Minion Scarves

I got some special orders for Minion scarves. I did a Google image search and got the basic idea – start with blue for the overalls, add a little bib on the front, do some yellow for the face, a black stripe for the goggles, and then a whole bunch of yellow, and repeat the stripes in reverse on the other side.  I’ve been making Minion hats, cup cozies, and mittens for a while, so I’ve got my way of doing the eyes and hair. Piece of cake.

Here’s how they turned out. 

I started out by crocheting the body of the scarves. I started with the Carl/Dave scarf and decided it was a bit too wide. Then I did the Alan/Ben scarf. I was running out of that shade of blue yarn, so I switched to a different shade of blue for Ernie/Fred.








This will be a very "loosey-goosey" pattern... I'll give you the basics and you can adapt it to your needs... adult scarf, kid's scarf, short scarf, long scarf.


I think I measured and counted for the Alan/Ben scarf, so these instructions are for that one, a narrower, longer scarf.

Crochet hooks: Sizes G & J
Bright Yellow yarn (about 4 ounces) (I used Red Heart Super Saver Bright Yellow)
Blue yarn - something close to the color of blue jeans (about 1 ounce)
Small amounts of silver or gray, black, white and brown yarn
Sew-on gemstones or small black buttons
Yarn needle

Scarf Body

With Size J hook and blue yarn, chain 20. DC in third stitch from hook and each stitch across (17 dc).
Each row - Either chain 3 to start row or do a standing DC - dc in each stitch across.


Color Pattern:
7 rows blue
7 rows yellow
2 rows black
74 rows yellow (try the scarf on and see if your last row of yellow is at the same level as the first row of yellow after the black stripe on the other side of the scarf. Add rows if needed to get to the right length)
2 rows black
7 rows yellow
7 rows blue

Once you've got the body of the scarf done, you'll need to make eyes, mouth, Gru logo, and hair.

Eyes:
(I put 3 on each scarf - one on one side, two on the other. You could get away with only one eye on each side, or two on each side. Like I said, you can adapt this scarf to your preferences.
Eye is a circle with brown in the center, then white, and silver or gray around the outside. Then a small button or sew-on gemstone is sewn in the center.

I pick up these at Joann's when I have a 50% off coupon.

 With size G hook and brown yarn, make a magic ring.
Chain 2, 8 hdc in ring. Pull tight. Slip stitch to join.
With white, 2 hdc in each stitch (16 stitches)
With gray or silver (I used a double strand of a metallic silver Vanna's Choice yarn), chain 2, **work 2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in each of next two stitches,** repeat ** around. End off, leaving a long tail to sew onto scarf.

Eyelid (seen on all the one-eyed Minions)
With Size G hook and yellow yarn, make a magic ring.
Chain 3, 8 DC in ring. Pull tight, but do not join. Leave a long tail to sew on.
The one-eyed Minion has a droopy eyelid. After I made the eye, I sewed the eyelid over the top half of the eye. I tried two ways... sewing it on after the gray/silver round, and sewing it on before the gray/silver, so I could crochet over both layers (white & yellow) when I did the final round. I think I liked the latter best, although it was difficult to keep track of my increases while doing so.

 Gru Logo
With G hook and black yarn, chain 5.
SC in 2nd stitch from hook and each stitch across (4 sc). Ch 1, turn
Rows 2-4: SC in each stitch across, ch 1, turn.
Leave a long tail for sewing on. (Note: save your scraps of black yarn after you sew this piece on... they can be used for hair later!)

With blue yarn, embroider the Gru G on the square. Turn the square sideways so it makes a diamond. Using the diagram above, stitch the following:
1-2
3-2
3-4
5-4
6-5
Tie blue yarn off on wrong side.

Mouth:
Skinny mouth  (on Ernie and Alan)
With black yarn and size G hook, chain 15. Leave a long tail to sew on.

Thicker mouth (on Fred and Dave):
With a double strand of black yarn and size J hook, chain 12. Leave a long tail to sew on.

Half-Moon smile (on Ben):
With size G hook and black yarn, chain 18.
Slip stitch in second slip from hook, sc in next 2 stitches, hdc in next two stitches, dc in next two stitches, treble crochet in next 3 stitches, dc in next two stitches, hdc in next two stitches, sc in next 2 stitches, slip stitch in last stitch. End off, leaving tail to sew on. With white yarn, embroider tooth.

(Note: save your scraps of black yarn after you sew this piece on... they can be used for hair later!)

Ernie & Fred

Carl & Dave

Alan & Ben

Bib:
With blue yarn and size J hook, attach yarn 5 stitches from the right on the right side of your scarf, in the place where you changed from blue to yellow. Chain 3 and work a DC in each of the next 7 spaces. You should have 8 DC centered on your scarf. Turn
Either Chain 3 or do a standing double crochet, and do a dc in each of the remaining stitches (8 dc). Make a chain long enough to reach to the edge about 3 rows up. End off, leaving about 24" of yarn. Use yarn end to sew chain to scarf, then sew the top of the bib to the scarf.

