Parasite plushies #1

Few days ago I got an uncommon request. To be honest, it was the most bizzare request ever.
"Can you crochet a medicinal leech for me?"
I felt flattered! It feels good to be the person to turn to when you need a weird plushie! :)

I got down to designing said leech. I was wondering how to create a nice little sucker... and an old design popped into my head. Let's spend a nice Throwback Thursday, shall we? With a Tapeworm Bookmark!

I never shared it on the blog before. It was a gift for one of my classmates (and friends). He asked for a bookmark. And since we shared a table during our parasitology classes, and worked together on unforgettable drawings depicting countless  tapeworms, pinworms and fleas ... choice was obvious!

Here it is:

Tapeworm Bookmark

Bored? Make yourself a useful toy! Show your kids why should they wash their hands before each meal, and never eat raw meat of unknown origin!

Gauge: is not important.
Abbreviations (in US crochet terms):
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
sl st - slip stitch
ch - chain
FLO - front loops only
BLO - back loops only
Numbers in brackets () indicate the number of stitches you should have after finishing each round. If you wish, you can join rounds but it's not necessary (I didn't do it:))

Head (scolex): 
Rnd1: 6sc into Magic Loop
Rnd2: 6 sc in FLO
Rnd3: 2sc in each sc across (12)
Rnd4: sc even in BLO (12)
Rnd5: *sc in next sc, sc2tog* repeat 4 times (8)
Rnd6: sc even (8)
Rnd7: *2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc* 4 times (12) in FLO!
Rnd8: *sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (18)
Rnds 9-10: sc even (18)
Rnd11: *sc in next sc, sc2tog* 6 times (12)
Rnd12: sc2tog across (6) Stuff head, make sure you do it lightly so the sucker stays concave in the middle!
Rnd13: Fold and sc 3 across remaining st (3)

Suckers (make 4)*: sc 6 into magic loop, sl st into 1st sc. fasten off, sew on sides of head,

*version for ultra-lazy people: sew on 4 buttons:)

Now you will continue work flat. From this point length, shape, anything is entirely up to you. You decide how many segments do you want to make. Here are some general instructions:

Neck:
ch1(counts as sc)  sc 2, turn
ch1,  sc 2, turn
ch1, 2 sc in next sc, sc, turn (4)
ch1, sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc, turn (5)
sc even 3-4 rows

Small segment (I made about 4 of those in the beginning and 3 near end)
ch3 (counts as dc) dc in each sc, turn (5)
ch1, sc in each dc (5)

Big segment:
ch3,  *2dc in next sc, dc* twice (7) turn
ch3, *dc2tog, dc* twice (5)
ch1 sc in each dc

Green - big segment
Red - small segment

"Tail"
Just to be clear: a tapeworm shouldn't narrow towards the end!
But to make it look nicer... just reverse the neck instructions:) and sc2tog in the end to get a nice pointy ending.

Finished!

Feel free to experiment with colours, I would love to see this multicoloured!

© Copyright remains with the designer. All rights reserved. Intended for personal use only. Not for commercial use.  © Copyright M. Machowska - Escherichia, January 2013

PDF available on Ravelry (also in Polish!): here

Crocheting your own tapeworm shouldn't take you more than one afternoon, unless of course you are going for a life-sized Taenia solium... 2 - 3 meters can be more challenging.

Hope you liked it!
Next time I will be sharing with you my cuddly leeches. I'm in the middle of the third draft version.

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.