Buckingham Palace Guardsman orange cover / toy

Buckingham Palace Guardsman Orange Cover / Toy by Andrew Lucas

What is Being Made

This is a knitted doll or toy cover designed to represent a Buckingham Palace Guardsman, suitable as either a decorative cover or a standalone 17 centimetre stuffed toy. The design captures the iconic uniform of the British royal guard with its distinctive color blocking and proportions.

Project Overview

The Buckingham Palace Guardsman is a beginner-level knitting project created as a downloadable PDF pattern by independent designer Andrew Lucas. This project falls within the dolls and doll accessories category, making it an ideal introduction to toy knitting for crafters new to the technique.

Techniques Used

The pattern employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for beginners. Increasing is used to shape the body and head sections, with the initial cast-on row featuring increases in every stitch to expand the fabric. Decreasing techniques, particularly knit two together (k2tog), are used to shape the shoulders and reduce stitches for the head shaping. Color changes are integral to the design, transitioning between different wool colors to create the guardsman's uniform. The pattern uses the bind and tie (B and T) finishing method, which involves threading the wool end through a tapestry needle and passing it through stitches on the knitting needle before drawing up and tying off.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (st st) – the primary stitch throughout most of the garment, created by alternating knit rows and purl rows to produce a smooth, flat fabric
• Garter stitch (gs) – knit stitch used for texture variation
• Knit stitch (k) – fundamental stitch for building the fabric
• Purl stitch (p) – used in alternation with knit stitch to create stocking stitch
• Increases (inc) – used to expand stitches for shaping the body and head
• Decreases (dec and k2tog) – used to reduce stitches for shoulder and head shaping

Materials Required

This project uses 3.25mm knitting needles as the primary tool. The yarn is double knitting wool in multiple colors: black, red, white, yellow, beige, and brown. The pattern calls for oddments of each color, meaning small quantities of yarn are sufficient. A small amount of stuffing is needed if creating the toy as a three-dimensional stuffed piece rather than a flat cover. Additional materials include a tapestry needle for finishing and weaving in ends using the bind and tie method.

Construction Method

The garment is constructed in distinct sections. The body begins with a cast-on of 25 stitches in black wool, immediately increased to 50 stitches in the first row. Stocking stitch is worked for 11 rows to establish the body length, followed by a color change to red wool for 10 rows, representing the red tunic of the guardsman's uniform. Shoulders are shaped by decreasing stitches using knit two together. The head section begins with a color change to beige wool and includes increases to expand stitches to 37, followed by stocking stitch rows for head length. Head shaping is achieved through strategic decreases, first reducing to 25 stitches, then to 13 stitches, before finishing off the wool and threading through remaining stitches.