The Strawberry Elf...A Knitting Pattern!

Happy Easter Sunday! Hope you all had an awesome day. ^_^
And yup, you heard right! Strawberry Elves are finally available for you to knit, right here! Be careful having the finished item around young children, for it may be a choking hazard. (Scale the pattern up if you must!) These always reminded me of Strawberry Shortcake, one of my favorite characters when I was about three or four. You can never have too much memories...
Enjoy, and happy crafting! :)

Missing fruit from the fruit bowl? How about cookies--specifically strawberry cookies?
Well, you may have a Strawberry Elf on the loose. Or a few. I met some in my backyard; you're about to meet them. :)

'Ello, the name's Gingerberry! I have two besties named Tinyberry and Lulaberry.
Bet you can't find us.^_^

Don't look in the bowl of strawberries. No one dares to enter the land of the delicious red rocks that we hide in. 

How on Earth did you find us?

Yarn:
Little bits of fingering-weight yarn in these colors:
   ~Green: Leaves and Pants
   ~Red: Shirt and Hat
   ~Yellow: Seeds
   ~Skin Color: Head
   ~Hair Color
   ~Black thread/yarn: Eyes

Additional Supplies:
~Size 0 double-pointed knitting needles (2 mm)
~Tiny bits of stuffing
~A tapestry needle
~A crochet hook about the same size as your needles
~Scissors

Finished Size:
If made with the recommended yarn and needles, your Tiny Strawberry Elf should measure about an inch and a half.

Gauge:
None! Just make sure that your stitches are tight enough so the stuffing won't poke through.


For a list of abbreviations that may have been used in the pattern, click here.

Pattern:

Legs: With Green, CO 2 sts onto 1 needle. Knit one row of icord, cut the yarn, and set it aside on a spare needle to work later. Repeat with a second needle, just without cutting the yarn. Join the legs by placing both legs onto 1 needle. Be sure to keep the working yarn at either side of the sts, just not in the middle. After that, switch to Red. (4 sts)

Body:
Rnd#1: (Worked as an icord) [Kfb] 4 times (8 sts)
Distribute the sts onto 3 needles to work in a round.
Rnds#2-3: Knit.
Switch to skin color.
Rnd#4: [K2tog] 4 times (4 sts) Feel free to change the distribution of the sts among the needles, as the current distribution may not allow you to decrease to 4 sts.
Rnd#5: [Kfb] 4 times (8 sts)
Rnd#6: [Kfb] 8 times (16 sts)
Rnds#7-9: Knit.
Switch to Red.
Rnd#10: [K2tog] 3 times, k1, k2tog, k1, and [k2tog] 3 times (9 sts)
Rnd#11: [Kfb] 9 times (18 sts)
Rnd#12: [Kfb] 18 times (36 sts)
Rnd#13: Knit.
Rnd#14: [K2tog, k1] 12 times (24 sts)
Rnd#15: [K2tog] 12 times (12 sts)
Stuff the piece.
Rnd#16: [K2tog] 6 times (6 sts)
Cut the yarn, and pull it tightly through the sts with your tapestry needle.

Tip: You may have noticed that the color change from the legs to body may look really wonky, and the legs might look like crazy knots! If this happened, you could fix this by using the tail ends of the legs and make some reinforcement stitches.

Before...

........

After!

Features:
Eyes: With Black, embroider the eyes, placed in the middle of the head and spaced about 3-4 sts apart.

Hair: (See below) Cut 8-12 strands of your hair-colored yarn about 4 in long. Fold each strand in half. After that, pull it under a stitch at the bottom of the back of the hat using your crochet hook, causing a loop to appear. Pull the remaining ends tightly through the loop. You've got hair! Repeat with the rest of your strands, and trim to your desired length. For a more fuller hairstyle, embroider hair at the front of the bottom of the hat with your tapestry needle.

1. Insert your hook at the bottom of the hat, fold your yarn in half, and pull it through to make a loop.

4. Need a fuller hairstyle? Embroider hair at the front of the bottom of the hair with your tapestry needle.

2. Yarn over, and pull the yarn though the loop. You've got hair!

Voilà! The hair is complete!

3. Repeat with the rest of your yarn and trim to desired length.

Arms: With Red, CO 2 sts onto 1 needle to work in an icord. Knit 7 rows of icord. (Optional: If you could crochet, ch 7.) Cut the yarn, and pull it tightly through the sts with your tapestry needle. With the yarn still threaded in your needle, pull the sts through the top of the body, where the head and shirt meet. Be sure to have an even amount of yarn through both sides of the body so it looks like two arms.

Seeds: With Light Yellow, embroider the seeds by stitching little dots scattered on the strawberry hat with your tapestry needle.

Leaves: With Green, embroider a star at the center of the hat, each point resulting as a leaf. Embroider multiple sts for each leaf so they are tiny, but noticeable.

Finishing:
Weave in any of the loose ends.

Enjoy your tiny Strawberry Elf!
Make sure to keep an eye on your strawberries... :)

~Phia ^_^