Hello! I am Julianne Winter, the creator behind the brand Ink & Stitches, and I’m so pleased to be here on The Hook Nook blog! Who knew when I tried my hand at crocheting over a decade ago, that it would become a hobby I couldn’t put down. Designing patterns was a natural progression as I began to understand how my increases and decreases created shapes and those shapes created new characters.
Much like I weave characters together when I write stories and chapter book series for children, I weave my yarn to bring those characters to life! When my Tales of Whimsy series was being released back in September 2020, I knew I wanted to tie my two passions together and so I created patterns to crochet your very own Whimsy and her best friend Flit (a milkweed wisp). From there I designed a Wishghan blanket made using the C2C crochet technique including many of the characters and locations from the first book in the series, Wishweaver. As we near the release of the second book in the series, The Wayward Wind (due out August 28th everywhere online books are sold), I have another of Whimsy’s friends’ patterns to release, Rolland, the roly poly. His crochet along will lead up to the second book’s release and will be shared over on my Ink & Stitches blog.
I wondered what character from the second book I should bring to life and I knew instantly who could transform effortlessly from imagination to yarn creation, a water elemental named Mizu (Me-zoo). Mizu’s spirit form is very much inspired by the water which she has the ability to control, with a head shaped like a raindrop,and arms and legs that are free flowing like a stream. I thought she would make the perfect doll to add to the crochet-able collection of characters from the Tales of Whimsy. What better gift than to give a child a new book and handmade crocheted characters to go with it?
Without further ado, let’s get crocheting, Mizu the Water Elemental!
Supply List
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver: 1 ball in Light Blue (A); Red Heart with Love Metallic: 1 ball in Royal (B)
Crochet Hook: 3.5mm / US E
9mm Safety Eyes
Stitch marker
Yarn Needle
Embroidery Needle
Black Embroidery Thread
Opalescent/Light Blue Oval Button x1 (¾ to 1”)
Opalescent Seed Beads (several for facial details)
White Thread
Toy Stuffing
Key
mr magicring
slst slipstitch
sk skip
sp space
sc singlecrochet
hdc halfdouble crochet
dc doublecrochet
ch chain
inc increase
dec decrease
invdec invisibledecrease
st(s) stitch(es)
FL / BL front loop / back loop
FO fasten off
Pattern
Legs(Make 2 with A)
R1: ch12,slst in 1st ch to join, sc around - 12
R2-4: sc around - 12
R5: (invdec, 4sc) 2 times - 10
R6-8: sc around - 10
R9: (invdec, 3sc) 2 times - 8
R10-12: sc around - 8
R13: (invdec,2sc) 2 times - 6
R14-16: sc around - 6
R17: (invdec, sc) 2 times - 4
R18-20: sc around - 4
R21: 2invdec - 2
sl st, FO, weave tail to close gap.
Arms (Make 2 with A)
R1: ch8,slst in 1st ch to join, sc around - 8
R2-4: sc around - 8
R5: (invdec, 2sc) 2 times - 6
R6-8: sc around - 6
R9: invdec, 4sc - 5
R10-11: sc around - 5
R12: invdec, 3sc – 4
R13-14: sc around - 4
R15: 2invdec - 2
slst, FO, weave tail to close gap. Stuff arms lightly.
Body (with A)
R1: With a slipknot on hook,slst to connect to Leg#1. Sc around leg Leg #1, connect Leg#2 with a sc, continue to sc around
Leg #2 – 24
R2: (3sc, inc) 6 times – 30
** Use the left over strings to close any gaps between the connection of the two legs**
R3: sc around - 30
R4: (8sc, invdec) 3 times - 27
R5: invdec, 10sc, 2invdec, 9sc, invdec - 23
R6-8: sc around - 23
R9: invdec, 9sc, invdec, 10sc -21
R10-11: sc around - 21
R12: invdec, 8sc, invdec, 9sc - 19
R13-14: sc around - 19
R15: 5sc, invdec, 12sc - 18
R16-17: sc around - 18
**Stuff. Attach arms to body in R18**
R18: 4sc, 4sc [Working through both sides of flattened Arm #1 and Body], 5sc, 4sc [Working through both sides of flattened
Arm #2 and Body], sc - 18
R19: (2sc, invdec) 4 times, 2sc - 14
R20: (sc, invdec) 4 times, 2sc - 10
R21-22: sc around - 10
sl st, FO, weave in end.
Head (with A)
R1: 6sc in magic ring - 6
R2: inc around - 12
R3: (sc, inc) 6 times - 18
R4: (2sc, inc) 6 times - 24
R5: (3sc, inc) 6 times - 30
R6: (4sc, inc) 6 times - 36
R7: (5sc, inc) 6 times - 42
R8-16: sc around - 42
R17: (5sc, invdec) 6 times - 36
**Attach safety eyes between R12 and R13. Embroider mouth and eyelashes using black embroidery thread. Take tucking stitches to shape the mouth with black thread and another embroidery needle. With white thread, sew on seed bead accents.**
R18: (2sc, invdec) 9 times - 27
R19: (sc, invdec) 9 times - 18
R20: invdecaround - 9
sl st, FO, leave tail for sewing Head to Body.
