Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Indy's Jack-o-Lantern


I've gone a little crazy this week knitting a bunch of pumpkins (stay tuned for future blog posts.) It is only natural that I design my own pumpkin creature for Halloween! This little pumpkin is for Indy, who we frequently call Pumpkin.



I took advantage of Indy's Blank Ball Chart to sketch out the jack-o-lantern face.  This was also an excuse for me to break out my colored pencils.  We moved them with us to Evanston and I hadn't hand a reason to use them yet.  


Note: With all handmade dog toys, please supervise your pet while he plays with them. Remove from the pet at any sign of damage.


Materials
  • Knitting Needles: 4 dpn Size 7
  • Yarn: Worsted 100% wool yarn. I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Orange and Coal (black)
  • Gauge: Not important for the completed project
  • Misc: yarn needle, polyfill stuffing and materials for hand felting.
  • Optional: A dog squeeker left over from another toy. I save all squeekers from dog toys Indy has ripped apart.  
  • Finished Size: ~2.5" diameter (unfelted) ~2" diameter felted.

The Pattern
  • Cast on 6 stitches onto your double pointed needles. Join to knit in the round.
  • Follow the chart, where Round 1 is KFB across (12 sts.) For full written instructions of the increases and decreases, check out Indy's Toy Ball knitting pattern.
  • The colorwork starts on Round 7 and ends after Round 19. Don't forget to wrap the unused color during the really long floats. (Or you can cut the yarn after each long row and have may knots in the middle. Since this is going to be enclosed, no one will see how you finish it!)
  • When 12 stitches remain (Round 23), stuff the ball lightly with polyfill stuffing (Don't forget the ball will shrink with felting.) . If you are inserting a squeeker, stuffer half of the ball, insert squeeker and then finish stuffing.
  • When 6 stitches remain, break yarn and pull through remaining stitches. Stuff loose ends in the center of the ball.
  • Hand Felt the puppy toy to desired size.
  • Enjoy!

 
Indy waiting to get his ball.  He knows if he looked at it he wouldn't be able to keep waiting!


Unfortunately, when felting this Jack-o-lantern dog toy I squished the squeeker too much so it no longer squeeks.  It doesn't seem to matter because Indy still loves his new toy! 

 

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Abbreviations Used in this pattern:
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and back of a single stitch.
M1 (Make 1)- increase stitch by picking up yarn between two stitches, twisting and knitting.
K - knit
P - purl
I-cord - knit stitches on dpn's without ever turning the needle (effectively knitting in the round with a small number of stitches.)
SSK - decrease by slipping two stitches then knitting them together. Alternatively, you could slip one stitch, knit one stitch and pass slipped stitch over.
K2tog - decrease by knitting two stitches together.


This knitting pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. You are not to sell, distribute or reprint this pattern without the permission of ChemKnits. © 2012 ChemKnits

7 comments:

  1. Miss chemknits you never cease to amaze me :D this is sooooooo cute; I am making this a new goal.....Learning how to picture knit in rounds if you have any tips please let me know.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Glitter! I think one of the most important things to think about when knitting with charts in the round is what is the visible surface. For example, if a hat has 100 sts around, you can really only see 50 or less at a time. So this may impact how big you want the pattern to be. Another thing to consider is if you are going to have any increases or decreases in the pattern, which is why I sketched out whole ball with increases and decreases in the chart. Good luck!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks! I get lots of silly ideas when my husband is out of town. :)

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  3. Omg! I have an American Eskie too! She's 6 now. I am always looking for dog toys that she won't destroy. I'll have to make this and see what kind of damage she does to it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately Indy destroyed this very quickly. it seems that only soft toys that he had in the first few months of life still receive "gentle" play. New ones he looks for the way inside.

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    ReplyDelete