Bobble and Bubble Penguins

Bobble and Bubble Penguins Knitting Pattern

What Is Being Made

Bobble and Bubble Penguins is a downloadable knitting pattern by Amanda Berry that provides instructions for creating two charming toy penguins. This intermediate-level project produces stuffed penguin toys suitable for decoration, gifts, or play. The pattern includes details for knitting both penguin bodies and coordinating hats for each character.

Craft and Techniques

This project uses knitting as the primary construction method. The pattern incorporates intarsia color-work techniques, which allow knitters to work with multiple yarn colors within the same row to create detailed designs and patterns on the penguin bodies. Knitters will use bobbins to manage the various yarn colors during intarsia sections, ensuring clean color transitions and preventing long floats across the back of the work.

The penguins are constructed using seaming techniques, with a darning or tapestry needle used to join knitted pieces together. Additional embellishment involves pompom making, which creates decorative elements for the hats using a 4cm pompom maker.

Stitches and Construction Details

While specific stitch abbreviations are referenced in the pattern documentation, the project employs standard knitting stitches appropriate for toy construction. The pattern utilizes double knitting (DK weight yarn) worked on 3.5mm needles as the primary gauge for the penguin bodies, with 4mm and 5mm needles used for additional components such as the hats. The combination of different needle sizes allows for varied fabric density and texture throughout the finished toys.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

The Bobble and Bubble Penguins pattern requires the following materials:

• Yarn: Acrylic DK weight yarn (also called double knitting or light worsted weight, 8 ply) in five coordinating shades: Black, White, and Yellow for the penguin bodies, plus Purple and Blue for the hats. The pattern recommends 50g each of the five yarn colors. The penguins photographed in the pattern were knitted using Hayfield Bonus DK 100% acrylic yarns in shades Black, White, Sunflower, Powder Blue, and Lilac, though similar DK yarns are suitable alternatives.
• Needles: A pair of 3.5mm (US 4) single pointed needles with a minimum length of 20cm to 50cm
• Additional needles: Pairs of 4mm and 5mm diameter needles for hat construction
• Notions and embellishments: A darning or tapestry needle for seaming pieces together, two 4mm diameter black beads for eyes, a scrap of white felt fabric, sewing needle and thread for attaching facial features, a 200g bag of toy filling for stuffing the completed penguins, and bobbins for managing yarn colors during intarsia color-work
• Pompom maker: A 4cm pompom maker for creating hat decorations

Difficulty Level and Suitability

Rated as an intermediate project, the Bobble and Bubble Penguins pattern is designed for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to expand their techniques. The intarsia color-work component and multi-piece construction with seaming make this pattern suitable for knitters seeking to develop their color-work and finishing skills while creating charming finished toys.