Tuesday 27 December 2011

Rex The Reindeer

Just thought I'd sneak in and share this pattern before the end of the year.
Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas /celebration with family or friends.
I'm spending some time now, to make beanies for the K4BN Summer Challenge. The requirement is to make beanies for the children in our outback aboriginal communities. Sizes needed are from toddler to teenagers so it will be nice to make some little ones as well as some adult sizes.

Poor Rex wasn't ready Christmas Eve to help Santa, he was only finished Boxing Day, (Boxing Day for us is the day after Christmas).
You might recognize him as Fester the Goat with a few mods, his legs are longer, his ears are shorter & his head is on upside down with some mods as well.
With the changes, and the addition of his reindeer "bits" I thought he deserved his own pattern.
Rex is so cute I won't be packing him away, he can sit on my work table with one of Fester's brothers. Hopefully he'll remind me to start knitting for Christmas earlier next year.

Justjen's 
Rex The Reindeer
                                                                                                                                                        
This pattern requires some crochet to complete. Crochet terms are in English terminology. 
Rex is 13.5cm tall not counting his antlers.
Errata - Ears are Tan not White - sorry.
Materials
50g Tan 8ply/DK yarn
Small amount of Black 8ply/DK for hooves & tail.
Small amount Red 8ply/DK for nose & collar
Small amount of beige 8ply/DK for antlers
2 black beads for eyes
3.25mm knitting needles
3.00mm crochet hook for antlers & collar.
Jingle bell
Fibrefill for stuffing.

Head – make 1
Using 3.25mm needles & tan cast on 11 sts.
Row 1 – P
Row 2 – K, increasing in every st – 22 sts.
Starting with a P row st st 9 rows.
Next Row – (K2,K2tog) to last 2 sts, K2 – 17sts.
Starting with a P row st st 3 rows.
Next Row – (K2, K2 tog) to last st, K1 – 13sts.
Starting with a P row st st 7 rows.

Thread yarn through remaining sts & fasten off tightly. Leave a long thread for sewing up.

With right sides out & using mattress stitch, sew up seam from top of head (cast off edge) leaving the cast on edge open for stuffing. Stuff firmly then sew a gathering st around edge & pull tightly to close, fasten off.

Ears – Make 2
With 3.25mm needles & Tan cast on 10sts.
 St st 2 rows.
Next Row – Working in st st, decrease both ends of every row until 2sts remain.
K2 tog - Fasten off.
Fold ear in half at the cast on edge & sew across, sew this edge to side of head, use photo as a guide.
.
Antlers
Antlers are made as one piece then folded in the middle to make two.
With 3mm crochet hook & beige make 27ch.
Miss first ch, 26dc, turn.
Sl st into each dc to end, fasten off.
Attach yarn to 6th sl st from either end with a sl st, make 6ch.
Miss first ch, dc in remaining 5ch, then sl st in to next st on main antler, fasten off.
Repeat at the other end of Antlers.
Sew in all ends, fold in half and sew to back of head  about 1cm down from top.
ETA - Stitch the Antlers together at the fold so they sit upright. Mine stay sitting up well, but if you are using a softer yarn, you can treat them with a little spray starch or I've included the link explaining how to stiffen them with a PVA GLUE mix -  justjen-knitsandstitches.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/more-reindeer-games.html

Nose
Using 3.25mm needles & red, cast on 4 sts.
P 1 row.
K increasing in every stitch - 8sts.
P 1 row.
K, increase at each end of row - 10sts.
St st 3 rows.
K, decrease each end of row - 8 sts.
P 1 row
K2 tog to end - 4sts.
P 1 row
Cast off.
Sew a gathering thread around edge of nose, place a tiny amount of stuffng in the nose then pull stitches tight, forming an oval shape (see pic). Fasten off. sew in place on face.
Sew beads on for eyes & stitch in mouth with a backstitch.

Upper Body – make 1
Using black starting at bottom of leg, cast on 8sts.
St st 4 rows.
Change to tan & st st 18 rows.
Leave this leg on left hand needle, leaving enough yarn to cast on another 8sts.
Do another leg the same.
With the 1st then 2nd legs together on needle K across 2nd leg, cast on 8sts from first leg (for body). K across these sts & remaining 8sts from first leg – 24sts. *
St st 29 rows. #
Next row - K8, leave these on a stitch holder, cast off 8sts, K remaining 8 sts.
Working on these 8sts for leg, st st 17 rows tan.
Change to black & st st another 4 rows.
Cast off.

Transfer remaining 8sts to needle with wrong side facing. Join yarn & K 17 rows starting with a p row.
Change to black, st st 4 rows.
Cast off.

