Gittle was inspired by the Dastardly Bear I completed from a Stitch-n-Bitch pattern. At first I thought stuffed animals were one of the most horrid things to do. I had almost resigned myself to sticking to hats, scarfs, shawls and purses. Than I started tinkering around with a brown scrap skein and the Puff Puff Puffin was born. Gittle was a bit of an homage to my friend and turtle lover Michelle. Gittle is also my inaugural free pattern for my blog! So - here goes nothing. If the directions are way skewed or something seems amiss email me and I will try and adjust it post haste.

Yarn: You can use any brand. I used generic acrylic scrap pieces from my own collection. The soft kind from the baby section works really well. The body is a sage green (color 1) and standard black (color 2). The head, tail and legs are a butter cream yellow with a touch of ruby red for eyes. I don't have numbers because the tags are long gone.

Quantity: I would have to estimate less than 6 oz of each would probably suffice.

Hook & Needle: Size 5 or F American hook and a yarn needle.

Stuffing: Enough to fill all the pieces. Possibly 1 oz. You can use cluster fill, polyester fill or go natural and organic.

Cluster fill is downy and feathery. It's also very loose and fluffy for stuffing. Will shed a little bit.

Polyester fill is stringing and stuck together. It does fill tightly and doesn't shed as much as cluster fill.

Organic or Natural. Rice, legumes or precooked popcorn. If going more natural the piece will need stitched very tightly with slip stitches instead of single crochets and possibly lined so the "stuffing" doesn't fall out.

Smaller than a football. It's a stuffed animal so the size isn't really an exact science.

(Not applicable.)

Please Note: The exact stitches I used or size hook isn't that instrumental as long as the stitches are increased evenly as noted. If they aren't done evenly it will look a bit oblong like an overstuffed sausage in places. The bigger the hook the larger apart the holes where stuffing could fall out. For an extremely tight piece slip stitch in place of the single crochets. I also did this entire piece by crocheting in the back loop only for a ribbed effect. If you want a more knobby look crochet through both stitches.

Overall Assembly: Stitch the legs, tail and head first. (All as separate pieces.) As you work on the body you will join the legs, tail and head pieces. The tail is attached with the piece correct side out. The legs are attached with the torso inside out. The head is attached last, after all the stuffing.

The Jargon:
sc = single crochet.
sc2tog (decrease) = single crochet two together. put hook in stitch, pull yarn through the stitch, leave loop on hook. put hook into next stitch. pull yarn through that stitch. 2 loops should be on the hook. yo, pull through both stitches.
2sc (increase) = 2 single crochets in same stitch.
hdc = half double crochet.
sts = stitches
sl sts = slip stitch
ch = chain

LEGS: CROCHET (Make 4)
Row 1: Ch 13, turn
R2-11: Ch 1, sc in next 10 stitches, turn (11 sts total)
R12: Ch 1, sl sts entire row. Tie off.
Leave 18 inch to 2 feet sewing length.