Two more Worry Monsters...

Here are my latest two Worry Monsters that I have knitted for Knit-for-Nowt. I found myself buying some bright colours for these two. My wool collection is heavy on pastels that don't really look right for these monsters. I also needed the bright colours to cheer me up after months of really dull, wet, cold weather.

When I start knitting I have only a vague idea of what the end result will be. It's interesting to see how the faces come alive and, as usual, it's a fine line to tread between worried and totally traumatising.

I was going to make some i-cord for the insect's wings but was very happy to wimp out when I remembered my large collection of old shoe laces. Many of them are round and stiff enough to use as wings. I have absolutely no memory of where these yellow laces came from. I'm just glad they did!

The little pockets on the front are an easy way to try out new techniques. The insect has a mock dog-tooth pattern pocket. It was very easy to knit and I will definitely use it as a detail in other patterns, hats, scarves, blankets etc. It wasn't so forgiving to sew on. It really shows up how skew whiff my sewing was. It reminds me of a stair carpet I once saw in a hotel. It was a tartan pattern and must have seemed like a good idea in the shop. However, the crooked stairs in the hotel, which was about 400 years old, made the tartan look wavy. Climbing a few flights of these stairs resulted in a dizziness which is the last thing you want when every step is a different height and angle!

Free knitting pattern for a worry monster with legs...

PATTERN FOR A KNITTED WORRY MONSTER WITH LEGS

Here is the pattern I wrote recently for a worry monster. I have donated it to Knit-for-Nowt and it is already on their website. 

This one is in intentionally scary.  But it could easily be amended to make it cute and cuddly!

This pattern uses dk yarn doubled (i.e. two strands of dk yarn knitted together) and size 5.5mm knitting needles. It produces a Worry Monster measuring 13 inches long.

I find that doubling up the yarn and using 5.5mm knitting needles makes a strong fabric that knits up very quickly and contains the stuffing securely.

Don’t worry if the monster looks small when you are knitting it. It will look larger after you have sewed the seams and stuffed it.

Remember: the yarn is used doubled throughout except for the pocket and the facial features.

You will need

70g of dk yarn

5.5mm knitting needles

70g of toy stuffing

Felt or buttons for eyes

FRONT VIEW

Right leg

Cast on 9 stitches
Work 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Cut the yarn and push the leg to the far end of the left hand needle

Left leg

Cast on 9 stitches on the same left hand needle.

Work 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Join legs

Knit across all 9 stitches of the left leg.

Turn your work and cast on 2 stitches

Turn your work again and knit across all 9 stitches of the right leg

You should now have 20 stitches on your needle

Body

Work 23 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a purl row and ending with a purl row)

Arms

Cast on 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows

Work 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Cast off 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows

Change to head colour

Work 4 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Mouth

Knit 5 stitches with the face colour

(you are now going to change to the mouth colour. But do not cut the face colour as you will need this on the next row)

Change to mouth colour

Work on next 10 stitches only as follows:

Knit across 10 stitches

Turn and purl or knit across 10 stitches (knitting this row produces a raised, knobbly texture which is similar to teeth)

Change back to face colour
Purl 5 stitches

Knit across all stitches

Work a further 11 rows straight – (stocking stitch, commencing with a purl row and ending with a purl row)
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 4 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Change to hair colour

Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 4 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

You should now have 12 stitches on your needle

BACK VIEW

Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 8 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

You should now have 20 stitches on your needle

Work 16 rows straight – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Change to body colour

Arms

Cast on 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows

Work 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Cast off 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows

Work 24 rows straight  – (stocking stitch, commencing with a garter stitch row and ending with a purl row)

Left leg

Knit 9 stitches

Turn your work and continue on these 9 stitches for 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a purl row and ending with a garter stitch row)

Cast off these 9 stitches

 Right leg

Rejoin yarn to remaining11 stitches

Cast off first 2 stitches

Knit 9 stitches

Work 10 rows – (stocking stitch, commencing with a purl row and ending with a garter stitch row)

Cast off

Making up:

Embroider facial features as desired (the rosebud lips effect was achieved by Swiss darning)

Make plaits if desired and sew on firmly

Sew up outer leg seams, both sides, around arms and head

Stuff with approved toy stuffing and check that it is not escaping through any holes

Sew up remaining leg seams

Using a single strand of dk yarn, knit or crochet a square measuring 3.5 inches and attach it to the front as a worry pocket. (I find it easier to add the pocket after stuffing the monster. But you might prefer to add it first.)

Variations:

Let your imagination run riot

To make longer legs, add 2, 4, or 6 rows

Change the colours as required

To make shoes change the colour of the first four rows of the legs

Use all your left over oddments to make stripes

To knit a monster with ears at the top of the head

Follow pattern until

Change back to face colour, then

Purl 5 stitches

Knit across all stitches

Work a further 43 rows straight – (stocking stitch, commencing with a purl row and ending with a purl row)

Change to body colour and continue with the rest of the pattern

When making up, sew a running stitch across the top corners and pull tightly to make 2 ears

The inspiration for this pattern came from the BASIC PATTERN FOR A WORRY PUPPET by Diane Fenney

If you feel like knitting, crocheting or sewing some worry monsters or worry puppets for Knit-for-Nowt, there is currently a competition to win a wool voucher on their website HERE.  There will be four winners and everyone has an equal chance as the winners will be selected at random by a senior social worker. The closing date is May 25th.

Two preemie blankets...

Here are two tiny blankets that I knitted with wool donated to me. Thanks, Betty. I was in the mood for simple corner-to-corner blankets. 

The one on the right is James C. Brett Baby Marble. It isn't a colour that I would ever have chosen because it contains yellow (eugh!). I initially started a complicated, fancy pattern; but it did the wool no favours. So I ripped it out and settled on simple garter stitch. I think it has turned out reasonably well.

The blanket on the left is one that I started last summer which is the last time we had real daylight for more than about 2 hours per day. I left it for a few months and picked it up again a few weeks ago. I alternated rows of blue and white and then edged it with rows of double crochet also in blue and white. I'm really pleased at the end result and would even consider knitting another larger one for any family members who decide to have babies. Come on, Eileen. (No one in my family is called Eileen, but they know who they are!)

These small blankets will eventually go off to PreemiesUK.