Free Crochet Pattern: Keyring Mermaid Tail

This is a cute little mermaid tail that is nice and small to fit on a keyring. It can be used to scoop up little seashells or interesting bits and pieces off the seashore, or hung as a cute sea-themed detail on a bag. It took me a while to come up with the pattern for this, because the shell pattern is a bit of work to write out. I've made quite a few of these, requested most often by little girls. :)

Mermaid Tail Free Crochet Pattern You will need: 4 ply yarn in desired color 2 mm crochet hook Yarn needle BEGIN TAIL:

Chain 27. Join with a slip stitch into the first chain. Round 1: Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), 4 hdc into first ch. [5 hdc = 1 shell. Fist shell made]. *Skip 2 ch, sc into next ch, sk 2 ch, 5 hdc into next ch. Repeat from * 3 times then sk 2 ch, sc into the top of the first ch 2. Round 2: Sl st into third hdc of first shell. Ch 1, sc into same stitch (you may want to add a stitch marker here). *Sk 2 hdc, 5 hdc into next sc, sk 2 hdc, sc into the third hdc. Repeat from * around, ending with a sl st into the first sc. Round 3: Sl st into the third hdc of the previous round. Ch 1, sc into the same st. *sk 2 hdc, 4 hdc into next sc, sk 2 hdc, sc into next hdc. Repeat from * around, ending with a sl st into the first sc. Round 4: Sl st into the third hdc of the previous round. Ch 1, sc into the same st. *sk 1 hdc, 4 hdc into into next sc, sk 2 hdc, sc into the third hdc. Repeat from * ending with a sl st into the first sc. Round 5: Sl st into second hdc of the previous round. Ch 1, sc into the same st. *sk 2 hdc, 3 hdc into the next sc. Sk 2 hdc, sc into the second hdc. Repeat from * around, ending with a sl st into the first sc. Round 6: Sl st into the second hdc of the previous round. Ch 1, sc into the same stitch. *Sk 1 hdc, 3 hdc into the next sc. Sk 1 hdc, sc into the second hdc. Repeat from * around, ending with a sl st into the first sc. Bind off. FIN Row 1: Chain 11. Sc into second ch from hook and across. Ch 1, turn. [stitch count=10 sc] Row 2: Working into back loops only from now on, sc into each sc across. Ch 1, turn [10 sc] Row 3: Sc into each sc to the last st. Sk the last sc, Ch 1, turn [9 sc] Row 4: Sc into each st across. Ch 1, turn. [9 sc] Rows 5-12: Repeat rows 3 and 4 until there are 5 sc. Row 13: Sc into each st across, ch 2, turn. [5 sc + 2 ch] Row 14: Sc into second ch from hook and into each st across. Ch 1, turn. [6 sc] Rows 15-20: Repeat rows 13 and 14 until there are 10 sc. Bind off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave a yarn needle through the top of the mermaid fin, so it will be small enough to fit onto the body of the tail.

To make up: Sew the fin onto the bottom of the tail.