advent calendar. day eighteen. yoda.

Continuing in the non-christmassy-christmas-ornament theme, my eldest is all about star wars right now so I knew he would love a star wars themed ornament. Looking at the options available to me in terms of what yarn I had already bought I decided to go with Yoda. He is probably slightly the wrong shade of green but no one complained (although it did take my son a few minutes to work out who it was supposed to be...).

Materials

Size 3 double pointed needles
Lightweight (weight 3) yarn (I used this green for his head, this brown for his body and this taupe for his robe)
Polyfill stuffing
2 small black buttons for his eyes.

Abbreviations

k knit
kfb knit front and back
k2tog knit two stitches together
pfb purl front and back  
st st stockingette stitch (knit one side, purl the other)


Head and Body

Starting at the head cast on 11 stitches in green and transfer onto 3 double pointed needles. Join and work the round.

Round 1 knit
Round 2 kfb in every stitch (22 stitches)
Rounds 3-11 knit
Round 12 k2,(k2tog, k2) repeat to end (17 stitches)
Round 13 (k2, k2tog) repeat to end (13 stitches)
Round 14 knit.
Change to dark brown yarn.
Rounds 15-25 knit.
Stuff 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.


Arms (make 2)

Cast on 4 stitches.
knit in icord for 9 rows, cast off.
Sew to the side of the body at the junction between the brown and green yarn. 



Robe

Starting at the back of the robe cast on 10 stitches, work back and forth on two needles.
Rows 1-4 st st.
Increase for the arms: using the backwards loop method cast on 4 stitches (14 stitches). 
Row 5 knit.
Using  the backwards loop method cast on 4 stitches (18 stitches).
Rows 6-10 st st..
Row 11 k7, cast off 4, k7
Continue working only on the first 7 stitches on the needle (move the other 7 to a spare needle or waste yarn) to make one side of the front of the robe.
Row 12 purl.
Row 13 knit.
Rows 14-19 repeat rows 12 and 13.
Row 20 cast off 4, purl 2, pfb (4 stitches).
Row 21 kfb all stitches (8 stitches).
Row 22 purl.
Row 23 kfb all stitches (16 stitches.
Row 24 purl.
Cast off

Return to the 7 stitches at the shoulder on the other side of the front of the robe, join in new yarn:
Row 1 purl.
Row 2 knit.
Rows 3-8 repeat rows 1 and 2.
Row 9 cast off 4, knit 2, kfb (4 stitches).
Row 10 pfb all stitches (8 stitches).
Row 11 knit.
Row 12 pfb all stitches (16 stitches).
Row 13 knit.
Cast off purlwise .

To make the belt, crochet a chain about three inches long using brown yarn and a size E (3.5mm) crochet hook.


Ears (make 2)

With green cast on 10sts.
Row 1 knit.
Row 2 purl.
Rows 3-6 working in st st, decrease both ends of every row until 2 sts remain.
Row 7 k2tog.
Cast off.

Fold ear in half at the cast on edge and sew across, sew this edge to side of head.


Finishing  

Put robe onto body and fasten with a stitch at the bottom front. Tie the robe around and fasten with a stitch every 1/2inch or so around the body.

Sew buttons for eyes according to the picture.