Knit Toys Made Out of Squares

Many years ago, when my now-ninth grader was in kindergarten, I did a couple of summer camps at her school dealing with fiber arts for kids. One of the projects I made in one of those weeks was a little cat made out of a square, which you folded up and sewed down at the top to make ears. (I can’t find a similar pattern online but this and lots of other simple toys knit from squares and rectangles can be found in A First Book of Knitting for Children.)

One of those early Easters my mom made my daughter a bunny out of a square, and remembering that as I’m thinking about Easter projects this week got me thinking about animals that you can knit from squares.

The bunny there are a lot of different versions of, but I think the one she used was from StudioKnit. It’s such a cute and easy little project, and if you happen to have a square swatch lying around, you’re almost done with this project. This would be a great one for teaching little kids to knit because they can use their practice piece to make a sweet little toy.

Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer has another version of the knit square bunny, where the body and head of the bunny are made from a square and you add on ears and a tail after. This one is shown worked in stockinette stitch, but you could do it with garter stitch too of course!

How about a knit sheep from a square? This one from Jo So and Sew adds a bit of felt for the head and ears and uses a square of garter stitch for the body. So cute for kids and knitting friends!

Resurrection Fern made a cute little rooster (it could also be a hen or a chick with different embellishments) out of a square of knitting. This one is fun because it also allows you to use some colorful fabric scraps for the tail feathers.

The square bear from Gina Michele has more than one square involved, but all the pieces are flat garter stitch with no shaping involved to make this cute little bear.

This one is a little more complex in that it’s a rectangle and you need to change colors throughout to make the different parts of the doll, but I love the ready teddy pattern from Aussie Knitting Threads. With one piece of knitting you can make a whole fully dressed bear (or cat, or make it a person and add some hair) that would be great as a little gift or to donate to charity.

If you’re looking for more easy and fun knit animal toys made with squares, check out Nicky Epstein’s Knit a Square, Create a Cuddly Creature or Knit a Square and Make a Toy.

Book Review: Finger Knitting for Kids

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.

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