Pink Jellyfish Keychain Crochet - A Curly - Tentacle

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Pink Jellyfish Keychain Crochet - A Curly - Tentacle

★★★★★ 4.7 · 72

Wren Halloway03.08.2026JUMP TO TUTORIAL

I have made a lot of amigurumi keychains over the years, but this little jellyfish is the one that keeps disappearing off my desk before I can even photograph it properly — I suspect Mochi has been relocating them. This pink jellyfish keychain crochet pattern is genuinely beginner-friendly (my library workshop folks could handle every round of it), and those curly tentacles are the kind of detail that makes people gasp and ask if you bought it. Pour your coffee, grab a small ball of blush pink and cream DK yarn, and let us make something tiny and joyful together.

Gather Your Materials First

Before I pick up a hook, I lay everything out on the table — it is a habit Nana Ruth drilled into me decades ago, and it saves so much mid-project scrambling. For this pink jellyfish keychain crochet project you genuinely do not need much.

• Yarn: a small amount of DK weight yarn in blush pink and cream — leftover scraps work beautifully here
• Hook: a 2.5 mm crochet hook, sized down from usual DK gauge for a nice tight fabric
• Notions: yarn needle, scissors, a keyring with chain, a little polyester stuffing, and an optional stitch marker

The finished jellyfish lands at around 8–10 cm, not counting the keyring, and it works entirely in continuous rounds (no joining, no turning) unless a step says otherwise. Quick abbreviation refresher for anyone new: MR is magic ring, ch is chain, sc is single crochet, inc is 2 sc in one stitch, dec is single crochet 2 together, and sl st is slip stitch.

Starting the Bell

We start at the top center of the bell, which always feels a little backwards to new crocheters — trust me, it works. Make a magic ring and work 6 sc into the ring, then pull that tail snug to close the center hole completely. That is Round 1, and you should be holding 6 stitches.

Round 2 is a full increase round: 2 sc in every single stitch around, bringing you to 12 stitches. Round 3 settles into a rhythm you will repeat a lot in amigurumi — [sc in next st, inc in next st] repeat 6 times — landing you at 18 stitches. Drop a stitch marker into that first stitch of each round; I skip this step about once a year out of overconfidence and always regret it by round 5.

The magic ring is the one trick that makes amigurumi look this clean — once it clicks, you will use it on every tiny project for the rest of your crafting life.

Look at the top-view diagrams as you go: each round should sit flat and round, not cupped or wavy, before you move on.

Building the Dome

Round 4 keeps increasing — [sc 2, inc] repeat 6 times — for 24 stitches, and Round 5 spreads that out further with [sc 3, inc] repeat 6 times for 30 stitches. This is where the bell really starts taking on that gentle, wide dome shape instead of a flat disc.

Rounds 6 and 7 are worked even — just sc in each stitch around, no increases — which lets the fabric curve inward and start forming the sides of the bell rather than continuing to spread flat. I make my color change right at the start of Round 7, ending Round 6 with pink and starting fresh with cream for that soft stripe.

• Keep tension even across these rounds so the dome stays symmetrical
• Finish the last stitch of Round 6 in cream yarn for a tidy, invisible color transition

By the end of Round 7 you should have a soft, rounded little hat shape sitting in your palm — that is exactly what we want.

Working the Wavy Ruffle Edge

This is where the jellyfish gets its personality

Switch back to blush pink and continue in plain sc until you have 8 rounds total on the bell — this gives your jellyfish enough body height before the ruffle flares out. Round 9 introduces something new: work it entirely in the back loop only (BLO), using [sc 3, inc] repeat 6 times for 36 stitches. Working in the back loop leaves the front loops sitting untouched and free — that is deliberate, because that is exactly where the ruffle attaches next.

