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My knitted fairy pattern

After so much mousy knitting recently I got the urge yesterday to design and knit something easy. Suddenly this cute little autumn fairy popped off my needles and flew away to sit in a nearby tree.


Then a gust of wind caused her to slip from her mossy perch and she landed (very daintily) amongst some big yellow daisies below.

I lifted her carefully from the flowers and took her back indoors where I gave her a mossy log to sit on and that seemed to please her.

She only measures 15 cm (6 in) and I feel sure she would be easy enough for new knitters to try (children as well as adults). As long as you can cast on, cast off, knit and purl there shouldn't be a problem. I'm including the pattern in this post and have given added hints and tips which I hope will help if you are a new knitter. So whether you are new to the craft, or have been clicking away for years, do try knitting my fairy. I used 3.25 mm needles (US 3). If your knitting tends to be fairly loose then use a needle one size smaller. You will also require a large (tapestry) needle for sewing up.

I used DK yarn (in the US use light worsted and in Australia 8 ply). You can of course mix and match your own colour range but I chose autumnal shades. Golden yellow, rusty red, olive green and cream for clothes. Golden brown for hair and flesh pink for the fairy. Brown and pink embroidery floss or sewing cotton for eyes and mouth plus a tiny amount of stuffing.



The body and head are worked in stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row) .
Cast-on 15 stitches in golden yellow and start with a knit row.
Rows 1 - 12. gold/yellow
Rows 13 - 20. flesh pink
Row 21. k2tog across row to last stitch, k1 (knit 2 stitches together right across the row to the last stitch then knit this last stitch)
Row 22. purl



Break the flesh pink yarn leaving a 15 cm ( 6 in) tail. Thread this onto a tapestry needle and take the remaining stitches off the knitting needle onto the tail of yarn. Draw up tightly and secure



Stitch the head and body seam which will be at the back. Stuff the head and part of the body, but not too firmly (don't stretch the knitting).



Thread your needle with flesh pink yarn and starting from the seam at the back, where the gold joins the flesh, pick up every alternate loop all the way round (see picture above).

Draw up to create a neck and fasten off.

Placing your needle down the centre of the head (see above) will indicate where the eyes and mouth should go but there are several variations. Using pins with coloured heads will give you some idea where you want to place the features.

Eyes close together and fairly high on the head will give a worried or perplexed expression.



Eyes places at different heights and mouth off-centre gives a quizzical look.

So I played safe with eyes widely spaced. I'm not sure what expression this would be.

Knitting yarn can be too thick for a small face so use embroidery floss or sewing thread. Black eyes and a red mouth can look too heavy so try brown eyes and a dark pink mouth.

At this stage the fairy is simply a finger puppet and so she needs arms and legs.

These are twisted cords made from flesh pink yarn. Just two strands twisted to form a four strand cord is perfect. If you are unsure how to make a twisted cord you will find very good instructions (with pictures) in the sidebar of my blog. Arms should be approximately 6 cm (2.5 in) long and legs 8 cm (3.5 in) long.

There shouldn't be a knot at the top of the arm but the knot at the bottom will (with a bit of imagination) look like a fairy hand and fingers. Similarly the knot at the bottom of the leg will resemble feet and toes. A knot at the top of the leg will be useful as it will help to secure it inside the body when the legs are attached.

Stitch the tops of the arms to the fairy's shoulders. Add a little extra stuffing to the body if required and push the knots at the tops of the legs into the body. Stitch across the bottom of the body with matching yarn ensuring the legs are held firmly in place.

Next comes the fairy hair. I have used golden brown and have created a fairy top-knot. Wrap the yarn 6 times around two fingers and secure in the centre with matching yarn to make a top-knot (see picture below).

Stitch top-knot over the centre hole in the top of the head

Place a few extra stitches on the fairy's forehead. I got so carried away with my hair styling I added a little plait at each side. (If you want to do this you will need to plait six strands of yarn).

Finally the fairy needs wings and a skirt. Firstly the wings. Cast on 4 stitches in green and work 10 rows in garter stitch (knit every row). Break the yarn leaving a 15 cm ( 6 in) tail. Thread this onto a tapestry needle and take the remaining stitches off the knitting needle onto the tail of yarn. Draw up tightly and secure. Stitch this end of the wing to the back of the fairy at shoulder height. The tail at the cast on end can be woven down through the wing and cut off.

The skirt is quite full which allows the fairy to sit comfortably. It is knitted in garter stitch (knit every row). Cast on 52 stitches in russet.

