Newt

This pattern is to make a knitted decorative or toy newt, life sized, using stocking stitch and moss (seed) stitch. The newt in the pattern is a male great crested newt in spring when they grow a large crest to attract a mate. The crest shrinks later in the summer and is reabsorbed into the body. They have a very shiny skin when wet so using a mercerized cotton will make a good reproduction of this. Their skin is also very warty which is represented by the moss stitch body. The newt is made up of 8 pieces, four body pieces and four limbs, knitted on straight needles and seamed together. Two bobbles are made for the eyes and the limbs are partly made from i-cord. Very little yarn is required so you could use leftovers from other projects. The white tail stripe and black belly spots of a great crested newt are reproduced either by embroidery or attaching felt pieces. You will not need felt if you are embroidering all the features on.