How to knit a snail: a tutorial from the Glasgow Picknitters
From Cake, conversation and knitting with The Glasgow Picknitters
Basic knitting skills required; if you don't have these then get yourself along to a local knitting group or watch (youtube.com).
Materials
- 2 double pointed needles (the small ones)
- 2 contrasting colour balls of yarn
- Darning needle
- Scissors
To make the body
Cast on five stitches and knit one row.Slide stitches to the other end of the double pointed needle.Bring the yarn across the back of your knitting.Knit the row again.Slide stitches back to the original end of the needle. Knit a row.
Sliding the stitches from one end of the needle to the other has the effect of creating a chord.Repeat steps two to six until your snail body is approx six centimetres long.
To finish off the body
Cut your yarn with scissors, leaving enough to sew with, thread the end into a darning needle.Transfer the stitches onto the darning needle and draw the yarn through.Insert the needle into the body of the snail and pull through.Snip off the remaining yarn.
To make the antennae
Thread the darning needle with a length of yarn (the bit you just snipped off may be enough).Insert the needle into the top of the ‘head’, then up through the bottom.Tie a knot in each end of the yarn and snip off remainder of the yarn just above this point.
And there you have the body of your snail. As an optional extra you can sew beads on to make tiny eyes.
To make the shell
Repeat steps one to six of 'to make the body' but use a contrasting yarn and cast on 6 stitches and ake the chord approx 12 centimetres in length. Finish off using the same methods used in ‘to finish off the body’
To attach the shell to the body
Stitch the shell chord into a spiral using the same coloured yarn and darning needle.Sew onto the back of the snail.Create a neat finish by hiding the end of the yarn within the snail’s body.
Then all that remains is to find the perfect home for your new knitted friend.
From Cake, conversation and knitting with The Glasgow Picknitters.
Elsewhere on the web
- (vam.ac.uk)