Rows 1 - 2. russet

Rows 3 - 6. golden yellow

Rows 7 - 9. white

Row 10. k2tog across row

Row 11. green

Row 12. k1, k2tog across row to last stitch, k1 (green)

Rows 13 - 15 green

Cast off . Weave in the ends of yarn and then (leaving a small opening for fitting) stitch the seam from the bottom upwards. Fit the skirt onto the fairy with the seam at the back. Close the remainder of the back seam and back-stitch the skirt to the body around the fairy's waist.

Finally, little blushing cheeks made with a red pencil crayon complete the 'look'. What a cute little lady she is. But I think she looks a bit lonely so reckon I'll have to knit her a few fairy friends!!

Hope you have fun knitting fairies.

Pip and his Halloween pumpkins

What a lovely month October is. So full of warm russets and golds. I found this seasonal little picture in a book my daughter loved as a child and was inspired to knit something with a Halloween theme. A Halloween mouse maybe!




And here is the little fellow that came tumbling from my knitting needles this week. His name is Pip and he's the king of the pumpkin patch.

Just look at his gorgeous orange pumpkins.

With such a crop of pumpkins Pip is now busy making a Jack O'Lantern for each of his mousy friends.




I love this little fellow. If you'd like the pattern for Pip and his pumpkins you'll find it in my Etsy shop.

Thinking about mice

You left me last time thinking about knitting vintage style toys. Unfortunately before I'd really got started I found these cute little mice in one of my Mabel Lucie Attwell books and decided mice would now be top of my knitting list.

And so I 've spent the week knitting mice (or trying to). I've designed a variety of different mouse heads and body parts and eventually put together a pattern for a little lady that made me smile.

Her name is Darcy and she measures just 17cm (7ins) to the top of her ears.

This dainty little mouse loves to dance and you will find the pattern for her in my Etsy shop

I'm so in love with mice that I'm now working on a little boy mouse. If he turns out well I hope he will join Darcy in my Etsy shop by next week.

Knitting vintage

Having completed the pattern for my two little knitted girls, Tilly and Lulu, I'm keen to start a new project and here is a clue as to what it could be.


I love homemade vintage knitted toys that were made during those austere wartime years of the mid 20th century. It was a time when knitting wool was hard to get and small items were created from odds and ends and 'pulled backed' garments. I'm hoping to design something that will have a similar appearance but of course it will have to be made from new yarn and today's shades tend to be much more bright and cheerful.

So I shall start by thinking about colour. My mum did a lot of knitting in the 1950s when times were hard and sold much of what she made.


I have the original cards of vintage buttons that she used and the shades seem just right for my new project.

I have some of her wool also but not enough to make a toy and so will have to add some of my own.

After making Tilly and Lulu in gorgeous 'modern day' shades this palette of colours seems very dull but I'm going to persevere as I think colour could be the clue to getting the vintage look I'm seeking. I'll let you know how I progress.

Meet Tilly

Meet Tilly. I've spent all week creating this little cutie. She's the big sister of Lulu who you've already met. Knitting patterns for both little girls can be found in my Etsy shop (see sidebar)



Tilly is proud to be a grown-up school girl but when she isn't doing lessons .....

she's playing with her little sister.

Both little girls like playing with dollies.

Tilly likes writing in her school books

and carries them to class in her little bag.

How to make a twisted cord

Twisted cords are easy and fun to make and have numerous uses. If you aren't sure how to make one please read on.

You can make a twisted cord in any size. Multicoloured and chunky (knitting yarn), very fine (sewing thread), one shade (yarn), smooth and bright (embroidery floss), glitzy and festive (sparkly yarn).

You need to start by choosing the yarn or thread that is right for your project. If you want a thick cord then you'll need to twist several lengths together. I'm using just 2 shades of yarn for this demonstration (one length of each). The yarn must be cut a little over 4 times the length that is required. So if you need a 30 cm (12 in) cord you should cut the yarn 120 cm (48 in) long.

Fold the yarn in half to make it 60 cm (24 in) long and place the loop on a key or door handle to hold it firm. At the other end knot the 4 ends of yarn together and push a pencil through the loop.

With your left hand pull the yarn to keep it tight and with the other hand start winding the pencil in a clockwise direction. You'll quickly will see the yarn starting to twist.

There are no rules about how many twists are needed but you will quickly start to recognise the right amount once you have made a few cords.

Once you feel you've done enough twists with the pencil remove the yarn from the key with your left hand and hold it firmly. Make sure you keep the tension in the cord.

If you accidentally release the yarn it will twist on its own and this is the jumbled effect you will get. If this happens you can keep hold of the pencil end with your right hand and gently untangle the jumble with your left.

Keeping the tension in the cord move your left hand along the cord towards the pencil, releasing it a short length at a time. It will automatically begin to twist.

When the cord has stopped twisting remove the pencil and tie a knot in the open end of the cord to prevent it unwinding.

And here it is...one brightly coloured cord ready for use.