Under Body - make 1
Work as for upper body to *.
St st 5 rows instead of 29 rows.
Continue as for upper body from #
& complete other 2 legs.
Tail
With 3.25mm needles & black cast on 6 sts.
St st 2 rows.
Dec each end of this & alternate rows until 2 sts remain.
P 1 row
K2tog fasten off.

Make Up
Under Body/Upper Body
With right side facing out fold upper body in half along backbone. Using mattress stitch for all seams, sew down the front edge of body aprox 3cm.
Leave the back seam open for stuffing at this stage.
Join the lower body to upper body, start at the lower edge of  the hoof, up the inside leg across tummy & back down other leg & bottom of hoof. Do the other side the same.
(These photo's are taken from "Fester the Goat" please delete them if you already have a copy of Fester, to save ink) - View of under body & back view of Rex.
                                                                                                         

Sew up the front of legs, until you meet up with the front seam of upper body, making sure both legs are of equal length as you sew towards the front seam. Sew the back legs up, but leave the back seam to stuff.
Stuff firmly with fibre fill, using a chopstick of something similar to push the stuffing well into the legs first, then finish stuffing body. Sew up the back seam.

Sew head to body at front top corner of body, attach it with some wide stitches to secure it. Fold tail in half & sew that on to the back.

Collar
Using 3.00mm crochet hook & red, make 25ch.
Miss first ch then dc 24, fasten off.
Place collar around neck, sew up join & attach a jingle bell.

                                                                 © Jennifer Stacey 2011
                                                      For personal use, not to be sold for profit.

As always please let me know if you find any mistakes,
love Jen.

20 comments:

  1. Jen--Your designs are just wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing them. I am an American who spent a year in Australia, so I'm a huge fan of everything Aussie! Best wishes for 2012 and thanks again for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jan E for your lovely comment, it's so nice to get a thank you. Glad you liked your stay in Australia, we do love it here - Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. He is adorable!! Thanks for the great pattern!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. hello ive just found your blog via ravelry. your makes are awesome! i look forward to reading more!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Anonymous for the thank you - Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi crafty-mum, glad you found me, Ravelry is a magical place for knitters & crocheters isn't it. What would we do without it - Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Jen
    When I first looked at some of your patterns last month to the side of the one for rex the reindeer and also christnmas bear and cat baubles is a picture of wonderful blue and green stripey cat, i cant find him anywhere today though! is there any possibility of a pattern for him? he's so cute and appealing
    hope you had a great easter, weathers miserable here in london for the weekend
    shirley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shirley, Share kitty pattern was up for a short time, but I had to take him down (long story). I'm undecided at this stage whether to put it back up, but we'll see!

      Delete
    2. Love your garden tea cosy pattern. After making one for myself my friends wanted one knit, then their friends wanted one, I'v made 8 so far, don't need to look at pattern now. Looking forward to knitting more of your designs. Thankyou

      Delete
  8. Love this :-) great blog. Bookmarked now. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love this :-) great blog. Bookmarked. Thank u

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your lovely comment Terry :-).

      Delete
  10. thanks for the cute pattern :) hairspray would work to stiffen them too. have used it in other patterns x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks Sheila for the thank you, and the good hint :-). Spray starch works ok as well if you just want a little more body in something. I spray my little Tea Cup/Saucers with it, it's just enough to make them hold their shape.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just found this pattern and love it. So well written and mapped out it could be great for a beginner. I will definitely knit it. I wonder if I can get one of my daughters to try? Have tp try and keep the knitters in the family.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi - Help please!! I'm half way through pattern BUT how do I make the tail?? Also I'm unsure how to close up the opening at end of body. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi. I'm half way through making Rex but where are the instructions for the tail?? Also how do I close up the end of the body before adding the tail?

    Thanks in nervous anticipation as we're two weeks away from Christmas!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohhhh sorry Nichola I haven't been around lately, I hope you worked it out ooops, the tail pattern is there, after the underbody instructions. I'll go and change it so it's in bold letters for future knitters. Just sew up the back with a mattress stitch, is the neatest way. Hanging my head in shame for not checking the last month, hope you improvised, or reread through and found the tail instructions before xmas xxxx.

      Delete
  15. Can't wait to make this😊

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Jen,
    I'm a beginner and I would have really liked it if there was a key for what p and st st meant etc... other than that I haven't finished it yet but am still working on it!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments, and I'm very happy to help you with any questions about my patterns. The comments are moderated only to stop spam mail coming through, so your comment will be published as soon as I get a chance to check them - thanks Jen.