Round 10 switches to front loop only (FLO) in cream yarn, and the stitch sequence itself is what creates each wave: sl st, sc, hdc, hdc, dc, dc, hdc, hdc, sc repeated six times around. Do not pull this round tight — a loose, relaxed tension is what lets the ruffle curl and wave the way it does in the photo instead of lying flat and stiff.

Making the Curly Tentacles

Here is my favorite part of any tentacle-based amigurumi: watching a straight, boring-looking chain transform into a perfect spiral curl. You need 8 tentacles total — 4 in pink and 4 in cream — and every single one starts the same way.

1. Chain 18
2. Starting in the 2nd chain from the hook, work 2 sc in each chain across
3. Fasten off, leaving a generous tail for sewing later

The magic happens on its own once that second row of stitches is packed into a plain chain — the extra stitches have nowhere to go but curl. If your curls come out looser than mine did the first few times I made these, just work 3 sc in each chain instead of 2 for a tighter spiral. Keep all eight the same length, around 5–6 cm after curling, so the finished jellyfish hangs evenly and does not list to one side.

Adding the Two Side Tentacles

Beyond the eight curly main tentacles, this pattern adds two shorter, straighter dangling arms in blush pink — a small detail, but it is what makes the finished jellyfish look properly asymmetrical and lifelike rather than perfectly symmetrical (real jellyfish are messy, and that is the charm).

• Chain 12, then sc 11 starting in the 2nd chain from the hook
• In the last stitch, work a tiny nub — 4 sc in the same stitch — to round off the tip
• Rotate and slip stitch back up along the other side of the chain to the top
• Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing

Make two of these, identical in length, and do not overstuff or reinforce them — they are meant to stay soft and floppy, swinging freely on each side of the bell just below the ruffle.

Assembling the Whole Jellyfish

This is the step where a pile of curly parts finally becomes a jellyfish, and it is oddly satisfying every single time. Arrange your 8 main tentacles evenly around the center underside of the bell, alternating pink and cream so the colors distribute nicely, and sew the 2 side tentacles in opposite each other, right near the ruffle edge.

Before you close everything up, tuck in a small amount of polyester stuffing — light stuffing only. Overstuffing at this stage is the single most common mistake I see (and made myself, more than once): too much filling flattens that pretty wavy ruffle right out.

Use the remaining back-loop round to anchor all the tentacles securely as you weave your needle through, then weave every yarn tail back and forth inside the stitches before trimming close. Give the whole thing a gentle squeeze to check the balance before you tie off your final knots.

Attaching the Keyring and Finishing Touches

Almost there, friend. Join blush pink yarn at the top center of the bell and chain 14, then slip stitch back into that same starting point to form a sturdy hanging loop. Thread your metal jump ring (or keyring chain) through that crochet loop and attach it to your keyring hardware — a split ring or jump ring that slides easily is worth the extra dollar over a plain flat ring, which can snag the stitches.

If you want a face, this is the moment: sew two tiny black safety eyes or embroider them, plus a small smile stitched underneath in a single strand of dark thread. For babies or very young children, skip safety eyes entirely and embroider instead — small hardware is always a choking risk.

Finally, steam the piece lightly or gently reshape the ruffle with your fingers to open it back out if stuffing has flattened it during assembly. Run through the finishing checklist one more time: tails woven in, tentacles balanced, loop secure, ruffle shaped — and your jellyfish keychain is ready to clip on.

How This Little Jellyfish Actually Comes Together at My Table

Photos in a tutorial always look a little too tidy, so here is the messier, real version — my actual craft table, my actual yarn scraps, and the same jellyfish keychain from start to finish. I wanted you to see the process the way it really looks between rounds, coffee mug included, because that is when the small honest details show up.

This is my usual starting point — winding a bit of blush and cream together before I even pick up a hook, just to see how the two colors sit next to each other in daylight. My design background never really left me; I still audition colors like this on every single project.

Starting the magic ring is always the fiddliest ten seconds of any amigurumi, and I still sometimes have to redo it twice before the center closes properly. If yours looks loose the first try, just tug the tail again — it is forgiving.

