After seeing what the topic for this month was, I got super excited. The idea of knitting a cute little monster seemed really appealing to me. Being that I work in a library and that I absolutely love the book,
Where the Wild Things Are , I decided to make my monster a tribute to that loveable book. I don't know if there is an official name for this monster, but mine I have dubbed Sir Rumpert, in honor of the famed "wild rumpus" of the book.
Thus, may I present, Sir Rumpert! (I'm way too excited about this)
With his favorite book...
On a wild rumpus in the yard...
Chilling out after the wild rumpus...
I hope you like him. I'm absolutely in love with him.
Now, for the facts:
-The yarns were acrylics that were in my stash.
-I used felt for the eyes, paws, claws, teeth and horns. I drew the pupils and some of the facial details with permanent marker
-Most of him is knit in the round.
- I stuffed him with fiber fill for the most part, with beans in his feet and legs so he can sorta stand.
-I lined the inside of the body with felt (going back, I would probably double strand this are like I did the legs and head)
-the needles were US 10.5 double points (mostly because that was what I had)
-the pattern was completely my own, but the monster which was my inspiration was created by Maurice Sendak in Where the Wild Things Are.
-It took me about two weeks to finish him, but I was working on several other projects at the time.
Now, I'll go back to staring at my lovely monster and showing pictures of him to anyone who will look (I told you I was too excited)
Update:
Here's a rough pattern:
Everything was knit in the round on size 10 1/2 dpns, with worsted weight yarn double stranded, but that was just what I had on me. He could easily be made with smaller/larger needles or different weights of yarn. I wasn't worried about gauge, since size didn't matter too much.
If anything's isn't clear on the pattern, or if there's a mistake, let me know and I'll try to fix it. This is my first time writing a pattern.
Legs:
The texture is created from combining seed st and 1x1 ribbing.
CO 12 sts
(Seed st for two rows, 1x1 ribbing for 1 row) Repeat this pattern for about 2 inches.
The feet I made like mini socks. I took the back 5 sts or so and worked stockinette on those sts for a few rows, then picked up sts for the gusset (I forgot to turn the heel) and knit in the round again, now in stockinette. I decreased (K 1, K2tog) every other row until there were 6 sts left, then Kitchener stitched them together.
Body:
The lower body (CO 40 sts) has the same seed st/ ribbing combination for about two inches, then I switched yarns to the orange colors for the sweater, working 3 rows of the boucle yarn and two rows of the plain yarn to make the stripe pattern. (the sweater is all stockinette. I used single stranded yarn in the one I made, but I would recommend double stranded or the stuffing shows through) At the neck I worked decreases (K1, K2tog), every other row 2x (20sts) then bind off.
Arms
CO 12 sts, work stripe pattern in stockinette. I don't remember exactly how I decreased for the hands, but I worked the decreases on the side to make the hands somewhat flat. Decrease til there are 6 sts left, Kitchener st to finish.
Head
The head is basically an oblong sphere (which isn't technically a sphere, I guess) in stockinette, with the fringe added on in finishing. I knitted both colors at the same time, stranding the color that wasn't in use on the wrong side.
CO 20 sts in black (all stockinette in round)
K 1 row
K1, Kfb (increase made) til end of row, 1 row (30 sts)
K 1 row
K 1, Kfb til end of row, 1 row (40 sts)
Then add in the beige for the face. It's like a tube til you get to the top of the head. The beige covers 8 sts at the beginning. Roughly it would be like this charted
X=black, O=beige
(front 1/2 of head)
(top)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X
XXXXX
OOOOOOOOXXXXXX
XXXXX
OOOOOOOOXXXXXX
XXXX
OOOOOOOOOOXXXXX
XXXX
OOOOOOOOOOXXXXX
XXX
OOOOOOOOOOOOXXXX
XXX
OOOOOOOOOOOOXXXX
XXX
OOOOOOOOOOOOXXXX
XXX
OOOOOOOOOOOOXXXX
XXX
OOOOOOOOOOOOXXXX
XXXX
OOOOOOOOOOXXXXX
XXXX
OOOOOOOOOOXXXXX
XXXXX
OOOOOOOOXXXXXX
XXXXX
OOOOOOOOXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X
I don't remember exactly how I decreased at the top of the head, but I think it was K1, K2tog every other row til there were less than ten sts left, then I left a long tail, threaded that through the remaining sts and pulled it tight, knotting it on the inside (like the top of a hat)
The tail I knit as a rectangle in st st, added fringe and sewed it together as a tube. I don't remember the number of sts, but it's really easy to improvise (and if you really want to make a gauge swatch, this part would work well as one)
Finishing:
Sew legs to lower body, stuff arms with fiber fill, sew to shoulders. Stuff legs (I used beans to weigh it down, but fiber fill is fine too) Stuff body with fiber fill. Cut white felt triangles for claws, sew them on with sewing needle and thread. Cut brown or black felt circles for paw pads, blanket stitch them on with sewing needle and thread. Add fringe to head. Embroider nose. Cut yellow circles for eyes, draw pupils on, blanket st them to head. Draw or embroider facial lines and mouth. Cut white felt triangle for teeth and sew them on. Cut white felt triangles (large) for horns. Sew the up and sew them to head. Stuff head with fiber fill. Sew head to body. Sew tail to body.
Now go out and have a wild rumpus!
