Yana Knits

In my opinion moose is the ultimate Christmas animal, so I thought of making one this season. Unlike most of my other projects that are knitted this toy is crocheted. Crocheting seemed like a logical way of making it since most amigurumi-type toys are crocheted. Besides, crocheting lends itself to making all sorts of amazing smooth shapes without much effort.

Yarn and Crochet

I had a few skeins of really bulky Gianna yarn (50% soysilk, 50% wool) which would have been perfect for a throw had I about 20 of them. But having only a few made me think that it would be suitable for a small sturdy project, like a stuffed animal. It also happened to come in toy moose colors.

• 1 skein of dark brown yarn for antlers and feet (100g/83m)
• 4 skeins of light brown yarn for head, body, and legs (100g/83m)
• Crochet size 9 (I)

Pattern

There really is only one type of stitch used for making this moose – a single crochet. The ears (and an optional scarf) are worked in the back and forth fashion, and the rest of the toy is worked in spirals.

Process

Feel free to start with any body part that appeals to you. I started with the head, then made the antlers and ears, the body, and finished with the legs. The scarf was made after the moose was completely assembled – to add a touch of warmth.

Antlers and Ears

Ears are the easiest thing to make: chain 6, turn, and single crochet (sc) 5 remaining stitches. Make 2 ears.

Antlers (work in dark brown)

• Chain 7, join with a slip stitch
• Rounds 1-4: sc all stitches (making  tube)
• Round 5 (increase 4): sc2, sc3 stitches into the 3rd stitch, sc3 stitches into the 4th stitch, sc3
• Round 6 (increase 4): sc4, sc3 stitches into the 5th stitch, sc3 stitches into the 6th stitch, sc5
• Round 7 (increase 4): sc6, sc3 stitches into the 7th stitch, sc3 stitches into the 8th stitch, sc7
• Round 8: sc all stitches
• Round 9 (reduce 4): sc6, [skip 1, sc1] 4 times, sc5
• Round 10 (reduce 4): sc4, [skip 1, sc1] 4 times, sc3
• Round 11 (reduce 3): sc3, [skip 1, sc1] 3 times, sc2

Stuff the antler with stuffing like poly-down (while the hole is still big enough)

• Round 12 (reduce 4): [skip 1, sc1] 4 times

Tuck in the end of the yarn. Make 2 antlers.

Head

• Chain 5, join with a slip stitch
• Round 1 (increase 5): sc2 into every stitch (making a flat circle) (=10 st total)
• Round 2 (increase 5): sc2 into every other stitch (=15 st total)
• Round 3 (increase 7): sc2 into every other stitch, sc1 (=22 st total)
• Round 4 (increase 5): [sc4, sc2 into the next stitch] 5 times (=27 st total)
• Rounds 5-9: sc all stitches
• Round 10 (reduce 4): [sc5,skip 1] 4 times, sc2 (=23 st total)
• Round 11: sc all stitches
• Round 12 (reduce 3): [sc6, skip 1] 3 times, sc2 (=20 st total)
• Round 13: sc all stitches
• Round 14 (increase 5): sc5, [sc2 into every other stitch] 5 times, sc6 (=25 st total)
• Round 15 (increase 3): sc7, [sc2 into every other stitch] 3 times, sc7 (=28 st total)
• Round 16: sc all stitches
• Round 17 (increase 2): sc10, sc2 into one stitch, sc6, sc2 into one stitch, sc10 (=30 st total)
• Round 18: sc all stitches

If you’re sewing eye and nose pieces on (which are regular buttons in my case), do it now – it’s a lot easier when you still have access to the back side of the fabric.

• Round 19 (reduce 4): sc4, skip 1, [sc6, skip 1] 3 times, sc4 (=26 st total)
• Round 20 (reduce 4): sc5, skip 1, [sc4, skip 1] 3 times, sc5 (=22 st total)
• Round 21 (reduce 4): sc6, skip 1, [sc2, skip 1] 3 times, sc6 (=18 st total)
• Round 22 (reduce 3): [sc5, skip 1] 3 times (=15 st total)
• Round 23 (reduce 3): [sc4, skip 1] 3 times (=12 st total)

Stuff the head.

