different wing styles. Please let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any feedback. This is my first time publishing a pattern, so I still have much to learn.
Winter bat with hat & scarf crochet pattern
Tools, yarn & stitches
- 2,2 mm crochet hook
- 6mm safety eyes
- Stuffing
- Mercerized yarn in white, red, and silver
- Normal white yarn
- SC = single crochet
- SS = Slip Stitch
- FO = Front loop only
- BO = Back loop only
- INC = Increase (make two stitches in one stitch)
- DEC = Decrease (combine two stitches)
- Chain = Chain
This project only uses a small amount of yarn, so it's perfect for using up your scraps.
I'm using US crochet terms.
The pattern
Head, body & feet (white)
- Make a magic ring with 6 sc (6)
- INC x 6 (12)
- (1SC, INC) x 6 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
Insert the eyes between rounds 5 & 6 with 3 stitches in between.
- (1SC, DEC) x 6 (12)
Stuff
- DEC x 6 (6)
You've made the head!
- INC x 6 (12)
- (1SC, INC) x 6 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- SC 18 (18)
- (1SC, DEC) x 6 (12)
Stuff
In this next round, you're making the legs.
- SC 6 (or less; make sure the legs are centered correctly), skip 6, SS to the first stitch (6)
- ONLY if you made 3 stitches or less in row 18: SC 6 (6)
- SC 2, DEC, SC 2 (5)
- DEC, SC, DEC (3)
Finish of
Pull up a loop in one of the remaining stitches of row 17 to make the 2nd leg.
- Repeat row 18 (6)
- Repeat row 20 (5)
- Repeat row 21 (3)
Finish of
Ears (make 2)
Outside ears (white)
- Make a magic ring with 4 sc (4)
- INC x 4 (8)
- SC 8 (8)
- SC 8 (8)
- SC 8 (8)
Finish of
Pull the starting tail through the top of the ear to make it more pointy.
Inner ears (silver)
use a smaller hook
- Chain 4
- Start in the 2nd loop from the hook, SC 3, ch 1, turn (3)
- DEC, SC, ch 1, turn (2)
- DEC, ch 1 (1)
Finish of
Lay the inner ear on top of the outer ear and sew together.
Wings (silver)
Right wing
- Chain 5 (5)
- Start in the 2nd chain from the hook, SC 4, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 1, DEC, ch 1, turn (4)
- DEC, SC 1, INC, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 2, INC, ch 1, turn (6)
- INC, SC 4, INC, ch 1, turn (8)
- FLO: SC 8, ch 2, turn (8)
- Skip the chains, DEC, SC 4, DEC, ch 1, turn (6)
- FLO: DEC, SC 4, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 4, ch 1, turn (4)
- DEC, SC 3, INC, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, FLO: SS around the wing
When you've stitched up to round 7: SS up through the front loops, SS back down via the backside
Continue SS on the border
In round 9: SS up through the front loops, SS back down via the backside
Finish SS'ing to complete your border.
Optional while making your border
* Place your SS one SC below the border for a deeper indent
* Skip row 8 in your border to make the top more pointy
Left wing
It's basically the same as the right wing, but instead of FLO in rows 7 & 9, you do BLO, and in row 12, you start with Ch 2 instead of INC
- Chain 5 (5)
- Start in the 2nd chain from the hook, SC 4, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 1, DEC, ch 1, turn (4)
- DEC, SC 1, INC, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 2, INC, ch 1, turn (6)
- INC, SC 4, INC, ch 1, turn (8)
- BLO: SC 8, ch 2, turn (8)
- Skip the chains, DEC, SC 4, DEC, ch 1, turn (6)
- BLO: DEC, SC 3, DEC, ch 1, turn (4)
- INC, SC 4, ch 1, turn (4)
- DEC, SC 3, INC, ch 1, turn (4)
- Ch 1, (turn your work so you're working on the side that you want in front) FLO: SS around the wing
When you've stitched up to round 7: SS up through the front loops, SS back down via the backside
Continue SS on the border
In round 9: SS up through the front loops, SS back down via the backside
Finish SS'ing to complete your border.
Scarf (red & white)
- Start with red yarn, chain 4 (4)
- Starting in the 2nd chain from the loop SC 3, ch 1, turn (3)
- SC 3, ch 1, turn
Repeat row 3 until your scarf is long enough to wrap around the neck of your bat + 2 rows
- Switch to white yarn, ch 1, INC x 3
Fasten of
Hat (white & red)
I used the hat from this free pattern by Belle & Grace Handmade Crochet. However, instead of starting with chaining 42, I chained 24. For rows 2 -5, I made 24 SCs
For row 6, I almost halved every step. Where it said 9, I did 5; where it said 6, I did 3.
I then skipped rows 7 - 11 and continued normally from row 12.
I hope to continue making crochet patterns, so please contact me if you have any feedback! And stay tuned for more versions of this adorable little bat :)