I have to remember, when I work with blanket yarn, I cannot start the first round with 6 sc. It always makes a cone shape for me. I tried a couple of different ways, but ended up with 9 hdc for rounds 1 and 2 (sort of), sc increases in the next for 18, and so on.

My first attempt was holding two strands of blanket yarn together with either an 8 or a 9 mm hook. Thing is, it wasn’t as big as I’d hoped, so I frogged it and started over with just one strand.

I found what I think are errors in the pattern. The eyes are actually placed between rounds 6 and 7, not 7 and 8, and if using safety eyes, they need to inserted before stuffing and closing off. The other error was the beak -- it’s made in stitches between rows 7 and 8, not 8 and 9.

I didn’t feel confident with where to put the feet. The instructions weren’t clearly written for a person who doesn’t really know what animals are supposed to look like. lol I think I just lucked out with their placement. I actually wouldn’t mind making these on repeat for the market, but I don’t know how well they’ll sell even in Idaho.

Finished size: 5.5” tall.

Another designer, chanels_crochet on IG suggested these modifications to eliminate that cone shape:
She said:
Best advice I got to avoid the cone shape?
Typical Pattern:
R1. 6MR
R2. 6inc (12)
R3. (1sc,inc) x6 (18)
R4. (2sc,inc) x6 (24)
R3. (3sc,inc) x6 (30)

Modified Pattern:
R1. 8MR
R2. 8inc (16)
R3. (1sc,inc) x8 (24)
R4. skip
R3. (3sc,inc) x6 (30)