This is intended for a small baby. So be sure to use your softest yarn, don’t stuff it too full (baby needs to be able to grab it!), and anchor everything very strongly on the inside for safety’s sake. The example was made only in one color, but it would also look nice if the legs were one or more different colors, especially very high-contrast colors, as that’s what newborns can see best.

Stop here to embroider the features. Use the blue to embroider the eyes over round 5 (come out above 5, go in above 4, or vice versa, 5 times) and the pink to embroider the mouth over round 7 (come out on above round 6 & go diagonal to above round 7 & go in, skip over 2 sts & come out, then go in where you came out the first time, make the other mouth corner in the same manner as the first).

Join yarn with slst in BLO (back loop only) of 3rd st. Sc 2x in BLO of this stich. (Ch 1, turn. Sc once in both sts) for an additional 19 rows. (I found it easier to do counting all the way up to 40 sc instead of trying to keep track of rows.) Finish off, leaving a long tail of yarn. Work legs in the same manner in sts 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, & 24. (Your life at the end will be much easier if you make sure the starting yarn tails go to the inside of the octopus.)

Finish: Draw up a loop in all 3 sts (or only 2 if that's all you can grab with your hook), YO, and pull through. Cut with a very long tail. Thread that tail into yarn hook, stab it up through the body of the octopus and angle it to come out at the back. Clip the end of the tail as close to the body as you can, and tug a little to get it to disappear inside.

Cluster the legs together & trim the long yarn ends to the same length. (Yeah, you can weave them all into the stitching if you really want to, but leaving them as-is give it a nice sort of fringe look.) Weave in any other loose yarn ends.