After a summer and fall of knitting more
kilt hose, I needed a
project that was more colourful and whimsical. I decided on
this pattern for a tiny knit fairy.
It was so fun
that I made three! It’s a great quick project that can be completed in an
evening or two. I made all of them with left over bits of yarn from my
collection.
I don’t like sewing seams down the backs of my projects, so
for the first fairy (the one with the yellow hair), I started with her head and
knit it in the round using quite thin yarn, 3.25mm dpn and this pattern:
Using the skin colour, cast on 8 stitches over 4 dpn (double
pointed needles) – a 5th dpn is needed to be the working needle.
R1: knit
R2: k1, m1, k1 on each needle (12 stitches total)
R3: knit
R4: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 on each needle (20 stitches total)
R5: knit
R6: k1, m1, k3, m1, k1 on each needle (28 stitches total)
R7-15: knit
Switch to body colour
R16-36: knit
Cast off
I then followed the instructions of the original pattern.
The final effect was ok, but I didn’t like how the neckline puckered at the
gather and I decided that knitting in the round wasn’t worth the extra effort.
For the next two fairies I stuck to the original head/body pattern and
was happier with the overall shape.
Instead of twisting yarn for arms, I made a two or three
stitch i-cord, or when using the thicker brown yarn, I made a chain using a
crochet hook.
To give the wings a more rounded look, I used this pattern:
CO 4 stitches
R1: knit
R2: k1, m1, k2, m1, k1 (6 stitches total)
R3: knit
R4: k1, m1, k4, m1, k1 (8 stitches total)
R5-9: knit
R10: k1, k2tog, k2, skp, k1 (6 stitches total)
R11: knit
R12: k1, k2tog, skp, k1 (4 stitches total)
Cast off
Happy fairy making!