Sweet Animal Knitting Patterns

Knitting animals as toys or for display is a lot of fun, and they make great gifts for people of all ages. Last summer I made two sets of bears for my daughter’s teacher who was having her second set of twins — two boys and two girls!

Even if you don’t have a bunch of little ones to knit for, these fun little projects are great stash busters and fun to donate.

This little elephant from Clare Garland (Ravelry) is so cute, and his little onesie makes him look even more like a sweet little baby.

A knitted lion from Lion Brand Yarn (of course!) would be sweet to knit for a baby’s nursery or to give to an animal-loving kiddo.

DotPebblesKnits has a really realistic looking cat pattern (Etsy) that would be fun to give to someone who loves cats but can’t have a live one, or just for a little one to snuggle.

The bears I made were from a pattern by Little Cotton Rabbits, who has a ton of adorable little animals with clothing ensembles to knit. I love her little dog in a dress pattern too (Etsy).

It’s hard to tell from the picture but this knit octopus from Yarnspirations is not really a small project. It’s worked in Bernat Blanket using size 10.5 knitting needles, and the head is about 12 inches tall and 15 inches in diameter, with 18-inch-long tentacles. So fun!

And maybe my favorite (though they are all my favorite when I’m looking at them!) is this sweet little duck from Knit Picks. Designed by Barbara McIntyre, it’s 7 inches tall and only uses about 80 yards of yarn, so it’s a great little last minute project when a little one is coming to visit.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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