Dino the Dinosaur!

Dino the Dinosaur

Dino is a friendly little dinosaur, whose construction is a bit tricky for beginners but a fun challenge for the more advanced toy makers among us. I’ll post tutorial pictures soon, when I work on his girlfriend!

*Errata: I misstyped some stuff when I wrote this up! For the sides of the head, I skipped row 5 and made wrote row 6 instead. But, just the numbers are wrong. Phew! I changed this in the pattern, and that's why stuff is red and bold. Sorry for the trouble, and thanks to laurena-lynn on ravelry for
catching my blunder.

Needles: Size 5 Double Pointed

Yarn: Berocco Comfort, 1/3 skein (possibly less)

Notions: Yarn needle, and embellishing supplies.

Techniques used: Knitting in the round, Provisional joining, seaming, grafting, shaping by making stitches, Kfb’ing, and SSKs and k2togs.

Abbreviations: All of the abbreviations are standard, if you don’t know what one means… you probably aren’t ready to do this project, haha. But seriously, I really don’t want to get an e-mail asking “What’s K8 mean????” … that’s a sign that you might want to start on a different project, love. Of course, if you DO have a technical question, you can e-mail me or message me on ravelry.

HEAD
CROWN: Make a slip knot, then Kfb. Turn, P2

Row 1: K1 m1 K1

Row 2: P

Row 3: K1 m1 K1 m1 K1

Row 4: P (5 stitches)

Row 5: K1 m1 K3 m1 K1

Row 6: P (7 stitches)

Row 7: K

Row 8: P

Row 9: K1 m1 K5 m1 K1

Row 10: P (9 stitches)

Work 17 rows stst, PM for row. Work 11 rows stst, PM for row. Work 4 rows stst. You should be about to start a knit row.

NECK (Part 1): Ssk, K5, k2tog. Turn an P across. Turn, SSk, K3, k2tog. Work in stst for 5 rows. You should have 5 stitches, place these on a holder or just leave them on the dpn and continue working with a new one.

SIDES OF THE HEAD

RIGHT (with finished work at the bottom, k side facing up.) Pick up 6 sts from between markers (if you didn’t put markers on both sides, just move your markers to the other end of the row after you pick up sts.

Work in stst for 10 rows, you should be about to start a knit row. Now the short rows begin!
Row 1: Slip 1, K5

Row 2: P5, w&t

Row 3: K5

Row 4: P5, w&t

Row 5: Slip 1, K4

Row 6: P4, w&t

Row 7: K4

Row 8: P4, w&t

Row 9: Slip 1, K3

Row 10: P3, w&t

Row 11: K3

Row 12: P3, w&t

Row 13: Slip 1, K2. Save these stitches on another holder or leave them on the dpn and start your next part with another.

LEFT (with your finished work on the bottom): I’m going to save some people trouble here and tell you that it’s the same as the right side, just with knit and purl reversed. Don’t worry! I’m still going to write it out!

Pick up 6 sts from between markers, purlwise.

Work in stst for 10 rows, you should be about to start a purl row. Now the short rows begin!
Row 1: Slip 1, P5

Row 2: K5, w&t

Row 3: P5

Row 4: K5, w&t

Row 5: Slip 1, P4

Row 6: K4, w&t

Row 7: P4

Row 8: K4, w&t

Row 9: Slip 1, P3

Row 10: K3, w&t

Row 11: P3

Row 12: K3, w&t

Row 13: Slip 1, P2

NECK (Part 2): The flat knitting is almost over, I promise! Take your two needles that have the stitches from the side of the head and join the two sides, purling the wraps together with the stitches. Turn and knit across, picking up the wraps and knitting them with their respective stitches. Turn and purl across the row, and you’re ready to start. You should have 12 stitches.

Now, take these stitches and join them with the stitches from the crown (remember those?)by knitting across the crown stitches. Then K around, working until you’re at the middle of the crown stitches again. PM, since this is going to be the beginning of your round.

NECK (Part 3): Work in stst for 9 rounds.

