Knifty Leprechaun

After sharing a picture of my little "loomy amigurumi leprechaun" made on the DA small gauge Mini-WonderLoom, several folks on one of the Yahoo loom knitting lists wanted to know if he could be made on the Knifty Knitter Looms. The answer is: "Yes, Virginia, there can be a Knifty Knitted leprechaun!" Since the Knifty Knitters are large gauge looms, I thought they might not be the best choice for knitting amigurumi. However, I'm very pleased with how well the KK leprechaun turned out. Of course, the KK version is about six inches tall - an inch or an inch & one-half taller that his four & one-half inch small gauge cousin, but much of that is due to the oversized top hat.

Modifications had to be made to the original pattern. The first thing was to use two strands of yarn held as one instead of the single strand that was used on the small gauge loom. Two different Knifty Knitter looms were incorporated for the KK leprechaun above. The 8-peg end of the spool loom was used for the body and the I-cord hat brim. The 12-peg flower loom was used to make the head and the main part of the hat. Also, I used some different stitch techniques to shape the bottom of the body and the top of the hat. This time around I remembered to use black when knitting the hat brim and added a yellow chain stitched buckle. As for the beard and hair, I used two strands of carrot colored Red Heart yarn instead of the copper colored fun fur and loosely crocheted an eight inch chain, which was whip stitched in place. I decided "fun fur" is an oxymoron, because it really isn't much fun to work with. To me, the fun fur is a bit too fussy for the amigurumi style. Another change was the use of buttons for the eyes. Of course, this would not be recommended for use with small children, but I just wanted to see what they would look like on this one.

At the rate I get things done these days, the pattern might be available in time for next St. Patrick's Day. In the meantime, I plan on making other amigurumi characters on the Knifty Knitter Looms since they are quick knits and such a hit with the kiddos.

Tom-Tom the Leprechaun

It seems Tommy Turkey has a new cousin, Tom-Tom the Leprechaun. This new creation is compliments of April Taylor, one of the creative members of the Yahoo Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting Group. April has morphed the turkey into a leprechaun in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Here are April's modifications (thanks April) to the original pattern in case you want to impress your Irish friends on March 17th:

Leprechaun Hat
by April Taylor

(Adapted from Tommy Turkey Hat by Brenda Myers which is available from Loom Lore at http://loomlady.blogspot.com).

Materials:

KK 48-peg Adult Hat Loom
Peach, cream or light tan yarn (for face)
Green yarn (for hat)
Black yarn (for hat band, nose, eyes & mouth)
Orange yarn (for beard)
Knitting tool
Plastic yarn needle
Crochet Hook

Instructions:
Using the Knifty Knitter purple adult hat loom, cast on using a peach or flesh colored yarn and knit 14 rows. Change yarn to paddy green (Redheart) and knit 12 rows. To form the leprechaun’s hat brim, bring the first row of green up to the pegs and knit that row off. Form the “hat band” by changing to the black yarn and knitting 8 rows. Change back to green and knit 14 rows. Work a gathered bind off.

Finishing:
Work a single crochet edge around the bottom to prevent it from rolling.

For the eyes, use black yarn and chain 2; work 6 single crochets in the 2nd chain from hook, and join to form a small circle. Make two of the circles and sew to the hat.

For the mouth, use black yarn and chained 14. Sew this chain on with a yarn needle into the smile shape.

For the buckle, using yellow chain 32 and sewed it into a square shape centering in the front over the black “hat band”. (If I would have had a yellow pipe cleaner I might have tried to figure out how to shape it into a buckle and sew it on.)

For the beard, I use a size F crochet hook and chain 50 in orange. Work a single crochet in the 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1 turn and work a loop stitch by wrapping the yarn around the index finger and complete a single crochet while holding the loop.