Floppy Rabbit

I made this Floppy Rabbit today for a friend’s 1 year old twins. I bought the Bernat Soy yarn with the intention of knitting two Tomtens (see photo at the bottom of this post). Well, only one was knitted in time for the children’s birthday, so I decided to make this toy with the three colours I had left. It was inspired by a rabbit that my sister was given as a child - I still remember it - I loved its long legs.

I didn’t start with full skeins, but I expect you could knit this with one skein each of the oatmeal, seasalt and celery. Or just make it all one colour.

I used Keyplate #2 on my Bond Classic knitting machine. I made it up as I went, with no gauge swatches or measuring, so feel free to adapt it as you wish. My toy measures about 27 inches tall. The arms seem just right, being about the length of the body, and the legs are extra long, on purpose.

Body

E-wrap cast on 50 in blue, hang hem
Knit 35 rows blue
Knit 25 rows green
Bind off (I used the 'sewn with a darning needle' method)

Head

E-wrap cast on 40 in white, hang hem
Knit 40 rows white
Bind off

Ears (make 2)
(with hindsight, these could have been bigger, or you could make 4 and sew them together in pairs to stop them from curling in)

E-wrap cast on 4 in white
Knit 2 rows, add weight (I use a bulldog clip with a magnet attached for such a small piece of work)
*Carriage on right, push a needle out to working position on carriage side, knit a row (one stitch increased)
Carriage on left, push a needle out to working position on carriage side, knit a row (6 stitches)
Knit 2 rows
Repeat last four rows (from *) until there are 14 sts, ending with the two even rows.
Knit 14 rows straight.
**Carriage on right, transfer the stitch on the right end to the needle on the left, knit a row (one stitch decreased)
Carriage on left, transfer the stitch at the far left to the needle on the right, knit a row (12 stitches left)
Knit 2 rows
Repeat last four rows (from **) until there are 4 sts left.
Bind off.

Arms (make 2)

E-wrap cast on 20 in white, hang hem
Knit 10 rows white (for “paws”)
Knit 40 rows green
Bind off

Legs (make 2)

E-wrap cast on 30 in blue, hang hem
Knit 90 rows blue
Knit 7 rows white (for “shoes”)
Bind off

Sew around all pieces, stuffing gently as you go. I made sure my seams were on the centre back of the head and body and the underside of the limbs. When sewing up the head and body, I rounded the corners a little. Sew the head and limbs to the body, and the ears to the head. Embroider features.

The completed Tomten jacket ------------->