Hair (with B)
R1: 4sc in magic ring – 4
R2: inc, 3sc - 5
R3: inc, 4sc - 6
R4 inc, 3sc, invdec - 6
R5: (sc, inc) 2 times, 2sc - 8
R6: (sc, inc) 3 times, 2sc - 11
R7: invdec, (2sc, inc) 2 times, sc, invdec - 11
R8: 3sc, 3inc, 5sc - 14
R9: 6sc, 2inc, 6sc - 16
R10: 6sc, (sc, inc) 2 times, 6sc -18
R11: (2sc, inc) 6 times - 24
R12: sc around - 24
R13: 6sc,(2sc, inc) 4 times, 6sc -28
R14: (3sc, inc) 7 times - 35
R15: sc around - 35
R16: (4sc, inc) 7 times - 42
R17: sc around - 42
R18: 42hdc, ch1, turn - 42
**From here on out, you will be working from side to side, not in the round, with a [ch1, turn] at the end of each row. If you want a less defined line than is usually created when working back and forth, you can work into the alternating BL and back third loop, then on the next row, the FL and front third loop (See Images)**
R19: 42hdc - 42
R20: hdcdec, 40hdc - 41
R21: 38hdc, hdcdec - 39
R22: hdcdec, 37hdc - 38
R23: 36hdc, hdcdec - 37
R24: hdcdec, 35hdc - 36
R25: 32hdc, 2hdcdec - 34
R26: 2hdcdec, 30hdc - 32
R27: 28hdc, 2hdcdec - 30
R28: 13hdc, 2hdcdec, 13hdc - 28
R29: 12hdc, 2hdcdec, 13hdc - 26
FO, leave tail for sewing Hair to Head.
Cape Neck Band (with B)
**[ch1, turn] at the end of each row**
R1: ch5, sc in 2nd ch from hook, 3sc – 4
R2-28: sc across – 4
R29: sc, ch3, sk2, sc – 5
R30: sc, 3sc in ch2sp, sc - 5
FO, weave in end.
Cape (with B)
**Begin 7 rows in from the buttonhole end of Cape Neck Band. [Ch1, turn] at the end of each row.**
R1: With slipknot on hook, sc to connect, 15sc - 16
R2 (3sc, inc) 4 times - 20
R3: sc across - 20
R4: (4sc, inc) 4 times - 24
R5: sc across - 24
R6: (5sc, inc) 4 times – 28
R7-14: sc across - 28
R15: dec, 24sc, dec - 26
R16: sc across - 26
R17: dec, 22sc, dec - 24
R18-19: sc across - 24
R20: dec,20sc, dec - 22
R21-22: sc across - 22
R23: dec, 18sc, dec - 20
R24-27: sc across - 20
R28: dec, 16sc, dec - 18
R29-32: sc across - 18
R33: dec, 14sc, dec - 16
R34: sc across - 16
R35: dec, 12sc, dec - 14
R36: sc across - 14
R37: dec, 10sc, dec - 12
R38: sc across - 12
R39: dec, 8sc, dec - 10
R40: sc across - 10
R41: dec, 6sc, dec - 8
R42: 4dec - 4
R43: 2dec - 2
**Continue working around the Cape edge - sc around in every row edge**
Slst to first sc and FO, tie in loose ends.
Whiskers (Make 2 with A)
R1: With slipknot on hook, *ch5, slst in 2nd ch from hook, sc, hdc, dc* repeat from * to* one time.
FO, leave tail.
Assembling Mizu
Stuff head and sew onto body. Stuff hair at the top and fit around the head. Sew hair to head using a running stitch that goes around the headleaving the final rows of the hair loose. Sew the whiskers to either side of the face at the hairline around the face. With the buttonhole on the right side while facing you on the cape, sew the brooch to the left side. Wrap cape around Mizu and connect around the brooch. Mizu is now complete!
Set her beside Whimsy, Rolland, and Flit and enjoy your new amigurumi Mizu doll, designed by the author/illustrator of the Tales of Whimsy series, J.H. Winter aka Julianne Winter of Ink & Stitches!
I’m so happy I got the chance to share this pattern with you here on The Hook Nook! It’s been loads of fun to create and I even got a chance to share a bit of behind-the-scenes footage making Mizu over on my YouTube channel vlog. I hope you’ll join me there and subscribe to my channel. If you’re new to crocheting amigurumi, I’m there with you every step of the way!
I share more free patterns over on my Ink & Stitches blog. You can also find me over on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest! I hope you’ll join me there too!
