Gotta Get a Gator

by gnaed in Craft > Knitting & Crochet

8541 Views, 52 Favorites, 0 Comments

Gotta Get a Gator

Alligator.jpg
Nursing Pillow, Baby Bop, Body Pillow, or Draft Stopper, this Gator does it all. He's 42 inches long, stuffed with a stocking filled with fiberfill, and his teeth unwind so you can take the stocking out and wash the outside.

Start With a Scarf Pattern

scarf pattern.jpg
Morehouse Farms. This is the original pattern. It comes as a kit. I saved the yarn for another project.

Yarn and Needles

lion-brand.jpg
I used Lionbrand Wool-Ease Chunky in evergreen with size 10.5 needles.
LionBrand

Follow the Instructions

purl.gif
Follow the scarf pattern (I added fewer bumps) but don't bind off. I did one purl row so it would fold nicely then just increased all over again to follow the width of the scarf. When I got to the first row of bumps I changed to two strands held together of a worsted weight light yellow yarn and kept going until I reached the beginning of the head and switched back to the chunky evergreen and finished off the head.

Feet and Claws

toothless.jpg
I used size 9 DPN's and 20 stitches for the back feet, 16 stitches for the front feet. After I bound them off, I picked up 2 stitches, knit a few rows, K2Tog and knit 2 more rows, then bound off. I did this 5 times on the front feet and 4 on the back because that's the way alligators are built.

Eyes

cat toy.jpg
Cat Toy

Make two, in white (or yellow) with a black strip 3 rows wide.

Stuff It!

alligator mouth.jpg
Stocking stuffed with pillow stuffing. Looks like a long earthworm (just keep repeating it - earthworm, it's an earthworm).

Sew and Stuff

pillow stuffing.jpg
Sew in the eyes. Sew the Gator together up to the mouth, stuff it. Sew on the legs (stuffed with stockings so they can be washed with the outside). Make a long braided cord with 100% cotton yarn and weave it through the mouth to make teeth. For accuracy, hide the 4th big tooth in on each side inside the mouth. This is one of the ways you can tell it's not a croc. Now this cord can be undone, the stocking removed, and the whole outside washed.

Ch-ch-changes

Gator.jpg
I wanted the legs to bend, but I couldn't make a sock pattern work. Everything came out wayyyy too big using the chunky yarn, but I'm thinking it would look funny with a different yarn. Maybe the Wool-Ease worsted? I'm open to suggestions!

The Winnah!

Gator Wrestling.jpg
Just too cute to leave out.