When you do the last stitch to sew the bib to the scarf, capture a loop on the crochet hook. Make another chain that reaches to the edge of the scarf at the same height as the other chain. Use remaining yarn to sew that side to the scarf.

Hair:
Using 3-4" sections of black yarn, tie above the eyes in whatever pattern you desire... one big clump, several small clumps, a bunch of single hairs.

February 23 update... a new scarf: 

Gertie & Henry!

 

In Despicable Me 2, there were two girl minions: One in a polka-dot green dress who went to the mall with Gru, and one acting as his secretary in the scene where he was mustering up the courage to call Lucy for a date. I decided to try my hand at recreating one of them in a scarf. Here’s Gertie!

Gertie skirt:

Pattern is based on 18 stitches across. Start with green yarn and size J hook. Chain 20. DC in third stitch from hook and each chain (18 stitches)

Row 2, 4, 6: Standing Double Crochet  to start, DC in 2 stitches, **white cluster in next stitch,  dc in next three stitches with green**, repeat across, ending with 2 green

Rows 3, 5, 7: Work 4 dc in green, **white cluster in next stitch, dc in next three stitches with green**, repeat across, ending with 5 green

Row sequence for Gertie:

Skirt – 7 rows

Face – 7 rows yellow

Goggle strap – 2 rows black

Forehead – 2 rows yellow

Hair – 2 rows orange

For braids, cut 24 stands of yarn about 15” long. (I wind yarn around a small notebook to get multiple strands of the same size in a hurry.) Thread 6 strands through each of the end DC in each row of hair. Braid tightly and knot at the end. Unravel yarn after knot to give a poofier look.

Gertie Eye:

With brown and size G hook

Round 1: Magic ring. Chain 1, 8 hdc in ring. Pull tight, join.

Round 2: With white,  chain 1, 2 hdc in each stitch around. Join.

Round 3: Chain 1, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next stitch,*  repeat around. Join.

Round 4: With Silver or gray, Chain 1, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 3 stitches*, repeat around. Join. End off, leaving a long tail to sew on.

Sew a large sew-on gemstone in center of eye.

Henry’s eyes (make 2):

With white and size G hook:

Round 1: Magic ring. Chain 1, 8 hdc in ring. Pull tight, join.

Round 2: Chain 1, 2 hdc in each stitch around. Join.

Round 3: With Silver or gray, Chain 1, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 2 stitches*, repeat around. Join. End off, leaving a long tail to sew on.

Sew a large sew-on gemstone at left edge of eye.

March 18 update: 
Phil (French Maid) version of scarf

For this one, the body of the scarf was the same until the last 7 rows of DC, which I did in black (for Phil's Skirt). Then I added a row of white, where I did (SC, chain 3) in each stitch for the ruffle at the bottom.

Bow:

With white, chain 10. Make hdc in 2^nd chain from hook and each chain across (9 hdc)

Row 2: chain 2, hdc in each stitch. End off and tuck in yarn ends.

Tightly wind yarn around the center of the bow about 10 times. Tie off at the back and sew at the center of the black “skirt”. 

Apron:

With white, chain 24.

HDC in 2^nd chain from hook and in next 12 stitches.

Rows 1-4: Turn, chain 2, work a decrease over the next two stitches. HDC to within 2 stitches of the end, work a decrease.

Slip stitch back up to beginning chain. Work  *SC, chain 3* in each stitch around the apron. Chain 12 for other apron string. Sew apron to front of skirt.

Top frill:

With white, make a chain long enough to reach across scarf with a slight arc. I think my chain was about 30 stitches, but I lost count and just worked by measuring it against the scarf.  Make a DC in the third chain from the hook, then a treble crochet and another double crochet in the same stitch. Continue down the chain, making DC/TR/DC in each chain. Leave a long tail for sewing on.

Latest update... 4/3/14... Purple Minions
I made a purple minion scarf using elements of the scarves above.

Done with the first "face"

All done... late at night, so lighting wasn't all that good for the picture.

Instead of starting with blue, I started with black. The basic scarf was the same: 7 rows black, 7 rows purple, 2 rows black, purple until it's long enough, 2 rows black, 7 rows purple, 7 rows black.

For the teeth, I started with a chain 3. Slip stitch in 2nd chain and third chain from hook. That makes a small tooth. Chain 4, slip stitch in 2nd stitch from hook and next 2 stitches. That makes a large tooth.

Decide how many teeth, whether large or small, you want, and just keep repeating the pattern. If you want the teeth spaced out a bit more, you can do one extra chain and leave that extra chain unworked when you make a tooth.

 For the hair, I cut lengths of yarn about 6" long. For the one-eyed Minion, I tied it in a clump centered above the eye. For the two-eyed minion, I did more of a center part.  I put 4 pieces of yarn (doubled to 8 strands when tied) on each of 4 DCs, the two center double crochets of two rows.