Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes Knitted Toy Doll

What is Being Made

This is a beginner-friendly knitting pattern for a 16 centimeter (approximately 6.3 inch) stuffed toy doll of Sherlock Holmes, designed by Andrew Lucas. The project creates a small decorative or play doll suitable for collectors or children, featuring a segmented construction with a distinct body and head.

Craft and Technique Overview

This pattern uses fundamental knitting techniques appropriate for beginners. The doll is constructed by knitting separate sections that are then assembled and stuffed to create a three-dimensional figure. The design employs strategic increases and decreases to shape the body and head, creating a tapered silhouette that transitions from the wider torso to narrower shoulders and then to the rounded head.

Stitches and Abbreviations Used

• Stocking stitch (st st) – The primary stitch used throughout most of the pattern, created by alternating knit rows and purl rows to produce a smooth, flat fabric with a characteristic V-pattern on the right side
• Garter stitch (gs) – A knit stitch that creates a textured, bumpy fabric (though specific application in this pattern is noted in abbreviations)
• Knit (k) – The basic knit stitch
• Purl (p) – The basic purl stitch
• Increase (inc) – Adding stitches to widen the fabric
• Decrease (k2tog) – Knitting two stitches together to reduce stitch count and narrow the fabric
• Slip (sl) – Passing a stitch from one needle to another without working it
• Bind and tie (B and T) – A finishing technique where yarn is threaded through remaining stitches on the needle using a tapestry needle, then drawn tight and secured to close off the knitted piece

Construction Method

The doll is built in distinct sections. The body begins with 25 cast-on stitches that are immediately increased in every stitch to create 50 stitches, establishing the widest part of the torso. Stocking stitch is worked for 10 rows in brown wool, followed by a color change to light brown wool for an additional 11 rows, creating a two-tone body effect. The shoulders are shaped by decreasing stitches (knitting 2 together across the row) to return to 25 stitches. The head section begins with strategic increases worked across a knit row to expand the stitch count to 37 stitches, then stocking stitch is continued for 17 rows to create the rounded head shape. Final decreases shape the top of the head before binding off.

Materials Required

• Needles: 3.25mm knitting needles
• Yarn: Double knitting weight wool in four colors – brown (primary body color), light brown (secondary body color), beige (head color), and black (for details such as eyes or facial features). Only small oddments of each color are needed
• Stuffing: A small amount of polyester fiberfill or similar toy stuffing material to fill the completed knitted pieces and create dimension
• Notions: A 2-centimeter pipe cleaner (useful for poseable limbs or internal structure), a tapestry needle for finishing and weaving in ends

Difficulty Level

This pattern is rated as beginner-friendly, making it accessible to knitters new to the craft. It uses only basic stitches and straightforward shaping techniques, with clear instructions for increases and decreases. The color changes add visual interest without requiring advanced techniques like intarsia or fair isle knitting.