Book Review: Knitting Peter Rabbit

The characters developed by Beatrix Potter may be even more well-known than the stories about them. The classic illustrations in her books have a timeless appeal, and now you can knit 12 of those characters with help from Claire Garland’s Knitting Peter Rabbit.

These designs are incredibly detailed and definitely not for people who have never knit animals before. Many parts of the patterns involve holding two strands of yarn at a time to give the animal’s fur the right texture. There are also felt garments for the characters to make them look even more like the original illustrations.

Because I’m sure you’ll want to know, here’s the full list of characters in the book:

Peter Rabbit
Benjamin Bunny
Flopsy Bunny
Jemima Puddle-Duck
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle
Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Tom Kitten
Squirrel Nutkin
The Tailor of Gloucester
Samuel Whiskers
Mr. Tod the fox
Tommy Brock the badger

My favorite is probably Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, the adorable hedgehog laundress. She has a little knit sweater and a felt apron and is just so cute. (You can see a few of the patterns on the book’s Amazon listing.)

But honestly they’re all pretty adorable, and the whole set would be great to knit for someone of any age who loves these stories. Or if they don’t already love them, knit up a character and gift it along with the book in which they appear and you’ll make a fan in no time.

The designs are very faithful to the original illustrations and the level of detail is amazing, but well worth the effort. She includes detailed finishing instructions and advises you to make good use of locking stitch markers as you knit to make it easier to know where pieces are supposed to go together when you’re doing the assembly. All the pieces are knit flat on straight needles, and there are templates in the back for making all the felt clothing and accessories.

For fans of Beatrix Potter, or just those who love adorable animals in human clothes, Knitting Peter Rabbit is a great guide to knitting these classic characters.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2023 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $29.99.

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

Have you read?