2022 is Projectarian’s Year of Fur and Neptune the Pineapple Crab is our first main character after Shuttle the Shongololo gave us a small taste with his furry option in my free pattern last month
Although Neptune is the cutest crab you’ve ever seen, you’d never guess he had a mysterious quirk hiding inside that shell. This critter’s special secret is that he can flip inside out to become a PINEAPPLE!
THE DEBUT OF SMUGGLE-TUCK PETS
Neptune is the first installment in my new collection called Smuggle-Tuck Pets, who will be a range of animals that turn flip inside out to become fruits. That is, only if you like Neptune and you want more reversible amigurumi! I do have a second Smuggle-Tuck Pet in the works and a whole bunch of other planned for if these first two patterns do well enough. So if you want more fruity friends, cast your vote by getting the patterns as they’re released so I’ll know you like them!
I was inspired by Poppels for this collection (who remembers Poppels guys?), although I didn’t go as simple as a Poppel with this guy. To be honest, I did want to kick off the collection with a simpler model, but the timing worked out in such a way that my simpler one is actually going to be my strawberry jerboa who is coming up next in this series.
I wanted the collection to be fruits that turn into animals and Neptune’s specific combination of hermit crab and pineapple came by special request from my bestie. One of my most memorable scuba dives ever was when I came across a huge, yellow hermit crab with a big purple shell in the waters of Sodwana. His legs were like beautiful plastic bananas covered in fluff and I couldn’t look away for the entire dive until my group started getting too far ahead and I had to leave Banana-Legs to rejoin them. So, when Jacqui suggested a hermit crab and pineapple combo, I was excited to draw my inspiration from that amazing creature I met under the Indian ocean that day.
USE NEPTUNE AS A GIFT PARCEL!
This fellow has a shell with a removable lid which you’ll unbutton to flip him pineapple-side-out, then pop the pineapple lid on top to complete the fruit. Being slightly more complex than a Poppel, he requires a little bit of tweaking when you flip him, just to arrange the pineapple or the shell neatly into shape after flipping him. In pineapple form, you can pack the shell’s lid inside the pineapple and vice versa when he’s in crab form; his shell can be packed with the pineapple lid or with various treasures. Personally, I think he’d make the cutest ocean-themed gift parcel if you put Hubble the Squid and a couple of Wishing Starfish inside his shell, or packed his pineapple with chocolates, fun jewelry and accessories, or a treasure map leading to the booty!
Neptune himself is a jewel collector by nature. He scours the ocean floor for shiny pirate treasure to hoard and keep safe inside his beautiful shell. He can often be found holding up a sparkling gem between his pincers, inspecting it by the beams of light cutting through the water.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE FURRY BITS!
The furry part of this pattern is very simple so you don’t have to be nervous about trying it! There are only two furry bits in the pattern – the pineapple and its lid – and they’re both crocheted with very basic shaping to intentionally keep it easy for you! There are a few rounds with simple increases to create the domes, and then it’s just straight rounds after that, no fancy footwork required at all.
I have also made a video revealing all my hacks for making fur yarn easy to work with so you can use that to bolster your confidence for trying Neptune’s pineapple. You can watch it below or on my YouTube channel.
The pineapple and the crab can both be worked as stand-alone models, you don’t have to connect them together. Meaning that you can start off with your pineapple and get the scary part out of the way before you make your crab. Or you can decided to omit the pineapple completely, but remember that its purpose is to line and support the shell when Neptune is shell-side-out. So in that case, you might choose to crochet all your pieces as tightly as possible for maximum structural support, or maybe you’d like to make the shell lined with a second identical shell – or some other clever solution that I haven’t haven’t thought of (let me know what you come up with)!
DITCHING THE FUR?
You might resort to crocheting the pineapple with plain yarn instead of fur. The pattern includes a few tips on how to do this.
SUPPORT & COMMUNITY
Join my Facebook group to get forum-style support for Neptune’s pattern. Share you progress pictures with us as you go, on Facebook and Instagram. You can tag me @Projectarian if you’d like me to see your posts (please do – I love seeing your projects!!!) on either platform too. Tag your pictures on social media with #NeptuneThePineappleCrab so everyone can see your cutie, and browse the tag to see everyone else’s.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll join the fun and try Neptune with his furry pineapple! Also check out #ProjectariansYearOfFur to see what furry fun is coming your way next, like #AquilaTheKitten, who is going to be needle felted, ooooooh!
xxx
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PIN IT!
