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]

Adding a bit of knitting to your fall decor is a lot of fun, whether it’s knit pumpkins or a bunch of adorable knit ghosts like these.

Knit ghosts can be super simple like this free ghost knitting pattern from Trixie Zynch on Ravelry. Using about 50 yards of worsted weight yarn, they’re worked from the bottom up and are super cute as a pair.

This fuzzy little ghost from Forest Knitting Toys is holding a pumpkin and wearing a witch hat, though of course the accessories are optional, as is the fuzzy yarn. The main yarn is chunky and the ghost measures about 10 cm/4 inches tall. It’s worked in the round.

Another fuzzy ghost in more of a Pacman style is this ghost plushie form South Stitch Girls. It’s worked in the round with bulky yarn and includes a sweet little bow you can make in whatever color you like.

The ghost doll from Edith Grace Designs has little arms and a curl at the top of its head. The body is worked flat using DK weight yarn and you could also work it in glow in the dark yarn for extra fun. The body and head are worked in one piece with the arms knit separately.

The Grim Grinning Ghosts from Susan Claudino are super cute and you can knit them in any yarn and gauge you like to make ghosts of different sizes. These are worked in the round with the body done in one piece and the arms are knit separately. The ghosts shown were knit in sock yarn, DK and worsted weight yarn. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Make a ghost with funny striped legs with this ghost shelf sitter design from Claire Fairall Designs. It’s worked in three colors of DK weight yarn, and the letters spelling out boo are made with strips of garter stitch sewn into shape.

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