Stork with Baby choc orange cover / toy

Stork with Baby Chocolate Orange Cover or 20cm Toy by Andrew Lucas

What is Being Made

This is a beginner-friendly knitted stork design that functions as either a decorative chocolate orange cover or a standalone 20-centimeter stuffed toy. The project creates a charming soft sculpture featuring a stork figure, perfect for gift-giving or seasonal decoration. The design uses simple shaping techniques to construct a three-dimensional form from flat knitted pieces.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Stork with Baby project employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for beginners. The construction relies on increases and decreases to shape the body and head, creating dimensional forms from basic rectangular knitted sections. The pattern uses stocking stitch (alternating knit and purl rows) as the primary fabric structure, which creates a smooth, finished appearance on the right side. Garter stitch (knitting every row) is also incorporated for textural variation. The pattern demonstrates how strategic increases at the beginning of sections and decreases toward the end create the tapered, sculptural shapes needed for a three-dimensional toy.

Stitches and Abbreviations

The pattern uses the following essential stitches and abbreviations:

• k – knit stitch
• p – purl stitch
• st st – stocking stitch (alternating knit and purl rows)
• gs – garter stitch (knitting every row)
• k2tog – knit two stitches together (decrease)
• p2tog – purl two stitches together (decrease)
• inc – increase
• m1 – make one stitch by knitting into the back of the loop between two stitches
• yrn – yarn round needle
• B and T – bind and tie by threading the wool end on a tapestry needle and passing it through the stitches on the knitting needle, then drawing up and tying off
• tog – together
• alt – alternate

Materials and Tools

This project requires minimal materials, making it economical and accessible for beginners. The pattern calls for 3.25mm knitting needles as the primary tool. The yarn is double knitting weight wool in multiple colors: white (for the main body and head), lemon yellow, light blue, beige, brown, blue, and black (for details and features). The designer specifies using oddments of these colors, meaning leftover yarn scraps work perfectly, reducing waste and cost. A small amount of polyester stuffing is needed to fill the toy and create its three-dimensional form. A tapestry needle is required for the bind and tie finishing technique and for seaming the row ends together.

Construction Overview

The toy is constructed in separate pieces that are then assembled. The body section begins with casting on 25 stitches and immediately increases in every stitch to create 50 stitches, establishing a wide base. The pattern then works in stocking stitch for 21 rows before systematically decreasing stitches in multiple rounds to taper the form. The neck and head are worked as separate components, also using increases and decreases to create the appropriate shapes. This modular approach allows knitters to manage the complexity of three-dimensional shaping by working one section at a time.