Dinosaur Tail

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Originally uploaded by jenamberautumn

So my girlfriend doesn't know it yet, but for graduation I made her a tail. We have an inside joke where we call her (hername)-saur, and make videos and write articles on lj about this mysterious being's living habits which mysteriously mirror a college students'.

Random note: the color of my girlfriend's hair is the same color as the dark pink.

So she graduated a couple of weeks ago, and since then I've been working on her graduation gift. Having looked on the internet and not finding ANY patterns for crocheting a dinosaur tail (there were a few knit ones I came across, but I did not find them remarkable) I decided to make my own.

I started from the tip, and worked in a spiral, increasing by two every third stitch and alternating with a row of no increase, repeat. About a fourth of the way up, this changed to increase every fifth single crochet for a round and then two rounds of single crochet, repeat. Finally, around where the third spike ends (from the tip up) increased every tenth single crochet in a round, and then had with three rounds of no increase, repeat.

As you can see, this was a very approximate pattern, which resulted in a little too much increase at the beginning of the fourth spike up from the tip. Still, I was rather pleased. However, when held up to the butt, the tail looked more like a random pink cone sticking out of the butt. I felt it needed to be angled down.

So then, I employed the same method I use when turning my crochet socks on the heel, except this was much bigger and less drastic. I crochet halfway across, turned, and went back. The next time I went across, I picked up one stitch from the opposite side, and then Crochet two.

It was very... feel along as you go type pattern, which is what I like best. There was also lots of unraveling involved. So finally, I angled the tail down enough that I was happy.

The second step was a giant coaster that was worked in a spiral and then sewed to close up the tail and enable me to stuff it.

Finally, I made the spikes. These were done in a single crochet square which was then folded into a triangle and single crochet together. The first spike is one round, the second three rounds, the fourth five rounds, and the last two seven rounds. They were then sewn onto the body. Looking back, I probably should have sewn those on, then attached the giant coaster and stuffed it.

But still, it turned out well.

What do you think?

PS: Model is my sister.