Knit an Adorable Tiny Shrew

I’m going to admit up front here that all this time I thought a shrew was a bird. It’s actually a mole-like mammal that wort of looks like a mouse, but it isn’t a rodent. They live most places in the world (other than New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and South America, thanks, Wikipedia!) and, at 385 known species they are the fourth-most species-diverse mammal family.

They’re also really cute.

Claire Garland reports that she had a shrew visiting her garden throughout the summer, and while it was too quick to photograph, it could be immortalized in knitting.

The real one probably didn’t have a tiny striped sweater, but I’ll allow it.

Claire says the design is “a little fiddly” as its worked in several tiny pieces (which are joined as you go) on the smallest knitting needles she could find (US 00, or 1.75 mm). The completed creature only stands about 3 inches/8 cm tall.

The good news is you might have stash yarn you can use to make this little one, as it only takes about 50 yards total.

She used tiny glue-in eyes, but you can embroider eyes instead (with French knots or just a little stitch). The sweater pattern is included in the pattern for the shrew.

The pattern is available for free on Ravelry but you really need to check out the Instagram Reel she shared when the pattern was released, because it’s super cute and tells a bit more of the story of the shrew in the garden.

Claire’s patterns are so sweet and this would be a great addition to or start of a collection of tiny woodland creatures to knit and create a little world for.

In the meantime, does anyone know what kind of bird I was thinking of when I was sure a shrew was a bird? That’s going to keep me confused for a while.

[Photo: Claire Garland]

Next Pattern:

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

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