A friendly crocheted spider for Halloween. Small, quick, and made almost entirely from oddments – a good project for an evening when you want something finished by the end of it.
The legs
Eight legs are what make a spider, and they are the part worth thinking about. Crocheted chains alone are floppy and the spider will look like it has collapsed.
Two ways to fix that. Work the legs as tight tubes in single crochet worked in the round, which gives them enough body to hold a shape. Or run a chenille stem (pipe cleaner) inside each leg before closing it – this lets you bend the legs into position and have them stay there, which is much more effective for a spider that will sit on a shelf.
The wire approach is worth the small extra effort. A spider with posed legs reads as a spider; one with eight straight strands reads as a lump with fringe.
Attaching them
Space the legs evenly, four to a side, and sew them on securely. Check the spacing with the body sitting the way it will be displayed, not lying flat – legs that look even on a table can look wrong once the spider is upright.
Yarn
Black is traditional and any worsted weight will do. This is a stash project.
A yarn with a slight fuzz suits a spider rather well, where it would be wrong for most amigurumi. If you want the spider to be friendly rather than creepy, a purple or dark green reads as a decoration; pure black reads more literally.
The face
Embroidered eyes are safer and more expressive than safety eyes. Two white stitches with a black centre, set fairly wide apart, give a friendly look. Set close together they look sinister – choose depending on which effect you want.
Hanging
If it is going to hang, work a loop into the top of the body rather than sewing thread on afterwards. Attach at the centre of the back so it hangs level.
