Deramores Susie the Snake Toy Knitting Pattern

Susie the Snake: Beginner Knitting Toy Pattern

What is Being Made

Susie the Snake is a charming knitted toy designed by Amanda Berry, measuring 25cm (10 inches) tall when completed. This beginner-friendly knitting project creates a stuffed toy snake, perfect for crafters new to knitting who want to explore toy design. The finished toy features a segmented body created through color changes and is finished with button eyes and toy filling to create a soft, huggable companion.

Craft and Techniques

This pattern is a knitting project suitable for beginners, utilizing fundamental knitting techniques to construct a three-dimensional toy. The design employs color work through yarn changes rather than complex colorwork methods, making it accessible to knitters still building their skills. The pattern uses intentionally smaller needles than standard yarn recommendations to create a firmer, denser fabric that prevents toy filling from showing through the stitches—a crucial consideration for stuffed toy construction.

Stitches Used

• Stocking Stitch (Stockinette Stitch): The primary stitch throughout the pattern, created by knitting on right-side rows and purling on wrong-side rows to produce a smooth, classic fabric
• Knit (K): Basic knit stitch forming the foundation of the work
• Purl (P): Reverse knit stitch used on wrong-side rows and for pattern detail
• Knit Two Together (K2tog): Decrease stitch reducing stitch count by one
• Knit Front and Back (Kfb): Increase stitch adding one stitch to the row
• Slip, Slip, Knit (Ssk): Alternative decrease method slipping two stitches individually, then knitting them together through the back loop

Materials and Specifications

Yarn: The pattern uses Deramores Studio DK yarn in three colors—100g of Peridot (Yarn A), 100g of Rose (Yarn B), and 100g of Frost (Yarn C), though only a small amount of Frost is needed for the eyes. DK (Double Knitting) weight yarn provides the appropriate thickness for this toy project.

Needles: A pair of 3.5mm knitting needles (UK size 10-9 / US size 4) are required. This needle size is deliberately chosen to be smaller than the yarn ball band recommendation, creating a tighter gauge that produces the firm fabric necessary for toy construction.

Gauge: The pattern specifies 22 stitches and 32 rows over 10cm (4 inches) in stocking stitch on 3.5mm needles. This gauge is critical for achieving the correct finished size and fabric density.

Additional Materials and Notions

• Toy filling for stuffing the completed snake
• White felt fabric for construction details
• Two 6mm (¼ inch) black buttons for eyes
• Sewing needle and thread for attaching buttons and seaming
• Yarn needle for sewing up seams and finishing
• Scissors for cutting yarn and materials
• Three yarn bobbins for managing multiple yarn colors during color-work sections

Pattern Notes

The pattern includes color changes worked within rows, as evidenced by instructions such as Row 31 which specifies using Yarn A for certain stitches, switching to Yarn B for others, then returning to Yarn A. This technique creates the distinctive segmented appearance of the snake. Square brackets in the pattern indicate sections that should be repeated as specified.

Safety Note: The finished toy is not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts, including the button eyes and toy filling.