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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When I first started knitting again after a long absence from the craft (which has now been almost 25 years ago!) I really didn’t like garter stitch that much. I found it super boring, somehow even more boring than knitting stockinette stitch in the round, even though it’s exactly the same thing.

Over the years I’ve softened my opinion, and even grown to like garter stitch. There’s nothing wrong with being plain, and actually the texture of garter stitch is more interesting than stockinette.

Also there are fun things you can do with garter stitch to make it more interesting if you want to, such as adding stripes, working on the bias, or doing fun effects to change the look.

That’s the way with the Bernat Twist My Way Garter Knit Blanket. Using combinations of casting on and binding off creates what they call a Swiss cheese effect along two sides of the blanket. This is a lot of fun in the self-striping ombre yarn they chose for the pattern, but it would also be fun in a solid color or making your own stripes.

Despite the dramatic effect, this pattern is rated easy. It’s worked from side to side (if you consider the “cheesy” edges the top and bottom) and has an eight-row repeat that involves binding off and then casting on again to make the holes. They’re kind of like giant buttonholes.

Once you get the hang of it it’s a pretty easy repeat to remember, and it will be smooth knitting as big as you want to make it.

You can download this pattern from the Yarnspirations website for free, or you can buy a kit direct from them that includes the yarn you need (and knitting needles if you need those, too). Bernat Sport Ombre Twist, which is what is used in the pattern, comes in 12 self patterning colors and is a DK weight acrylic yarn.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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