Henry loves Muno - A Knitting Project

Henry loves Muno
Originally uploaded by Bret, Virginia, and Henry

So Muno is a dancing red cyclops (who is "tall and friendly") on the show Yo Gabba Gabba! - Henry loves to dance and sing with the show, and I wanted to get crazy with a knitting project, so I designed a Muno doll for him. It took kind of a long time - double-pointed needles for knitting in the round are great, but much harder to use with such little yarn, and when making such a little guy. (Hats are infinitely easier, I think). In the end, it was worth it. Henry loves his Muno doll, I got to feel pretty kick ass about making something for him, and now I get to share (I hope it's right - I'm a few months out from the original design...) You can see more pics of Muno in the post below, or on our Flickr page here.

I learned to use double-point needles (dpn) after reading this, and this, which were very helpful. They really aren't that scary when you give them a chance.

I used Lily Cotton yarn (Sugar 'n Cream) in some reddish color - eyeball the color, really the best idea. I only used one regular skein for the project. I used an ivory Sugar 'n Cream for the eyes, and whatever black yarn was on hand for the mouth and middle of the eyeball. You'll need size 5 dpns, size 5 needles, and a good embroidery needle. Oh, and polyfill to stuff it (but not a lot).

The "Pattern" (in my crazy little way)

The body:
Cast on 35s to three or four size 5 dpns. Knitting in the round will give you stockinette, so just go for about 4 inches (about 37 times around, give or take). Knit 10s, then knit 2 together 2x, then knit 9 then 2 together - for a total of one time around. You should now have 32s on. Knit in the round for about an inch and a half (about 10 times around). Now, start decreasing fast - I can't remember my exact math, but it was fast, like knit 2, knit 2 together, for a couple of rounds, then knit 1, knit 2 together. When you are down to about 10-7 stitches on, bind off by using the tail to scoop up the loops from the remaining stitches and pulling together. Leave the tail SUPER long (a couple feet), you'll need it later.

The legs:
(repeat this two times)
Cast on 18s on a regular size 5 straight needle. Knit in stockinette for about 30 rows (about 3.5 inches). Increase by one or two stitches, then continue knitting for another half inch (about 5 or so rows). Cast off as you usually do, and leave a good tail for sewing later.

The arms:
Cast on 10s as for legs above. Knit stockinette for 26 rows, then begin the decrease by knitting three, knitting 2 together for one row. Purl across one row. Then knit 2, knit 2 together. Purl across one row. Knit one, knit 2 together. Scoop up remaining loops and pull together, leaving bit of a tail.

Stick it all together:
Sew up one end of each of the legs with the tails, using the needle. And sew up the seams, also, so you have two sock-like things. Fill with a bit of polyfill (not too much, you want Muno to wiggle and dance).

Fill the body with polyfill (again, not too much, make it fun and floppy a little bit).

Sew the open ends of the legs onto the open end of the body, making sure the "crotch" is all sewn together. Put the seams of the legs in toward the center and you won't even see them. Oh, and it makes the feet look good too.

Sew up the seams of the arms, use no fill. Sew them onto the body about 2/3 of the way up the body (below the decrease you knitted, but not too low - about 1/3 down from the closed portion - the head). Of course, line them up with the legs, and put the seams on the BACK of the arms. They'll get floppy enough - no fill works really well. It's OK if they are flattish - it looks good anyway.

Use whatever long tails you have left to make the bumps. With the head, go in through the top and pull it down (you don't want a pointy head!) it's a good start. Pull the needle through the fill and make the bumps with basic sewing stitches - randomly all over. About 3 or 4 stitches make a good bump. Go all over - legs, arms, all over. Just pull through the fill - it may poke out a little, but it will be ok and settle.

For the eye and the mouth, start with the base color (white for the eye, black for the mouth) and sew on the feature. No real proper way to do it - just sew it on. Make a big tail and pull the needle through leaving a long tail inside the fill. This will anchor it without making it look bad. Oh, and don't forget the teeth (white) and the inside of the eyeball (black).

If this makes no sense, call me or something. And enjoy!

I will add some more patterns soon - I have bunches I have tried out, although many are totally boring and invented or have been stolen from great knitting blogs!