Here Be Crochet Dragons: The Art Of Knitting Toys

Cams, cranks, gears, wood, springs, and what not. That's what comes first in my mind when thinking about the toys from my childhood. We had also some toys made of plush, but they were all factory made. Our grandma's were knitting socks and pullovers but noone I know had the idea to knit toys. Who knew they'll be so popular 30 years later? Now with the rise of all kind of handmade stuff knitted toys are blooming. And you can also make yours, as long as you can knit.

Kniting Patterns

If you are more experienced and have some talent you can probably knit out of the blue and design your toy along the way. In most cases though you'd want to use a knitting pattern which will show you exactly how to make a given toy. There are plenty of books with knitting patterns, and we have recommended a couple at the end of this article. But as a beginning let me suggest several lovely toys whose patterns are available online.

Big Cuddly Bunny

This funny fat knitted is made with 3 yarns. There is an excellent tutorial how to make it here.

Bluebird

The bluebird is classic toy and relatively simple to make. It doesn't require too much yarn. The pattern is freely available on this site.

Brownie the Cat

This cat is original two-color knitted toy. You'll also need a little black and pink yarn for the eyes and nose but feel free to use your own colors. The pattern is available here.

Elephant Kitty Stuffie

Here's another simple to knit but super cute toy. Single yarn and something to stuff it, and you'll have it in a couple of hours. Or days :) Free pattern here.

Flamingo

OK, let's see something a little more complicated. Four yarns and a bit more details, and the result is amazing! See it and download the pattern.

Little Black Owl

Back to something a bit simpler. This owl is OK for a beginner as long as you can follow a patter. And pattern and instructions are available here.

Oink Pig

I love this one! Maybe because I love pigs. See the full post and get the pattern here.

Ready Knitted Toys

Not too keen on knitting but want to buy a knitted toy for your kid? No problem, there are many cool handmade toys online, well worth the few bucks you'll spend on them. I'll give you just a couple of my favorite stores:

IvWings is my personal favourite. I already have the mini crochet pig and the green frog :)

Heaven to seven also sells some very nice toys. Note that most of the items are just downloadable patterns but there are also ready toys here and some are very cool.

Denizmum is a store with lots of patterns for knitted toys. While there are many free patterns online, these are quite original and probably worth the money.