Knitted Toy Tales

Knitted Toy Tales by Laura Long

I love knit toys. I think that's pretty clear if you follow this blog. Toys make me remember times that were simpler, and the games that I played when I was little. This book is unique. Each pattern section has a short little story. What a fun way to give a toy that you made to your child, reading these 1 paragraph stories while they're hugging the stuffed animal.

The Patterns

• The Bunny Bunch (2 sizes of Bunnies)
• Bertie and Beatrice the Birds (These remind me of sparrows.)
• Fredrick the Frog Prince (see cover image)
• Babushkas (These 3 dolls REALLY STACK!)
• Three Hungry Bears
• Polly Dolly's Dress-up Day (A doll and various outfits for her)
• Simon Snake (Incredible color work on the length of the body creates a scale-like effect)
  
• Piggies at Play (Scraps of fabric are used as finishing details. Make pigs sweet by putting a bit of floral fabric in the ears. )
• Mischievous Mice
• Eddie the Friendly Elephant
• Three Little Fish (So colorful and fun!)
• Peter Penguin's Fishing Trip
• The Owl and the Pussycat (Scraps of white felt are sewn on for the eyes) They even have a boat to sit in!

In the past I've complained that some books don't list the exact yarns used in the patterns. Sometimes you really want the novelty yarn to reproduce what you see in the image. At first I was disappointed because the patterns only contained generic yarn descriptions. However, at the bag of the book the particular yarn brands are listed!

Some of the magic of the patterns comes from the finishing details (embroidery and fabric). These are often things that I have difficulty reproducing, but I feel like these toys would have magic even without fabric. After the techniques section, there is a chapter with shapes so you can see how to cut out the fabric.

Enjoy a trip down memory lane with this book!