Sting Ray

I have a friend who absolutely LOVES sting rays. So it was only logical to me to make her one for her birthday! :D

And you can see how cute he is!

If you'd like to make one for yourself, here's my pattern. I am new to writing my own patterns, so if anyone gets confused feel free to comment with any questions.

Sting Ray

Materials:
-worsted weight yarn in blue and soft white
-F (3.75mm) hook
-thread needle
-fiberfill stuffing
-black 9mm safety eyes
-pipe cleaners (optional, if you want to shape his fins/tail)

 
Body:
  -using F hook. 

  -Make 2 pieces, one with each color

Row1: ch 9
Row2: sc 8. Ch1, turn
Row3-10: increase each row by two. Do this by increasing on each end (2 stitches in first st, 2 in last st).   -At the end of Row 10, you should have 24 stitches.
Row 11-13: sc in each sc (24)
Row 14: dec 1 at each end (22)
Row 15: dec 1 at each end (20)
Row 16: dec 1 at each end (18)
Row 17-19: sc in each sc (18)
Row 20: dec 1 at each end (16)
Row 21: sc in each sc (16)
Row 22: dec 1 at each end (14)
Row 23: sc in each sc (14)
Row 24: dec 1 at each end (12)
Row 25: sc in each sc (12)
Row 26-28: dec 1 at each end (each row will decrease by 2 stitches) at end of row 28, you’ll have 6 stitches in the row
-- After row 28, sc around the edges of the whole piece (to make a smooth edge). Finish at the other end of row 28.

*leave a long tail on the blue piece to sew the pieces together. Finish off and weave in ends on white piece.

Tail:

Make 2 pieces, one in each color.

Row 1: chain 30

Row 2: sc in first 24, hdc in last 5 ch.
sc 2 in same stitch as last hdc, then turn. 

(on opposite of original chain) Do 5hdc, 24 sc down the chain.
leave a long tail on blue piece for sewing together. Finish off and weave in ends of white piece

Eyes:

These are the little pieces surrounding the safety eyes. They're optional, I just wanted a little more height to the eyes.

-sc 8 in magic ring.

Here are all my pieces before putting the stingray together:

To assemble your sting ray, first position and sew the eye spots onto the top of the blue piece. And fasten your safety eyes down. 

Next, sew the two tail pieces together. If you want to be able to bend and shape his tail, put pipe cleaners or wire in the tail before sewing it together (I just laid mine in between the pieces). I didn't put any other stuffing in the tail.

After his tail is together, sew it (blue side up) to the blue piece of his body. (The wider end of the tail goes closest to the body).

After the tail is attached, it's time to put the body together. Before I sewed the body together, I tied pipe cleaners to the edge if the body sides (in order to bend and shape his fins), but it's optional.

Now, there is a trick to getting the stuffing to stay in the body, but keep the fins relatively flat. It is also optional, but before I sewed the entire body together I put a few stitches around the edges of where I wanted the main body bulge to be, and stuffed it then. After I stuffed the "middle," I then went around the edges of the whole stingray, stitching him fully together.

I think he turned out pretty cute. 

And his new owner LOVES him! 

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your sting rays!