It’s Day 25 friends! We’re in the last few days of our candy event, and I’m just a couple days from my wedding. Our candy of the day today is that spice cinnamon candy known as a Hot Tamale, which I’m naming Spicy Tamale! Just like yesterday’s candy, today’s was inspired by a suggestion from one of my Instagram followers. Her suggestion to make a Hot Tamale with a sombrero hat inspired me right away, and thus this design came to life. Even if I haven’t had the candy very many times, creating this design made me want to eat some!
I don’t know if I’ve ever had an actual hot tamale candy, but their cinnamon flavor reminds me a lot of my fiancé, Stephen, who loves cinnamon! Since he doesn’t like chocolate at all, it left few dessert options available to him, and because he isn’t a huge fan of vanilla he grew to love cinnamon. He loves having coffee cake as his birthday cake, or having snickerdoodles for a fun treat. I’ve always liked cinnamon too, but now that I’m with him, I’ve grown to love it even more. I find myself craving cinnamon a lot more often, and some of the cinnamon desserts he loves are some of my favorites now too. Don’t get me wrong, I love myself some chocolate. However, I like being able to bake things that Stephen will be able to eat too. I don’t want him to get left out!
This design might look intimidating, but trust me, it’s super simple. You use single crochets, decreases, and chain stitches to make the entire candy. Those simple stitches and techniques create a pattern that looks like you did a lot of fancy things, but there’s nothing fancy here! To make my candy, I used Paintbox Yarns Simply DK in Buttercup Yellow, Seville Orange, and Pillar Red. I really enjoy this color combination that perfectly captures a fall color palette, and works wonderfully for this design. If you aren’t able to get ahold of the Paintbox Yarns, I’d recommend using Lion Brand 24/7 cotton in Lemon, Tangerine, and Red. Let’s get started on making this cute candy!
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Materials
- Paintbox yarns Simply DK in Buttercup Yellow (main color) & Seville Orange(second color) and Pillar Red (third color)
- You could also use Lion Brand 24/7 cotton in Lemon, Tangerine, and Red
- 4.00 mm crochet hook
- Black, red, and pink felt
- Black and pink embroidery floss
- embroidery needle
- yarn needle
- scissors
- stitch marker
- stuffing
Stitches Used:
- st = stitch
- sc = single crochet (UK Double Crochet)
- dec = decrease
- ch = chain
Recipe Notes:
- The Spicy Tamale is crocheted in one piece in continuous rounds with no joining. Mark the beginning of each round with a stitch marker.
- Pattern uses US crochet terminology, but the UK terminology conversion is listed in the stitches used list above
- Face is made of felt pieces that are cut out and sewn on to the crocheted piece. Download my Felt Pieces for Plushies PDF Printout for the face pieces you’ll cut out of felt. Cut out two eyes from black felt, one mouth from pink felt, and a tongue from red felt. If you don’t know how to sew on felt pieces, see my Youtube video below that shows how to do it.
Hot Tamale
Using Red Yarn
Rnd 1: sc 5 in magic circle
Rnd 2: sc 2 in each sc around
Rnd 3: *sc 1, sc 2 in next st *repeat 4 more times
Rnd 4-11: sc 15
Sew on face to Spicy Tamale. I stitched a mustache in below the eyes and above the mouth by stitching a few lines in black thread.
Rnd 12: *sc 1, dec 1,* repeat 4 more times
Rnd 13: dec 5
Fasten off and weave in ends.
Sombrero
Using Yellow Yarn
Rnd 1: sc 5 in magic circle
Rnd 2: sc 2 in each sc around
Rnd 3: *sc 1, sc 2 in next st,*repeat 4 more times
Rnd 4-6: sc 15
Rnd 7: sc 2, sc 2 in next st
Rnd 8: sc 3, sc 2 in next st
Rnd 9: sc 4, sc 2 in next st
Rnd 10: sc 5, sc 2 in next st
Fasten off and leave a tail for sewing sombrero onto the Spicy Tamale.
Using orange yarn, Ch 58 for sombrero decoration, fasten off and sew to brim of sombrero in a zig zag pattern. Once decoration is sewn on, sew sombrero onto the Spicy Tamale.
Once you’re done with all of those steps, you’ll have your very own Spicy Tamale! If you’d like to receive the 31 Days of Candy free crochet patterns delivered directly to your inbox throughout the month of October, sign up for my newsletter here and receive a new one each day. If you missed any of the other free crochet patterns you can get them in the 31 Days of Candy section on my website. If you’d like to share your makes, make sure to tag @eclairemakery and use the hashtag #31daysofcandy to share your makes with everyone. See you tomorrow for day 26 of the 31 days of candy!
Happy stitching,
~Claire
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