The not-so-spooky season continues. I know that spiders freak me out. However, a good friend of mine thinks they are wonderful. Here is a tiny spider that hopefully bridges the gap.

You will need:
– 4mm knitting needles – flat and dpn
– DK yarn
– Small amount of stuffing
– 2 googley eyes
– Darning needle
– 4 Pipe cleaners

Special terms and words: knitting and purling used. Stockinette is just alternating rows of Knit and Purl (with the purl being on the inside mostly). Icord used – which is essentially 3 stitches on double pointed needles where instead of turning your work, you slide the work to the other end of the needle and continue knitting. I will make video tutorials if needed.

Body

Cast on 10
Knit front and back into every stitch. (20 stitches)
Stockinette stitch 15 rows
Knit 1, knit 1 front and back – repeat over whole row (30 stitches) (this is the neck)
Stockinette stitch 9 rows
Knit 1, knit 2 together – repeat over whole row (20 stitches)
Purl 1 row
Knit 2 together – repeat over the whole row (10 stitches)
Cut yarn with 30 cm of tail remaining – thread the remaining stitches onto the yarn tail and pull tight.

Legs – make 4

Cast on 3 stitches onto the 4mm dpn’s.
Holding the pipe cleaner behind the knitting, icord the full length of the pipe cleaner. I do this by knitting across the row and then when pulling the yarn across to start the new row, make sure this goes around the pipe cleaner enclosing it in the middle of the knitting. There will be a video tutorial.
Knit the full length of the pipe cleaner.
Cast off at the end. Darn in the yarn tails.

Here is my tutorial for doing the legs:

Stitching up

Fold the body piece in half, stitch up from the top of the head down to the bottom. This seam should be the belly of the spider. Leave the cast-on edge open for now. Stuff the body firmly from this bottom opening.

Take all 4 legs and hold them together. Fold the legs in half. Hold them on the neckline of the spider on the underside and stitch around all 4 legs, and through the body. Stitch the legs to the body firmly as you close up the bottom opening.

Darn in the yarn tails. Stitch 2 eyes onto his face.