Koala Baby

I've had parts of this pattern knit up for quite a while now but I put it to one side and completely forgot about it until I was rummaging through my knitted toy box today. I only needed to add limbs and ears to him and knew it would only take a few ours to knit up so I got cracking. I'm rather annoyed with myself that I didn't finish him sooner because he turned out so cute.

The pattern is a translation of this pattern, a crochet pattern designed by Tamie Snow of Roxycraft. So if you can crochet you should definitely checkout her site her patterns are great, and i love her sense of humour which she often puts into her patterns (which definitely do not suck!).

I also found this will be one of the very few free koala toy patterns out there, so I hope you all like him. Remember to add your pictures of your finished Koala's to the Knitted Toy Box flickr group, you know I love seeing you finished toys.




Materials
· Set of 3.25mm needles (UK size 10, US size 3)
· Yarn needle
· Toy Stuffing
· Scissors
· 5mm Toy safety eyes

Yarn colours
· Grey
· White
· Scraps of black yarn/thread if embroidering the eyes and nose

Yarn weight: Double knitting (DK)

Gauge: not important but make it tight so stuffing doesn’t show through

Finished measurements: approx 4” tall and 3.5” wide

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Body
CO6
1. Purl
2. *Kfb* along(12sts)
3. Purl
4. *kfb, k1* along (18sts)
5. Purl
6. *Kfb* along (36sts)
7-21. (Begin with Purl) st-st for 15 rows
22. *k2tog * along (18sts)
23. BO

BO remaining stitches leaving a long tail. Use tail to mattress stitch the body closed stopping halfway to fill with stuffing. Continue to mattress stitch until you reach the cast on stitches. Draw the yarn through the cast off stitches, pull tightly and secure. Weave in any leftover yarn ends.

Head
CO6
1. purl
2. kfb every sts (12sts)
3. purl
4. * kfb, k1* along (18sts)
5. Purl
6. *kfb, k2* along (24sts)
7. Purl
8. *kfb, k3* along (30sts)
9-15. (Begin with purl) st-st 7 rows
16. *K2tog, k3* along (24sts)
17. Purl
18. *K2tog, k2* along (18sts)
19. Purl
20. *K2tog, k1* along (12sts)
21. Purl
22. *K2tog * along (6sts)

Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Draw tail through remaining stitches and pull tightly and secure. At this stage you may want to add the safety eyes and embroider a nose. Use tail to mattress stitch row ends closed stopping halfway to fill with stuffing. Close remaining opening leaving a long tail to sew onto body.

Ears (make 2)
CO2 in white
1. purl
2. kfb,k1 (3sts)
3. purl
4. *kfb* along (6sts)
Change to grey
5. purl
6. *kfb* along (12sts)
7. purl
8. BO

Leave a long yarn tail to sew the ears to the head

Arms (make 2)
CO4
1. purl
2. *kfb* along (8st)
3. purl
4. *kfb, k1* along (12st)
5-9. (Begin with purl) st-st 5 rows
10. BO

Leave a long yarn tail to mattress stitch the row end together. Stop halfway and fill with stuffing. Continue up to the cast on stitches, then draw through all the cast on stitches to give a drawstring effect, pull tightly and secure and weave in any loose ends.

Legs (make 2)
CO4
1. purl
2. *kfb* along (8st)
3. purl
4. *kfb* along (16st)
5-9. (Begin with Purl) st-st 5 rows
10. BO

Leave a long yarn tail to mattress stitch the row end together. Stop halfway and fill with stuffing. Continue up to the cast on stitches, then draw through all the cast on stitches to give a drawstring effect, pull tightly and secure and weave in any loose ends.

Finishing

• Attach ears to each side of the head by whip stitching the row ends as cast on stitches of the ears along the head length-wise.


• Sew the head onto the BO neck edge of the body.


• Attach arms and legs with the BO stitches against the body.

* REMEMBER* Never give toys with safety eyes to small children under 3 years old or to pets as they are a choking hazard. If your toys are intended for either of these groups I advise you to embroider them on with thread or scrap yarn.

♥ Raynor