Sunday, March 7, 2010

Knitted Dog Toy


I found myself with extra cotton yarn after a project and tried to think of uses for it. It occurred to me that since it is so washable, it would make a great dog toy, so instead of planning something out, i just went for it, making it up as I went along. I decided to make it in one big piece and just fold it in half to sew it together because I dislike sewing pieces together! I slowly increased it to make arms then decreased for shoulders, and made a little square head, then cast off half the stitches, divided the remaining stitches and made ears. I stuffed it and put a little bell inside, sewed in soem seams to make some "arms," and it was finished! It only took me an afternoon to make it, and my dog now has a lovely toy.

After Augie, my dog, enjoyed the new toy, I made one for my friend's dog, who is pictured. Samus is the one with the blue toy, Augie with the yellow toy. I made some for the dogs in my neighborhood too.

Here's the pattern if you're interested:
you will need one skein of cotton yarn in the desired color (I use Lily & Cream) and size 8 needles.
Gauge: its a dog toy, doesn't matter.
With size 8 needles, CO 21 sts
k 16 rows even
17: K 1, M1, K9, M1, k1, m1, k9, m1, k1
Row 16 and all even rows: Knit
19: k1, m1, k11, m1, k1, m1, k11, m1, k1
21: k1, m1, k13, m1, k1, m1, k13, m1, k1
23: k1, m1, k15, m1, k1, m1, k15, m1, k1
25: k1, m1, k17, m1, k1, m1, k17, m1, k1
27: k1, m1, k19, m1, k1, m1, k19, m1, k1
k 3 rows even
31: k1, k2tog, k17, k2tog, k1, ssk, k17, ssk, k1
33: k1, k2tog, k15, k2tog, k1, ssk, k15, ssk, k1
35: k1, k2tog, k13, k2tog, k1, ssk, k13, ssk, k1
37: k1, k2tog, k11, k2tog, k1, ssk, k11, ssk, k1
39: k1, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k1, ssk, k9, ssk, k1
41: k1, k2tog, k7, k2tog, k1, ssk, k7, ssk, k1
43: k1, k2tog, k5, k2tog, k1, ssk, k5, ssk, k1
k 3 rows even
47: k1, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, ssk, k1
k 10 rows even
58: cast off 7 sts. Divide remaining sts to make ears: (3 sts each ear) for each ear: K 5 rows even, sl 1 st, k2tog, psso.
sew in ends, turning right sides together, sew up top and side seams (be sure to have the ears tucked into the right side!) turn the toy inside out and stuff it, placing a bell in the middle. sew up the bottom. optional: Sew the leg portion in halves, and sew the arms as shown. If you want a taller toy, do the decrease row once every third row instead of every other, its better for bigger dogs.

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