This cute little monster came to be because of the Summer in Europe swap. I really enjoy freeform knitting so the challenge of a summery monster was hard to resist. Especially once I realised I had a hank of lovely summer-monster-green wool to play with.
Waiting to be packed up for the trip to UK. The happy ladies are painted by an artist in a hand and mouth painters assoiciation.
Apparently I didn’t get a very good picture of the head leaf, but I promise it’s cute!
Not a pattern:
Yarn: Mystery wool yarn gifted to me by a colleague
Needles: 3mm bamboo dpns, 3 mm crochethook.
Misc: One safety eye, button, or yarn to embroider features. Polyfill, wool, or yarn ends for stuffing the monster.
Method:
I cast on 24 stitches, divided them to three needles and joined to knit in the round. I then decided I needed to increase a few times to get a round, friendly monster. After knitting what seemed the right amount of rows without increases I started to decrease.
The decreases are left leaning (slip, slip, knit) since I liked the look of them. I made three decreases on every decrease row and staggered the increases to create a subtly textured pattern. Closer to the bottom there are two straight rows between decreases, and closer to the top the decreases are increasingly closer to round out the little head.
When I had three stitches left on each needle I used a centered double decrease to get down to one stitch per needle.
Rearrange to put all stitches on one dpn and work an icord for however long the stem needs to be.
Finish with a garter stitch leave
Row A: knit and place yarn overs on each side of the center stitch
Row B: knit across
Repeat A and B until you have approximately half a leaf
Optional: knit a row or two where you pair the yarn overs with decreases
Second half of leaf: decrease every other row, finishing the last three stitches with a double decrease of your choice. Weave in yarn and hide it in the stem before cutting.
Place the eye if using safety eyes and stuff the body.
The bottom of the monster is a crocheted cirkle.
Cast on 6 stitches using a magic ring, mark beginning of round
Increase 6 times per round until you have 24 stitches.
Bind off and use blanket stitch to fasten the monster butt. Add some more stuffing if needed before sewing it completely shut.
Weave in and hide all yarn ends in the monster before cutting.
Congratulations! Your Yarny summer monster is a Featured Project this week! 