BODY: The shaping accounts for a flat area in the tummy and makes the tail curve J

Round 1: *K1 m1 K1 m1 K1* Repeat * to * until end of round.

Round 2, 3: K

Round 4: *K1 m1 K5 m1 K1*, K7, Repeat * to * until end of round.

Round 5,6: K

Round 7: *K1 m1 K7 m1 K1* K7, Repeat * to * until end of round.

Knit 10 rounds.

TAIL: This is basically an asymmetrical decrease that, if stuffed right should have a slight curve.

Round 1: SSK, K to last 2 sts, k2tog

Round 2, 3: K

Round 4: K8 k2tog K7 SSK k8

Round 5: K

Round 6: K7 k2tog K7 SSK K7

Round 7: K

Round 8: K6 k2tog K7 SSK K6

Round 9: K

Round 10: K5 k2tog SSK K3 k2tog SSK K5

Round 11: K

Round 12: K4 k2tog K5 SSK K4

Round 13: K

Round 14: K3 k2tog SSK K1 k2tog SSK K3

K 5 rounds.

Round 19: K2 k2tog K3 SSK K2

K 5 rounds.

Round 24: [k2tog] 3 times

K 2 rounds. Cut yarn and thread through live sts, pulling tight and sewing in the end. You’ve finished the body!

ARMS

On Dino’s chest you should see an area where there are 3 increases in a straight line. Pick up the arm stitches here, or wherever you want. Instructions are the same for both arms.

Pick up six sts, 3 on top and 3 on bottom. Divide between 3 needles (2-2-2)

Join, K for 10 rounds.

Hand: (At this point, if you want to insert armature wire or pipe cleaners for pose-able arms, or if you want to stuff the arms gently, now is the best time.)
Round 1: [K1 m1] around.

K 3 rounds.

Round 4: [k2tog] around. You should have six stitches again. Stuff the hand area.
Last round (whether you make hands or not): [k2tog] around.

Cut the yarn and weave it through the remaining live stitches, then pull tight and weave in. Do it all again for your second arm.

LEGS

The legs are knit separately and then sewn onto the body. There’s a difference between the two because I think one side of the flat circle looks better than the other (the decrease side, feel free to argue this.)

Cast on one stitch. K1P1K1 into the same stitch.

Row 1: P

Row 2: [Kfb] all stitches.

Row 3: P

Row 4: [Kfb] all stitches.

Join, K around.

After the join: Round 1: [K1 m1] around

Round 2: K

Repeat this once, then your ready for your decrease.

Decreases:
K 8 in scrap yarn, then slip these sts back onto the left needle and K over them. Finish the round.

Round 1: K

Round 2: [k2tog] around.
Repeat these two rounds 2 times, then cut yarn and pull through the live stitches.

FOOT: Unravel the scrap yarn and pick up the resulting live stitches, plus two on either side of the new stitches. K these, then at the end of the round cast on 16 stitches, and join. FOR THE SECOND FOOT: Cast on your stitches at the end of the first needle, instead of the second, so the foot is facing the other direction.

BOTH FEET: K 5 rounds, then graft the live stitches together, as well as the stitches at the top of the foot. Stuff the entire leg before you finish grafting!

FINISHING

1. Sew up the four seams at the head: two on the top and two at the jaw. Before your finish sewing, stuff the head and body.

2. Sew both legs to the body, wherever you think looks best.

3. Add eyes, which can be buttons or toy eyes (or embroidered if you’re dealing with wee ones.)

4. Add on any other extras (eye patches, clothes, scarves, appliqué…) since Dino loves dressing up.

5. Put Dino somewhere where passersby can compliment your good work!

A bit of PR: All I ask of you, if you should choose to use one of my patterns, is that you please tell me after you post it up somewhere (blog, forum, anything), and please send me a picture if you make one! I can be reached on ravelry as Alyoops or via email at lynough@gmail.com. This pattern is copyright 2010 Alyssa Lynough. Please do not re-publish or market without permission from the author.