Knit Your Own Zoo: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 24 Animals Paperback – February 11, 2014

Easy to follow patterns, this is a great little book!

KNIT YOUR OWN ZOO is another fine collection of patterns for small knitted display animals (not really suitable for knitted toys) from the authors of  Knit Your Own Dog  and  Knit Your Own Cat . These patterns are well-written, with clear instructions, but probably require advanced intermediate knitting skills (or beyond), because each animal is constructed from many small, shaped parts.For example, the wonderful giraffe is assembled from (1) a right back leg, (2) a left back leg, (3) a right front leg, (4) a left front leg, (5) a right side of body, (6) a left side of body, (7) a head, (8) a tummy, (9) ears, (10) tail, and (11) mane. The parts for the legs are held on stitch holders until it's time to add the body; some body stitches are also held on stitch holders until it's time to add the head; and so on. The giraffe's "spots" are knitted in using Fair Isle and Intarsia methods. The mane is crocheted; the eyes are embroidered; the tail uses buttonhole stitch; the "horns" are pipe cleaners. To finish, pipe cleaners are added for support when the animal is stuffed. The patterns are written out with row-by-row instructions. The animals are knit with fine yarn on US 2 and US 3 needles.It amazes me, how well the authors replicate the animals' essential characteristics, so that each finished animal is immediately recognizable as the zoo animal it is intended to be. I really love the giraffe, the mandrill, the bat, the armadillo, the koala, the leopard, and the crocodile!Patterns are included for the following animals: giant anteater, armadillo, fruit bat, ring-tailed lemur, brown bear, wolf, gray seal and pup, polar bear, penguin, crocodile, koala, chimpanzee, lion, leopard, tiger, zebra, mandrill, camel, meerkat, elephant, giraffe, panda, orangutan, and kangaroo and joey.

This one more then makes up for Knit your own dog. There is an index, which is very helpful, and the animals are beyond cute! I think Knit your own dog should be tried after you Knit your own zoo. Then you will have the index, which will explain some items, and as far as I can tell, doesn't have any of the the puzzling words in some of the other books. This book is great fun, and knitting your own zoo, will keep you occupied for a very long time!

I was looking for knitting patterns for children's toys when I came across this. book. These patterns are specifically not intended for kids -- as clearly stated in the book. That makes me wonder why anyone would knit an animal for any reason other than a toy. I figured I could adapt the patterns so they would be acceptable as toys by removing pipe cleaners from the structure, however that may compromise the structure of the piece. I was going to return the book, but I may at some point want to try one and there are ideas that will be useful. The finished animals are really unique and attractive -- especially the meercats. Perhaps one day I'll try one.

Made the bear and camel love how easy it was to make.Now working on the elephant.Recommend this book and must know some knitting.

Very good patterns. a little confusing to follow at times but worth the time. very interesting and realistic little sculptures. Have not started one of these yet. I have the other book in this series-"Knit your own cat" . just finishing up one of the cats and its really cute. Not for little kids to play with necessarily. More of an" up on a shelf "sculpture. Perfect gift for the teenage girl who loves animals but doesn't sleep with stuffed ones anymore!

Truly easy to follow, except for the armadillo, for some bizarre reason. Also the giraffe needs very substantial pipecleaners in the legs to hold it up, but it is super cute. You can substitute yarns with Knit Picks brands, which are much cheaper than the Rowan ones quoted in the instructions.

Very cute patterns for the knitter. Loved the less common animals and the elephant is nice. These patterns are more like thereal animals as opposed to "cutesy-pie" versions of animals. Nice for a collection for that special child and for making a Noah's ark set. Check the sizes of the animals if you plan to make an ark to go with it out of cardboard or light-weight wood.This book was loved by my knitting guild friends.

I love the animals in this book. I am making my 2nd zoo. Highly recommended! :)

This looks perfect wanted it for the pattern of the lemur but will be making lots of the others too.

Sehr netter Kontakt, schöne Ware, gerne wieder! Sehr netter Kontakt, schöne Ware, gerne wieder! Sehr netter Kontakt, schöne Ware, gerne wieder!

The zoo animals in this book are precious and easily achievable by anyone with patience and a rudimentary knowledge of knitting. The author has clearly identified which projects take more skills than others, so that a knitter unsure of their competence can start with basic animals and work up to some of the more exotic and challenging. And there are enough animals in the book that you will not run short of projects for a very long time. The finished knitted and assembled piece is not large - these patterns are designed for use with sock weight yarn knitted on small needles (mostly under 3mms) and then pieced together and stuffed. The instructions are excellent, and if you know basic knitting -- no fancy stitches are used here... most patterns are just knit entirely or perhaps a stocking stitch -- you follow them you can reproduce the dog of your dreams pretty closely. My only concern came when I found this book and two others like it for purebred dog breeds were written in the UK and referenced wools produced and sold there to use. For best results I recommend going to the best online or in your own market wool and yarn store to find the right weight and colour range of yarns you need to make your projects perfect. Here in Ottawa, I found that source readily in Wool Tyme, with staff who directed me to the sock weight 2 ply yarns needed to work most of the projects. While I believe Wool Tyme is the biggest wool shop in Canada (and they mail order) I think most good sized markets have merchants selling yarns, though a check by me in the national capital found craft stores like Michaels offer a much more limited selection of yarns than I could access here in Wool Tyme. Finding the right bits though is part of the fun!. .

lots of good patterns to knit although I have not started them yet