Back in 2024, McDonald’s released the Grimace Shake in New Zealand and used its mascot to advertise it. I thought Grimace would make a cute plushie, but I couldn’t find any cute ones online. Then I had an idea, “Why don’t I make one?” I had purple yarn and a crochet set from ages ago that I could use, so I looked up a pattern online. I found one by a creator called Fat Lady Crochet (link here). I intended to start the project in India, but I didn’t get around to it till April.

Making a Grimace is not my first crochet project; last year, I crocheted rakhis, but that was mostly to learn the skills so I could feel comfortable enough in my abilities to start my project.

Planning Stage

The pattern called for size 4 worsted-weight yarn, and you crochet with two strands held together. I only had 8-ply purple yarn, which is thinner than worsted weight, which is around 10-ply. ChatGPT recommended that using three strands together would yield a thickness similar to that called for in the original pattern. But I just used the two strands held together. I made the leg first as the pattern said, but the holes seemed too big, so I undid it, reduced the hook size, and used invisible decreases common in Amigurumi. I then remade the leg, and it looked better.

First Attempt

I then made the other leg, and that’s when I realised that the two legs not looking the same would annoy me. Which led me to redo each leg a couple of times. Eventually, I realised it would be a problem no matter how many times I crocheted the legs.

Second Attempt

Once the legs were completed, the challenging part was joining them together. I didn’t understand the instructions at the joining round. I asked my friend, who has a crochet Instagram page (link here to follow), but I didn’t get it. I then asked ChatGPT, but it needed more information, and I didn’t feel comfortable feeding the whole pattern in. It was also useless, so I deleted my ChatGPT account. Anyway, I then decided to email the pattern maker; she responded within two working days. She showed me a video on her YouTube channel, and it solved my problem!

However, based on the videos, I felt I was crocheting wrong as the legs curved in the opposite direction to how she crocheted in her videos. I watched a bunch of left-handed crochet videos and redid the legs. Based on her video, I then joined the legs and merrily crocheted the body according to the pattern. Stuffing as required.

Third Attempt

When I was nearly finished, I still had so much yarn left. I wanted to use up all the yarn, so I undid the whole thing, untangling it and everything.

I then redid the pattern with the original hook size and three strands of yarn held together. It felt firmer but wasn’t unworkable. This time, I only had a little bit of each yarn remaining when I completed the body and closed it off.

Making the arms and face

For the arms, I actually used the yarn I had used for the legs before because it wasn’t enough to redo the legs, but it was enough to make both arms, so I added a third strand and made the arms.

Based on the pattern, I then crocheted the eyes and the mouth. I had some white yarn of a miscellaneous type and brought some black yarn. They looked pretty good.

The eyes required black buttons that were ¼ inch (6.35mm) for the pupils, but I didn’t have small enough buttons at the house, and Spotlight only had 8mm as the smallest ones, and they were a 12-pack. Which begged the question, what would I do with the rest of the buttons? I then decided to make the pupils with black yarn.

The Face

Then the question was how to attach everything. I watched a couple of videos and attached the arms. I am a bit concerned about them coming out, but moving it a lot didn’t distort the stitches, so I am not as concerned.

To attach the face pieces to the body, I watched some videos related to sewing flat pieces onto a plushie. Based on the videos, I then sewed everything on. Then, with the remaining yarn and some embroidery string I had, I did the finishing, such as the tongue, eyelids, and eyebrows.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it, in about three months, I finally finished my crochet project, two years in the making. I have now completed a Grimace! He does have that homemade look and I think I added too much stuffing. The stitches were a bit loose, so in some places you can see the stuffing inside. Still, I think he is really cute. If only the Grimace Shake were still available for him to enjoy. Oh well, he will have to make do with this one.