Dota 2 Blink Dagger Plush - Free Crochet Pattern

First blog post, here we go! Today I'll be sharing a crochet pattern that I designed for a plushie Blink Dagger.

I've been crocheting for a while, but I'm fairly new to designing my own patterns, and this is my first attempt at doing something with a lot of complex shaping involved. In hindsight, I probably could have started learning shaping with something a little simpler, but I've always preferred to start with a big project and learn on the go.

My goal was to make this in one continuous piece, without any of the tediousness of stitching together many separate parts like a lot of amigurumi projects - just pure crochet. While I feel like there's a lot of room for improvement here, I'm quite happy with the result.

Some of the shapes, in particular the place where the handle meets the blade, took me hours of attempting and unraveling to try and get it to look just right (you can see how many crossed out rows I've got in the photo - there's several more pages of that).

Even though I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew with this project, I think I learned a lot! So, let's get on to the pattern itself:

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Dota 2 Blink Dagger Crochet Pattern

Note: This is an intermediate / advanced level pattern and not suitable for beginners. You should be familiar with basic amigurumi techniques and very comfortable with color switching.

 

What you'll need:

• Medium weight yarn in three colors: Blue, White, and Light Blue
• The brand of yarn I used is Cascade Superwash 220, gauge about 5 - 5.5 stitches/inch
• 4.5mm crochet hook
• Polyfill stuffing
  
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
• Stitch markers (optional but recommended - a bobby pin or two will do just fine)

Stitches & Abbreviations:

As with most amigurumi, this pattern is worked mainly in single crochet. Here's the abbreviations and notation you should know:

• MR - Magic ring
• Slst - Slip stitch
  
• Ch - Chain stitch
• Sc - Single crochet
• Inc - Increase
• Dec - Decrease
• FLO Sc - Front loop only single crochet
• BLO Sc - Back loop only single crochet

To indicate coloring, stitches will be prefixed with a color abbreviation in curly braces, like so:

• {W} Stitch in white
• {B} Stitch in blue
• {LB} Stitch in light blue
  

You will also sometimes see brackets and parenthesis used:

• [ .. ] - Indicates a group to be repeated (eg. [ Sc, Inc ] x2 means Sc, Inc , Sc, Inc)
• ( # ) - Indicates the total number of stitches that you should have made in this row.

Notes on color switching:

To keep color changes looking clean, always switch yarn on the last yarn-over of the previous stitch. For example, to switch on a single crochet, you'll insert your hook, draw up a loop of color A, then swap to color B to yarn over and pull through.

On carrying yarn of a different color along - I did this only where it made sense and wouldn't be too visible. Mainly this turned out that I carried the white yarn through everywhere, since that was my primary working color, and didn't carry along the blues so they wouldn't show through. This turned out to be rather useful for shaping, as you can see, the short blue strands helped to keep the blade held together in a flat shape:

Just be sure not to pull the strands too tight or you'll find it impossible to get any stuffing in there later.

Other tips & notes:

• This pattern is worked in one continuous piece. The only thing you'll need to use a needle for is to weave in loose ends, no need to stitch any parts together.
• This pattern could be simplified by removing the light blue blade edge altogether and just working those parts in white instead. I think the edge adds a nice bit of contrast, but if you want to use fewer colors or just don't want to do so many color swaps, it's definitely a possibility.
• Don't stress if things look a little crooked, or if the two sides of the blade aren't perfectly matching symmetrically. The blink dagger design is meant to be a bit jagged and crooked, and any big offsets can be realigned later with a little bit of needle sculpting.

Pattern:

Row 1: (6)

Start with dark blue yarn and make a magic loop.

In the loop, make 6 single crochet. Join with a slip stitch.

Row 2: (12)

Inc x6, join with Slst

Row 3: (18)

[Sc, Inc] x6, join with Slst

Row 4: (18)

Sc x18 in front loop only. This will give some definition to the edge, like so:

Do not join this row - from now we'll start working in one continuous spiral.

Row 5: (18)

Sc x3, Dec x2, Sc x6, Inc x2, Sc x3

By increasing on one side and decreasing the other, the tube we're making will start to angle towards one side. This'll help create the crooked shape of the handle.

Row 6: (18)

Sc x18

Row 7: (18)

Sc x4, Dec, Sc x7, Inc, Sc x4

Row 8: (18)

Sc x18 in front loop only (FLO)

Row 9: (18)

Sc x18 in back loop only (BLO)

Alternating between front loop and back loop only here will create a ridge that works to separate the handle into multiple segments. This will be repeated a few times later.

Rows 10 - 12: (18)

Sc x18

Row 13: (18)

FLO Sc x18

Row 14: (18)

BLO Sc x18

Row 15: (18)

Sc x3, Inc x2, Sc x6, Dec x2, Sc x3

Rows 16 - 17: (18)

Sc x18

Row 18: (18)

FLO Sc x18

Row 19: (18)

BLO Sc x18

Row 20: (18)

Sc x3, Inc x2, Sc x6, Dec x2, Sc x3

Rows 21 - 22: (18)

Sc x18

Row 23: (18)

FLO Sc x18

Row 24 : (18)

BLO Sc x18

Rows 25 - 27: (18)

Sc x18

This is the last section of the handle. Things will get more tricky from here on. We'll be introducing two new colors, so get out your white and light blue yarn and let's continue. From here on I'll be using {W}, {B}, and {LB} to indicate white, blue, and light blue yarn respectively.

