The Little Zombie

Here is the 2nd little Halloween pattern, The Little Zombie.
As I mentioned in the previous Little Vampire post, I did try to make him look scary, but he still looks quite friendly even with his bloodshot bulging eyes and his bloodthirsty smile :-).
I had a lot of fun making him, hope you do as well .

The Little Zombie

The Little Zombie measures only 11.5cm tall and is knitted in DK/8ply yarn.

Materials
DK/8ply yarn in Green, Red and Black.
3.25mm Knitting Needles
Fibre Fill
2 x 6mm White or Pearl beads
Small amount of Red sewing thread

The body is worked in one piece, starting at the feet. The arms are knitted separately.

BODY - Make 1
Starting at feet with Green, cast on 17sts.
St st 4 rows Green
To make his ragged  pants, join in Black ...
Row 5 - (K1B, 1G), continue to last st, K1B
Row 6 - Continue in Black only, P
Rows 7 -  16 - St st in Black.
Change to Red
Rows 17 - 25  St st in Red
Row 26 - P2tog to last st, P1  -  9sts
Change to Green for head
Row 27 - K
Row 28 - Increase in every st purlwise to last st, P1  - 17sts
Rows 29 - 38  St st
Row 39 - K2tog to last st, K1
Thread yarn through remaining sts, gather tightly and fasten off.

ARMS - Make 2
With Green, cast on 7sts
St st
6 rows Green
8 rows Red
Thread yarn through sts, gather tightly and fasten off.

MAKE UP
Sew in any ends you won't be using for sewing up.
With right sides facing out, sew the back seam of the body, leaving the bottom edge open for stuffing. Stuff, using less stuffing in the legs so you can sew up the middle of the body to form the legs.
Oversew the bottom edge closed.
Sew a line of stitches through the body up from the bottom, aprox 3.5cm to form the legs.

ARMS
Don't  stuff, fold in half, right side facing out and sew around all the seams.
Attach the arms, not down by his sides but facing out in front ..."Zombie style"
Look I attempted to give him fingers, but little bits of yarn sticking out from his hands just looked like fringing, so just bend the front of his hands down as if they are drooping.

With all the other little dolls, I haven't bothered gathering a thread around the neck, with the neck decrease I don't think it needs it. The vampire you tend to tie it in with the cape anyway.
But for this one, yes, sew a thread around the neck edge and pull in a little tight so you can make his head droop to one side, he is dead after all!  Sew it in that position if you wish.

EYES
With a doubled length of red sewing cotton, leaving a good length at the beginning to tie off, thread it up through the bead from the back.
Take the thread over the sides and back through the bead 3 or 4 times to make his bloodshot eyes, (you will put a couple more veins around as you sew it on to the face, so don't do too many).
You can move the threads around to your liking, as you go. Sewing with the yarn doubled, makes for less handling, and easier and more secure when sewing it onto his face.
Tie the threads off at the base of the bead and sew it to his face, using one of the lengths of doubled thread. The other thread, you can just bury into his head once the eye is in place.
Take the yarn through to the back of the head, and as you fasten it off, pull it tight so the eye is indented into the face a little. Bury the ends back into his head.

So pretty ... isn't he? lol.

Unravel one strand from some Black 8ply yarn, or use a 3ply yarn or cotton, measuring about 30cm long, and tie a single or double knot in the centre, depending on what thickness you're using. The knot becomes his pupil, thread the ends through his eye to the back of the head, fasten off and bury the ends as before.
The boys told me I should have one eye hanging out, makes it hard to attach the pupil though - Zombie experts!

Stitch the mouth, with a line across first, then sew in the teeth.
You can also wind a few strands of yarn together, tie it in the middle and sew it to his head if you'd like him to have a little hair.
                   © Jennifer Stacey 2013 - for personal use, not for profit

All done, please let me know if you find any mistakes in the pattern - love Jen.