I have been experimenting with crochet stuffed animals for a while and bought this Red Heart Boutique Fur yarn to try out because I thought it would make the perfect animals – it is so soft and, well… furry! When I got around to working with it I found crocheting especially hard because you couldn’t really see your stitches, so I decided to try and knit with it. This is the result!!
I’ll admit, though, a dog was not what I thought I was making when I designed this. It was supposed to be a penguin! Haha! As soon as I had the body knit I knew it would end up being another animal, but I wasn’t sure what. When I added the nose and eyes it looked just like a puppy to me, so I gave him some ears and a tail and decided that was all he needed. I thought about feet but they just didn’t look right and it just reminded me of a puffball – so that’s what he is! The Puppy Love Puffball. So soft and squishy, too.
I’ve been trying to figure out what type of dog he is, but it doesn’t really matter. Still pretty cute, right? Here is a view from the top so you can check out his tail:
The hardest part about working this pattern is seeing your stitches, so be careful you are working in just one stitch. Even if you get off a little on the stitch count (I did at one time) you can keep going – it doesn’t really affect the finished product. I’ve made a few of these basic bodies now and I got better at keeping my stitch count with this yarn. 🙂
Puppy Love Puffball
What You’ll Need
Yarn: Red Heart Boutique Fur (polyester, each approx. 11 yd/10m and 3.5oz/100g) 1 skein each Smoke (MC) and Polar (CC)
Needles: Size 17 straight needles
Notions: Yarn needle, one 18mm safety nose, two 12mm safety eyes, fiberfill
Gauge: Not crucial for this project
Finished Size: Approximately 7″ tall
PATTERN
With MC, cast on 3.
Row 1: Knit front and back of each st – 6 sts.
Row 2: *K1, knit front and back of next st; repeat from * – 9 sts.
Row 3: *K2, knit front and back of next st; repeat from * – 12 sts.
Row 4: With MC: K1, knit front and back of next st, k2, with CC: k4, with MC: k2, knit front and back of next st, k1 – 14 sts.
Rows 5-7: With MC: k4, with CC: k6, with MC: k4
Row 8: With MC: *K2tog twice, with CC: *k2tog three times, with MC: *k2tog twice – 7 sts.
Rows 9-10: With MC: k2, with CC: k3, with MC: k2.
Row 11: With MC: k2, with CC: k2tog, k1, with MC: k2 – 6 sts.
Row 12: Knit all stitches with MC.
Row 13: With MC: *k2tog; repeat from * – 3 sts.
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Draw yarn through remaining sts and draw tight.
Place eyes and nose and attach securely.
Use tail end to sew up back seam, stuffing with fiberfill before closing seam completely.
TAIL
With MC, cast on 3 sts.
Rows 1-2: Knit.
Bind off.
Sew to body.
EARS
The ears really aren’t knit – anything that I tried to knit was too bulky. Take a strand of yarn and loop it as long as you want it to be, then use your yarn needle to draw the yarn through to the other side, loop it the same length as the first ear and draw the yarn into the body, then weave in your ends.
You might need to trim the fur around the eyes and nose a bit to keep them from getting swallowed up in the fur. I had to on this one but I am working on another puffball pattern that I didn’t need to so I guess it just depends on how well your eyes and nose hold the fur down. A little bit of trimming doesn’t hurt just don’t cut it too close.
That’s it! I found this to be such a quick knit and it turned out so cute, too! Have you ever made anything that turned out to be something else? It happens to me with stuffed animals all the time! They still turn out well, just not the animal I set out to make (this definitely didn’t turn out to be a penguin! Still cracks me up ;). Leave a comment below!
Maria
Very cute. I have this yarn but in a turquoise (I think) , super soft yarn. Still trying to figure out what creature to make with it though.
amanda
I saw that color and really like it but just like you I wasn’t sure what to make out of it. I just made a very similar body to this one in Mink (their brown color) and I think any color would look nice – just not sure what animal it would turn out to be. 😉
JeannieC
This is absolutely ADORABLE! Just love it! TY so much for the pattern!
amanda
You are so welcome! I’m so glad you like it. I was so disappointed when it didn’t turn out to be a penguin, but after adding the face and ears I like it so much more than I ever thought I would! 🙂
JeannieC
I’ve never seen a fluffy penquin LOL but I sure love this lil dude!
Cindy
I am really lost, I tried to make this, but don’t understand, when I change colors, it leaves a straight piece of yarn across the white on the rows that I did, which is obvious and looks bad. then, it doesn’t say anything about sewing it up so I can stuff it. The picture looks so cute, and I love the yarn. What is the obvious thing that I am missing???
amanda
Hi Cindy!
When you change colors you keep the yarn you aren’t working with towards what will be the inside (just make sure all of the “floats”, as they are called, are on the same side). This should keep any straight pieces of yarn from showing once you sew it up. Right before the instructions for the tail there are instructions to sew it up to stuff it. You just make sure to leave a long tail when cutting your yarn and use that end to sew it up. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Gail
Thank you for this pattern, I bought this yarn thinking it was the same as the King Cole luxe fur and tried to follow a pattern using 4mm needles which almost resulted in me being bald, as I was literally pulling my hair out trying to knit with it. I love the yarn and am so glad to have found a pattern that I can use it on
amanda
Yay! So glad you like the pattern. 🙂 I’ve made one of these in a solid color, too and it looks just as cute. I tried to crochet with the yarn and found it challenging but knitting was great!
Kim Reese
I really wanted to do this pattern, it looks just like my little terrier mix.
Sorry, I found it impossible to do the increases; can’t see or feel what I’m doing, and I’ve been knitting for 36 years.
Stockinette works ok so I guess I can make a skinny scarf out of it, at least.
Kate
This little sweetheart is just beyond ADORABLE! I hope I can still find the yarn or something similar after a couple of years since your post. You are so Extra Special to share this with everyone. I’m sure it brings much joy to not only the knitters making this creation, but also the fortunate people receiving it. I’ve not knitted for a couple years now and this may be just the creation to get me back into the “groove” of the craft. So a great big thank you to you for the inspiration-wish I could tell you how it feels to be thrown a helpful ‘line’ to pull me up and get me going!
amanda
Thank you so much for the kinds words, Kate! I just checked and this yarn is still available. 😀 I hope this gets you back into knitting! Yarn crafts are so enjoyable.
Gail
Amanda, this is adorable!!!! thank you so much for sharing your talents! I am just getting into knitting (addicted already) and want to try it out, but I do not see in the pattern where you switch to Polar…I see only MK rows. Am I missing something? I am not good enough a knitter to ad lib at this point! Thank you again,
amanda
It’s so easy to get addicted to yarn crafts. 😀 The color changes start on row 4 where it mentions the MC (main color) and the CC (contrasting color).