Knit a Topsy Turvy Dinosaur

I sometimes feel like I don’t share a lot of knitting patterns that are just fun. I try to offer things that are useful and pretty and that will help you build skills if you need to build skills. Even food-shaped pillows and placemats are useful in a way while they are whimsical.

I shared some basic toys the other day and I want to do more of that, whether you’re knitting for a kid, for yourself or for someone else who hasn’t lost their sense of play.

So in that spirit I bring you this amazing pattern for a dinosaur egg that turns into a triceratops or stegosaurus, your choice.

The design is from Kristy Roberts and the dinosaur is cute enough in its own right for this pattern to be well worth sharing, but the topsy-turvy aspect makes it that much more fun.

(If you check this pattern out on Ravelry you can even see a little gif of the project flipping, which I will admit I watched for longer than I needed to. The still images above give you the idea, though.)

The pattern calls for DK weight yarn, but of course you could use a different weight bearing in mind it will alter the finished size. As is the dino looks fairly small, but the pattern page doesn’t indicate its finished size.

This is definitely a project you could use leftover yarn for, and the designer suggests acrylic just because you can get so many fun colors. No one knows what colors the dinosaurs really were, right?

The project is knit flat and you can see from the photos that the egg flips and goes inside the dino’s stomach, which provides it a bit of stuffing.

You can grab the pattern from the Ravelry link above.

And if you love toys that flip like this, you should definitely check out Susan B. Anderson’s book Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys.

[Photo: Kristy Roberts]

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Knitters are always looking for ways to continue to knit and to wear their knits even when it’s hot outside, so there are tots of great T0shirt knitting patterns to choose from. I love knitting short-sleeved shirts because they feel so much faster than sweaters, and you can wear them on top of dresses or even longer-sleeved items when it gets cooler.

There are lots of different styles of knit tops, from the basic to the more detailed. On the more basic side are things like the Perfect T-Shirt from Originally Lovely, a basic raglan tee with nine sizes and worked in worsted weight yarn; Paper Bloom by Yvonne Hugo (free on Ravelry), available in six sizes and worked with cotton and silk yarn for extra coolness; or Iris H’s Amelia Top, also on Ravelry, a slim fit, DK weight top with nine size.

Jazz it up with a bit of lace like on the Athens Lace Hem top by Sarah Hatton (Ravelry). This otherwise simple project has a bit of lace at the bottom, which is an easy way to make a project more interesting without a ton of work. This one uses fingering weight yarn and comes in nine sizes.

Another simple embellishment is to emphasize the lines of your top with different stitches. The Spring Lines top uses twisted ribbing at the center front and V-neck and along the raglan lines to give it a slimmer fit and more interest. This design from Turquoise Toque Designs has 11 size options and is available on Ravelry.

Silfurberg by Joji Locatelli uses both of these elements, with lace panels at the center front and back and purl ridges throughout to make it a little more fun to knit and to wear. The pattern uses fingering weight yarn and comes in 10 sizes. Learn more on Ravelry.

Keep it simple or add puffed sleeves (and/or long sleeves) to the slim fit Knitty Committee top by Lily Kate France. This one has two length options, waist shaping and optional bust darts to fulfill all your curvy top dreams, and it comes in nine sizes. You’ll find it on Ravelry.

Take it even more romantic with the Daphne Top from Friday Knits, which has puffed sleeves and applied I-cord to emphasize the bust and sweetheart neckline. It comes in eight sizes and uses DK weight yarn.

Or add some sweet flowers with the Gigio pattern from Emilie Luis. This pretty pattern found on Ravelry has cable panels running up the front with the option for adding sweet embroidered flowers. You can also add decorative buttons if you like. It comes in 11 sizes and calls for sport weight yarn.

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