Scarecrow
My three-year-old grandson watched me knitting soft toys for friends, and paged through my patterns. Then he asked me if I could knit the scarecrow shown on the front of Jean Greenhowe's 'knitted toys' book.
I gulped a little - it's quite a complex and highly detailed pattern - but said I probably could. He's quite keen on scarecrows, and although I did suggest various alternatives, he stuck to his choice. I said I would send it to him for Christmas.
The first part to knit was the trousers, which are done as two pieces in sideways stripes in stocking stitch with the purl facing outwards. They were easy enough. The main body part is knitted with the head as a single piece, and also proved relatively straightforward. Then, keen to see how it looked, I started sewing it together... unfortunately, I was quite tired, and forgot that the trousers were 'inside out', so to speak. So I then had to un-stitch it, by which time I was fed up of sewing. I decided to keep knitting and sew it all together at the end.
None of the rest of the clothes sections were particularly complicated, though at times I wondered how the different sections were going to work out. I tried to follow the given colours as closely as possible, using up yarn I had already. The only change I made was to knit hands rather than mittens, in the same colour as the face.
The hair and fringes seemed complex when I read the instructions. But they were quite straightforward, wrapping loops around fingers before knitting into them. I have learned from experience that if I follow Jean Greenhowe's instructions exactly, they work. I don't have to understand them in advance.
I took a break from the scarecrow to knit the puppy for a friend, then resumed, doing perhaps half an hour per day, collecting the pieces in a ziplock bag.
Eventually I reached the end of the scarecrow part of the knitting. Only the three add-on creatures to do. I put the head, body and trousers to one side, and spread the other pieces on the floor:
At this stage, I rather wished I'd gradually stitched it together, as the instructions suggested!
I had to do the body first, however. Not wishing to un-stitch the head and body parts, it took several attempts (with pins) before I worked out how to attach the trousers, the right way round this time. It was quite a relief to have that done and ready to stuff:
It was then very easy to attach the hat, the nose and the feet, and to make a mouth. It took a couple of hours to get to this stage, and I'd had enough of sewing by then.. but at last it was starting to look like a scarecrow. It even stood up by itself:
A couple of days later, I made the eyes (knotted yarn, not felt pieces that might detach). Then I attached the hair and cut the loops. I managed to work out which of the little pieces were the bow tie and the belt sections, and attached those too.
In my next sewing session, I attached the jacket - done in several pieces garter stitch, so it was quite easy. My one deviation from the instructions was to have the thumbs facing downwards rather than upwards, which felt more natural.
The coat has tails at the back, with two of the little knitted decorative buttons like this:
It took one more session to complete the basic scarecrow, with fringes at the ankles and wrists (I didn't cut the loops, as they looked fine as they are, and are much less likely to come out). The little flower on the jacket lapel was the last thing for the basic scarecrow.
I was quite pleased with the result, and to my surprise it still stood up, if balanced carefully, at least for a minute or two:
In between sewing sessions, I had knitted the small pieces of animals: a robin for the shoulder, a mouse for the hat, and a ladybird for one of the feet. They were all quick and straightforward. In my final sewing session, I stuffed and sewed them in place. I could no longer get the scarecrow to balance, so here's the completed toy against the corner of a sofa:
Now I have to trust it to the international mail... it's been quite enjoyable, albeit frustrating at time to make this, but it's not something I want to do again. At least, not for a while.
I gulped a little - it's quite a complex and highly detailed pattern - but said I probably could. He's quite keen on scarecrows, and although I did suggest various alternatives, he stuck to his choice. I said I would send it to him for Christmas.
The first part to knit was the trousers, which are done as two pieces in sideways stripes in stocking stitch with the purl facing outwards. They were easy enough. The main body part is knitted with the head as a single piece, and also proved relatively straightforward. Then, keen to see how it looked, I started sewing it together... unfortunately, I was quite tired, and forgot that the trousers were 'inside out', so to speak. So I then had to un-stitch it, by which time I was fed up of sewing. I decided to keep knitting and sew it all together at the end.
None of the rest of the clothes sections were particularly complicated, though at times I wondered how the different sections were going to work out. I tried to follow the given colours as closely as possible, using up yarn I had already. The only change I made was to knit hands rather than mittens, in the same colour as the face.
The hair and fringes seemed complex when I read the instructions. But they were quite straightforward, wrapping loops around fingers before knitting into them. I have learned from experience that if I follow Jean Greenhowe's instructions exactly, they work. I don't have to understand them in advance.
I took a break from the scarecrow to knit the puppy for a friend, then resumed, doing perhaps half an hour per day, collecting the pieces in a ziplock bag.
Eventually I reached the end of the scarecrow part of the knitting. Only the three add-on creatures to do. I put the head, body and trousers to one side, and spread the other pieces on the floor:
At this stage, I rather wished I'd gradually stitched it together, as the instructions suggested!
I had to do the body first, however. Not wishing to un-stitch the head and body parts, it took several attempts (with pins) before I worked out how to attach the trousers, the right way round this time. It was quite a relief to have that done and ready to stuff:
It was then very easy to attach the hat, the nose and the feet, and to make a mouth. It took a couple of hours to get to this stage, and I'd had enough of sewing by then.. but at last it was starting to look like a scarecrow. It even stood up by itself:
A couple of days later, I made the eyes (knotted yarn, not felt pieces that might detach). Then I attached the hair and cut the loops. I managed to work out which of the little pieces were the bow tie and the belt sections, and attached those too.
In my next sewing session, I attached the jacket - done in several pieces garter stitch, so it was quite easy. My one deviation from the instructions was to have the thumbs facing downwards rather than upwards, which felt more natural.
The coat has tails at the back, with two of the little knitted decorative buttons like this:
It took one more session to complete the basic scarecrow, with fringes at the ankles and wrists (I didn't cut the loops, as they looked fine as they are, and are much less likely to come out). The little flower on the jacket lapel was the last thing for the basic scarecrow.
I was quite pleased with the result, and to my surprise it still stood up, if balanced carefully, at least for a minute or two:
In between sewing sessions, I had knitted the small pieces of animals: a robin for the shoulder, a mouse for the hat, and a ladybird for one of the feet. They were all quick and straightforward. In my final sewing session, I stuffed and sewed them in place. I could no longer get the scarecrow to balance, so here's the completed toy against the corner of a sofa:
Now I have to trust it to the international mail... it's been quite enjoyable, albeit frustrating at time to make this, but it's not something I want to do again. At least, not for a while.
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