Numberblocks One

Hello! My son is a big fan of numberblocks on Cbeebies / iPlayer.

His favourite character is Octoblock. And since there are no available toys at the moment, except for the Numberblocks special edition magazines witch we own, I decided to make him a soft toy Octoblock. It took me a bit of trial and error to get it jut right but I was quite happy with the final result as so was my son 🙂

After figuring things out to make Octoblock I knew making One would be pretty easy so I though why not!? And I did…

I think there may be other parents out there looking for Numberblocks toys so I guess sharing the patterns makes sense.

I haven’t written crochet patterns before so I will start with One because it’s the easiest. Any feedback will be much appreciated, so if you have any questions please send them my way I will try my best to help and to improve the pattern over time.

If you’re interested in other Numberblocks patterns please leave a comment. I may release an Octoblock pattern in a near future if there’s people interested.

Crochet Pattern

Project notes

This pattern is written in US crochet terms.

The current photos are a left-handed version, if you would like to have right-handed photos version please leave a comment I may provide a right-handed version later.

You are free to choose the yarn and hook according to your personal preference. Just remember the heavier the yarn and larger the hook, the bigger the finished piece, and vice versa.

For the Squares and Limbs work in a continuous spiral, do not join rounds. This means, you won’t close each round with a slip stitch into the first stitch of the round, but continue to crochet directly into the first stitch of the previous round to start the next round.

Use stitch markers to keep track as you go. Mark the first stitch of a round to keep track where round begins.

Leave tails loose inside the work when possible there’s no need to weave these in.

Do not stuff the limbs, this will allow them to bend and move.

Materials:

Pattern Instructions

Limbs (make 4)

Eye

Fastening off invisibly

Final eye

Mouth

Finishing / Assembling

Sewing the body

The body will be a cube formed by the six squares we created.

The wrong side of the squares will be on the outside so before you start sewing make sure all tails are on the right side.

I think it’s best to sew all edges but the last one with the right side of the squares facing outside and then flip it over, the last edge should also be the very last thing to be sewed, after eye, mouth and limbs and stuffing.

Use one of the square tails for sewing.

I sewed using only the front loops, this isn’t very important when creating the character One but helps to keep consistency with other characters. In characters with more blocks for instance octoblock this will help to distinguish the blocks.

By the end of this step you should have a cube opened in one of the edges.

Sewing the face

Place the eye and mouth in one of the faces of the cube and sew using dark red yarn.

I tried to make the seams as invisible as possible.

Half way through sewing of each piece (eye and mouth)I pulled all the tails from these inside the body and tied a few knots to keep them inside and help attach the pieces more securely.

Sewing the limbs

I used Red yarn to sew the limbs to try and make the limbs blend in a bit more with the body.

I didn’t stuff the limbs, this way they are a bit more bendable/positionable.

For the arms I placed them in the centre of the square face they are on.

I used the long tails for sewing the limbs and pulled the smaller tails inside the body. Once I finished sewing I tied a knot using the 2 tails to help keep the limbs in place.  

Stuffing

Finally stuff the body, be careful not to over stuff because if you do you will end up with a ball instead of a cube.



Final sewing

Sew the last edge of the body.

(Optional) After stuffing and sewing the last edge to help keep the body shape as a cube instead of a ball sew yarn through the centre of the squares top to bottom, tighten it, make a knot to secure tightly and pull the tails inside the body.

Do the same for the square front to back, and left to right.

All done!

Crochet Abbreviations

blo: back loop only

ch: chain

dc: double crochet

dec: decrease

flo: front loop only

inc: increase

sc: single crochet

slst: slip stitch

yo: yarn over (yarn over hook)

[ ]x(number): Work whatever is in the brackets the number of times indicated.

Example: [sc, dc] x6  = single crochet in the next stitch and double crochet in the following stitch and then repeat that pattern six times.

Stitch Instructions

• (ch) Chain Stitch: yo and pull through the loop on the hook to create 1 chain stitch.
• (sc) Single crochet: Insert hook into the stitch, yo, pull through, yo, pull through 2 loops on the hook.
• (inc) Increase: Crochet 2 stitches into the same stitch.
• (sc2tog) Invisible single crochet decrease: Insert the hook into the front loop of the first stitch and then directly into the front loop of the second stitch (3 loops on hook), yo, pull through both front loops in one go (2 loops on hook), yo again and pull through both loops on your hook to finish a single crochet stitch as usual.
• (slst) Slip stitch: insert hook into the stitch, yo, pull through the stitch and the loop on the hook in one go.