Deramores Farmland Favourites Pig Toy Knitting Pattern

Deramores Farmland Favourites Pig in Field Knitting Pattern

Project Overview

This is an intermediate-level knitting pattern designed by Amanda Berry for creating a textured play mat featuring farmyard themes. The complete project produces a finished play mat measuring 60cm long by 60cm wide, constructed from nine individual knitted squares that can be arranged in any combination you prefer. This modular approach allows crafters to customize their mat design while practicing multiple stitch techniques.

What is Being Made

The primary project is a play mat composed of nine squares, each featuring a different texture pattern. The pattern includes instructions for at least two distinct square designs: the Broken Rib Square and the Roman Stitch Square. Each square is knitted individually on straight needles and then sewn together to create the finished 60cm x 60cm mat. This construction method makes the project manageable and allows for creative customization of square combinations.

Knitting Techniques Used

This pattern employs several fundamental and intermediate knitting techniques suitable for developing crafters. The squares are knitted flat, meaning they are worked back and forth on straight needles rather than in the round. The pattern includes instruction on the long tail cast on method for beginning stitches. Crafters will practice bobble making, a decorative technique involving multiple increases and decreases on a single stitch to create a raised, textured element. The pattern also incorporates seaming, where individual squares are joined together using a darning needle and yarn to create the unified mat.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

• Broken Rib Square: This square combines knit and purl stitches in an alternating pattern. The base structure uses a garter stitch border (knit stitches on all rows) with a broken rib texture created by alternating purl and knit stitches across the middle rows. The pattern repeats rows 2 and 3 multiple times to build the textured surface.
• Roman Stitch Square: This variation uses stockinette stitch as its foundation, with garter stitch borders on the sides. The pattern incorporates a combination of knit rows and rows featuring alternating knit and purl stitches to create visual interest and texture variation.
• Bobble Stitch: The pattern includes detailed instructions for creating bobbles, a decorative embellishment made by knitting multiple times into a single stitch, then decreasing those stitches back down to create a raised, three-dimensional bump on the fabric surface.

Materials Required

Yarn: The pattern calls for Deramores Studio DK yarn, which is a double knitting weight (light worsted weight) suitable for creating fabric with good stitch definition. You will need one 100g skein in each of three colors: Dark Green in the shade "Malachite," Light Green in "Peridot," and Yellow in "Citrine." These colors coordinate to create a farmyard-themed aesthetic appropriate to the play mat's design.

Needles and Notions: A pair of 4mm straight knitting needles (US size 6) are used throughout the pattern for all square construction. A darning needle or tapestry needle is essential for seaming the nine completed squares together into the finished mat.

Tension and Sizing

The pattern specifies a tension of approximately 22 stitches by 28 rows over a 10cm by 10cm square when working stockinette stitch on 4mm needles. However, the pattern notes that crafters need not worry excessively about achieving exact tension, as the play mat's modular construction and textured nature are forgiving of minor variations. Each individual square is cast on with 45 stitches and worked to create squares that, when combined, form the final 60cm x 60cm mat dimensions.

Pattern Structure

The pattern is organized by individual square designs, with each square receiving complete row-by-row instructions. The Broken Rib Square involves casting on 45 stitches and working through 59 rows, with the texture created by repeating a two-row pattern sequence multiple times. The Roman Stitch Square similarly uses 45 cast-on stitches and extends to 59 rows, incorporating varied stitch combinations to build its distinctive texture. This clear, square-by-square organization makes the pattern accessible for intermediate knitters while allowing creative freedom in arranging the finished squares.