You can see the stripe forming here mid-round, right where I switch from pink to cream — I always work my color changes on the very last pull-through so the join stays invisible from the front. This is usually where I pause for a second coffee.

This close-up shows the ruffle round actually catching the front loops — you can really see how different the fabric feels here compared to a normal round, almost stretchy. It is a good moment to slow down rather than rush the stitch pattern.

My table always ends up looking like this partway through the tentacles — half curled, half still straight chains, scraps everywhere. I genuinely never get tired of watching that plain chain twist itself into a spiral with just one extra stitch per chain.

Holding the almost-finished piece like this is my favorite quality-check moment — I turn it slowly to make sure the tentacles hang evenly and none of them look noticeably shorter under the light. It is much easier to catch an uneven one now than after everything is sewn.

This is the stuffing-and-sewing stage from above, and honestly it is the part that takes the longest even though it looks quick in a photo — weaving each tentacle tail in neatly so nothing peeks through the ruffle takes real patience.

And here is the payoff — clipping the finished keyring onto the loop and giving the little face one last look before it goes on my bag or, more likely, gets gifted to whichever friend asks first. This is the part that makes the whole slow process worth it.

Conclusion

There is something about a project this small that feels like it should not take as long as it does — and yet here we are, with a jellyfish that took a few cozy evenings and is now dangling from my bag. I hope yours comes out just as wonky and wonderful as my early ones did.

Happy stitching,

Wren

DIY-Tutorial Pin Print

Pink Jellyfish Keychain Crochet - A Curly - Tentacle

★★★★★ 4.7 · 72 ratings

Learn pink jellyfish keychain crochet with this beginner-friendly amigurumi tutorial—curly tentacles, a ruffled bell, and a sturdy keyring finish included.

Amigurumi keychainpink jellyfish keychain crochet

PREP TIME15 min

Work Time180 min

TOTAL TIME195 min

Yield1 keychain

DifficultyEasy

Costapprox. $8

Materials

• Materials
• Small amount of DK weight yarn in blush pink
• Small amount of DK weight yarn in cream
• 2.5 mm crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Scissors
• Keyring with chain (plus optional jump ring)
• Small amount of polyester stuffing
• Stitch marker (optional)

Steps

1

Start the bell

Make a magic ring and work 6 sc into it, then increase to 12 stitches and finally to 18 stitches using [sc, inc] repeated 6 times.

2

Build the dome

Increase to 24 stitches, then 30 stitches over two rounds, then work two rounds even in sc, changing to cream on the last round to form a soft dome with a stripe.

3

Shape the ruffle

Continue even in blush pink until you have 8 rounds total, then work a back-loop-only increase round to 36 stitches, followed by a front-loop-only wave stitch round in cream to form the ruffle.

4

Crochet the curly tentacles

Chain 18 and work 2 sc in each chain across, then fasten off leaving a tail; repeat to make 8 tentacles total, 4 in pink and 4 in cream, each curling naturally as you go.

5

Crochet the side tentacles

Chain 12, sc 11 starting in the 2nd chain from the hook, work a 4-sc nub in the last stitch, then slip stitch back up the other side and fasten off; repeat for 2 matching side tentacles.

6

Assemble and stuff

Sew all 8 curly tentacles evenly around the underside center and the 2 side tentacles opposite each other near the ruffle, add light stuffing, then anchor everything through the remaining back-loop round and weave in tails.

7

Add the keyring loop and finish

Join yarn at the top center, chain 14, and slip stitch back into the same stitch to form a loop, then attach your keyring hardware through it; add an embroidered face if desired and steam gently to open the ruffle.

Hi! I'm Wren

Hi, I'm Wren — welcome to my cozy corner of the internet! I'm Wren Halloway: crocheter, amigurumi enthusiast, recovering perfectionist, and the…

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