Row 28: (32)

{W} Sc x6, Ch 8, then turn and Sc x7 back down the front loops of the chain. Sc x6 on the handle base, leaving 1 loop empty when you rejoin (the loop next to where you started to chain). Finish the row with {B} Sc x5.

You should end up with a stringy bit of white sticking off your handle that you'll start to build the blade off of. Here's a picture description to help explain:

Row 29: (32)

{W} Sc x10, {LB} Sc x7, {W} Sc x10, {B} Sc x5

Row 30: (33)

{W} Sc x10, {LB} Sc x3, Inc, Sc x3, {W} Sc x10, {B} Sc x5

Row 31: (35)

{W} Sc x11, {LB} Sc x2, Inc x2, Sc x2, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x12

Row 32: (37)

{B} Sc x7, {W} Sc x5, {LB} Sc x2, Inc x2, Sc x2, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x9, {W} Sc x3, {B} Sc x1

Row 33: (39)

{B} Sc x8, {W} Sc x5, {LB} Sc x2, Inc x2, Sc x2, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x9, {W} Sc x5

Row 34: (41)

{B} Sc x9, {W} Sc x5, {LB} Sc x2, Inc x2, Sc x2, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x5, {W} Sc x10

Row 35: (41)

{W} Sc x5, {B} Sc x5, {W} Sc x4, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x5, {W} Sc x10

Row 36: (41)

{W} Sc x5, {B} Sc x5, {W} Sc x4, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x11

Row 37: (41)

{W} Sc x6, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x4, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x11
 

We're about to start really shaping the blade now, so this is a good time to stuff your handle. I didn't stuff mine overly full, since I didn't want it to stretch out so much that you wouldn't be able to see the shape detailing anymore, but if you want yours to be more sturdy and less floppy you can add extra stuffing to give it more structure.

Row 38: (41)

{W} Sc x6, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x4, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x3, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x10, turn and Sc across both the current loop and the one on the opposite row to close it up, 2 times.

Here's what that will look like:

Row 39: (35)

{W} Sc across x2, Sc x5, {B} Sc x4, {W} Sc x3, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x7, Ch

Row 40: (31)

{W} Sc across x2, Sc x5, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x5, Ch

Row 41: (26)

{W} Sc across x2, Sc x3, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x3, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2

We've now closed up about half the blade, giving it a jagged chunked-out look.

Row 42: (25)

{W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x3

Row 43: (25)

{W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x3

Row 44: (27)

{W} Sc x4, {B} Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x3, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x3, Ch x2, turn

The chain stitches at the end will be the basis of a chunked increase that will raise the top of the blade gradually back up in line with the handle.

Row 45: (26)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x3, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x3, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x3, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x4

The empty loop here will be next to where you started the chain on the previous row (similar to what we did back on row 28 when creating the base of the blade)

Row 46: (29)

{W} Sc x5, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x3, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x5, Ch x2

Row 47: (28)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x5, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x6

Row 48: (28)

{W} Sc x6, {B} Sc x2, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x6, Ch x2

Row 49: (27)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x5, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x7

Row 50: (27)

{W} Sc x6, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x6, Ch x2

Row 51: (25)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x4, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x8, {W} Sc x2, {B} Sc, {W} Sc x6
After this row, we're finished with the dark blue. Cut the yarn and weave in the loose end. This is also a good time to loosely stuff the blade to give it a little structure and shape. Be careful not to overstuff, since you want it to lay fairly flat and not make it too round or cylindrical.

Row 52: (24)

{W} Sc x8, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x7, Ch x2

Row 53: (22)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x7, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x7

Row 54: (22)

{W} Sc x7, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x6, Ch x2

Row 55: (19)

{W} Sc in chain, skip a loop then Sc x5, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x6

Row 56: (18)

{W} Sc x6, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x5

Row 57: (16)

{W} Sc x5, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x4

Row 58: (14)

{W} Sc x4, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x3

Row 59: (12)

{W} Sc x3, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x3, {W} Sc x2
 Stuff the remainder of the blade after this row, it'll soon be too small to get any stuffing in.

Row 60: (10)

{W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc x2, Dec x2, Sc x2, {W} Sc x2

Row 61: (8)

{W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc, Dec x2, Sc, {W} Sc x2

Row 62: (6)

{W} Sc x2, {LB} Sc, Dec {W} Sc x2
Last chance to put a little bit more stuffing in the tip! You can also cut the light blue yarn and weave in the end here, since we won't be using it anymore.

Row 63: (3)

{W} Dec x3

Row 64: (1)

{W} Dec across the remaining 3 loops to close up. Finish off and weave in the end of the yarn. At this point you can clean up the shape a little bit with some needle sculpting if needed. And it's done!

Hope you enjoyed the pattern, if you make this please let me know and show me some pictures! If you have any questions or if anything is unclear just leave a comment.

Also don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more patterns and stuff I made --> https://www.etsy.com/shop/Chaiinchomp