Sandy and Shelley the surfers

Sandy and Shelley the Surfers: Knitted Decorative Surfer Dolls

Project Overview

Sandy and Shelley the Surfers is an original knitting design by Alison Davis, created as decorative pieces perfect for display or gifting. These charming surfer-themed dolls combine playful character design with intermediate-level knitting techniques, making them an engaging project for knitters with some experience.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces two complete surfer character dolls—Sandy and Shelley—designed as decorative ornaments or toys. Each surfer consists of multiple knitted components including the body, head, hair piece, wetsuit details, and an accompanying surfboard. The finished pieces are constructed from separate knitted elements that are sewn together to create three-dimensional figures with personality and charm.

Craft and Techniques

This is a knitting project worked primarily in the round and flat, using fundamental knitting construction methods. The pattern employs a combination of classic shaping techniques to create the dimensional forms of the dolls and their accessories.

Stitches and Shaping Methods Used

• Stocking Stitch (SS) – The primary fabric construction method, creating a smooth, classic knit appearance
• Knit (K) and Purl (P) – Basic stitches forming the foundation of all pieces
• Knit Two Together (K2tog) – A right-leaning decrease used for shaping the surfers' forms
• Purl Two Together (P2tog) – A decrease worked on purl rows for structured shaping
• Knit Front and Back (KFB) – An increase stitch for building width in the dolls' bodies and heads
• Make One (M1) – An invisible increase created by picking up the horizontal bar between stitches and knitting into the back, used for seamless shaping
• Slip One (SL1) – Used for various shaping techniques and stitch manipulation
• Pass Slipped Stitch Over (PSSO) – A left-leaning decrease for refined shaping details
• Bind and Tie (B&T) – The finishing technique for closing off stitches, where yarn is threaded through remaining stitches, pulled tight, and tied off, leaving a tail for sewing components together

Needle Requirements

The pattern uses two different needle sizes to create varied fabric densities across different components:

• 4mm needles – Used for the hair piece and surfboard, creating a slightly looser gauge
• 3mm needles – Used for all other pieces including the body, head, and wetsuit elements, creating a tighter, more defined fabric

Yarn and Materials

This pattern is designed for DK (Double Knit) weight yarn, a versatile medium weight that works well for detailed decorative projects. For each complete surfer, you will need:

• 40g of black DK yarn – The designer used Hayfield Bonus 965 for the main body and base colors
• 20g of contrast shade DK yarn – Used for the wetsuit details and surfboard, allowing for color variation and visual interest

Difficulty Level

This project is rated as intermediate difficulty. While it uses fundamental knitting stitches, the pattern requires competence with increases, decreases, and shaping techniques. Knitters should be comfortable reading pattern abbreviations, managing multiple decreases in sequence (such as the repeated K2tog and K7 pattern sequences), and assembling multiple pieces through seaming. The three-dimensional construction and attention to shaping make this suitable for knitters who have completed several basic projects and are ready to explore more structured garment or toy construction.

Design Format

Sandy and Shelley the Surfers is provided as a downloadable PDF pattern, allowing you to access the complete instructions digitally and print them for reference while knitting.