• Round 24 (reduce 4): [sc2, skip 1] 4 times (=8 st total)
• Round 25 (reduce 4): [sc1, skip 1] 4 times

Tuck in the end of the yarn.

Body

• Chain 5, join with a slip stitch
• Round 1 (increase 5): sc2 into every stitch (making a flat circle) (=10 st total)
• Round 2 (increase 5): sc2 into every other stitch (=15 st total)
• Round 3 (increase 7): sc2 into every other stitch, sc1 (=22 st total)
• Round 4 (increase 4): [sc4, sc2 into the next stitch] 4 times, sc2 (=26 st total)
• Rounds 5-7: sc all stitches
• Round 8 (increase 2): sc10, sc2 into next stitch, sc4, sc2 into next stitch, sc10 (=28 st total)
• Round 9: sc all stitches
• Round 10 (increase 2): sc11, sc2 into next stitch, sc4, sc2 into next stitch, sc11 (=30 st total)
• Round 11: sc all stitches
• Round 12 (increase 2): sc11, sc2 into next stitch, sc6, sc2 into next stitch, sc11 (=32 st total)
• Round 13: sc all stitches
• Round 14 (increase 2): sc12, sc2 into next stitch, sc6, sc2 into next stitch, sc12 (=34 st total)
• Round 15: sc all stitches
• Round 16 (increase 2): sc12, sc2 into next stitch, sc8, sc2 into next stitch, sc12 (=36 st total)
• Round 17: sc all stitches
• Round 18 (increase 2): sc13, sc2 into next stitch, sc8, sc2 into next stitch, sc13 (=38 st total)
• Rounds 19-21: sc all stitches
• Round 22 (reduce 4): sc8, skip 1, [sc6, skip 1] 3 times, sc8 (=34 st total)
• Round 23 (reduce 4): sc8, skip 1, [sc5, skip 1] 3 times, sc7 (=30 st total)
• Round 24 (reduce 5): [skip 1, sc5] 5 times (=25 st total)
• Round 25 (reduce 5): [skip 1, sc4] 5 times (=20 st total)
• Round 26 (reduce 5): [skip 1, sc3] 5 times (=15 st total)

Stuff the body.

• Round 27 (reduce 5): [skip 1, sc2] 5 times (=10 st total)
• Round 28 (reduce 5): [sc1, skip 1] 5 times

Cut yarn so that you have enough length to chain 6-7 stitches for the tail.

Tail

Chain 8, turn, and single crochet 7 remaining stitches. Attach the tail to the back of the body.

Legs

I made the back legs a little sorter than the front legs, but please feel free to play with leg length.

Front legs:

• (in dark brown) Chain 5, join with a slip stitch
• Round 1 (increase 5): sc2 into every stitch (=10 st total)
• Rounds 2-5: sc all stitches (making  tube)
• Rounds 6-17 (switch to light brown): sc all stitches

Stuff the leg.

• Round 18 (reduce 3): [skip 1, sc2] 3 times, sc1 (=7 st total)

Make 2 front legs. The back legs are 2 light brown rounds shorter than the front ones.

Assembling

The real moose has ears above and behind the antlers, but all toy moose have them under the antlers on the sides – perhaps for the cuteness effect. There is a lot of different ways you can lay the parts out:
- antlers up high on the head or closer to the sides
- legs directly on the underside of the body or farther out from each other
- head at the tip of the front of the body or higher at the top

Scarf (optional)

I decided to make a very simple scarf to go around the neck. Make it in dark brown for more contrast:

• Chain 40, turn
• Row 1: sc all stitches, chain 1, turn
• Row2: sc all stitches