Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Awesome Knit Animals from Around the World

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knitted toy travelsI’m always a little jealous of crochet because there are so many great patterns for animals, food and other fun objects that we don’t seem to match in knitting.

While knit amigurumi isn’t as big a thing as the crocheted version, there are still a lot of really cute projects we can make, for kids and others in our lives who like a little sweetness.

Case in point: Knitted Toy Travels by Laura Long. The book has 15 adorable patterns for wild animals (most of them are on Ravelry) including a kangaroo and joey, hippo, parrot, monkey, tiger, panda, meerkats, giraffe, lion, zebra, polar bear and reindeer.

There’s also a pattern for Ed the Explorer (add yarn hair to make a girl if desired) and his clothes and gear for cold and warm weather.

This book is charming and includes a pull-out maps so you can see where each of your knit creatures comes from.

If you’d like this book to travel to your home, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, November 12. I’d love to know what your favorite wild animal is (mine is a leopard, but of those in the book, it would have to be meerkats).

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck.

Comments

  3. I agree, there are more crochet patterns for animals than knit. I’ve been knitting for over 50 years, and can’t seem to master crochet no matter how many times my mother has tried to teach me! I think my favourite wild animal would be a monkey.

  6. I love so many animals, I’d never even try to name a favorite. Would I pick something cute, or powerful, or colorful? I’ll spare you the whole list and go with the Frill Necked Lizard, Which I now totally TOTALLY want to knit!

  7. My favourite is the tapir. I’ve just knitted a Malaysian tapir for my son and am really pleased with how it’s turned out!

  8. favorite wild animal – so hard to choose – a spotted leopard might be fun to try to knit… thanks for the giveaway

  10. Just got a new great grandson and want to knit some animals as I did for our first grandson all of which he will not part with

  11. I love most of the wild cats – the lynx is a particular favorite. Something about their ears that I can’t resist.

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.