advent calendar. day nineteen. elmo.

Continuing (and ending!) the non-christmassy-christmas ornaments theme, I made an Elmo for my littlest guy. He isn't particularly into any characters yet but based on what the others liked around his age I imagine he will be an Elmo fan in the near future!

Elmo was super easy to make, basically a ball with some eyes and a nose!





Materials
Size 3 double pointed needles.
Lightweight (size 3) yarn, I used this for the head, and this for the eyes and nose.
Black embroidery thread.


Abbreviations

k knit
p purl
m1 make 1 increase (Insert the left needle from front to back into the horizontal strand between the two stitches: Knit the stitch through the back loop).
k2tog knit two stitches together.
p2tog purl two stitches together.
YO yarn over

Elmo's head

Cast on 9 stitches, move onto three double pointed needles (3 per needle). Join to work in the round.
Round 1 knit.
Round 2 k1, (m1, k1) repeat to end (17 stitches).
Round 3 knit.
Round 4 k1, (m1, k2) repeat to end (25 stitches).
Rounds 5 -13 knit
At this point, darn in the cast on end and stuff firmly.
Round 14 k1, (k2tog, k1) repeat to end (17 stitches). 
Round 15 knit.
Round 16 k1, (k2 tog) repeat to end (9 stitches).

Finish stuffing firmly, cut the yarn and thread it onto a yarn needle. Draw through the remaining stitches pulling tight to close the hole. Darn in the end.


Eyes (make 2)

Cast on 3 stitches. Work back and forth on two needles.
Row 1 p3.
Row 2 k1, YO, k1, YO, k1 (5 stitches).
Row 3 p5.
Row 4 k5.
Row 5 p5.
Row 6 k2tog through the back, k1, k2tog (3 stitches)
Row 7 Slip 1, p2 tog through the back pass slip stitch over, thread end through to cast off.

Tie both cast on and cast off ends together and use one end to sew base together and make a small ball.


Nose

Cast on 3 stitches. Work back and forth on two needles.
Row 1 p3
Row 2 k1, YO, k1, YO, k1 (5 stitches).
Row 3 p1, YO, p3, YO, p1 (7 stitches).
Row 4 knit
Row 5 purl
Row 6 knit
Row 7 purl
Row 8 k2tog through the back, k3, k2tog (5 stitches)
Row 9 p2tog, k1, p2tog through the back (3 stitches).
Row 10 slip 1, k2tog through the back, pass slip stitch over, thread end through to cast off.

Tie both cast on and cast off ends together and use one end to sew base together and make a small ball.

Finishing

Sew eyes and nose onto head according to the picture. Use black embroidery thread to embroider pupils onto the eyes.