Knitted Baby Starfish

I took a trip to London Zoo a couple of months ago and was so very impressed by the aquarium. The weird looking sea creatures are all different colours, shapes and sizes... it's hard to believe that some of those strange beings are actually alive. I was so impressed, I felt inspired to knit an aquarium for myself (as I'd never be able to afford a real one). I was particularly impressed by this one picture of the starfish and those fluffy looking things (that are probably not that fluffy really).

So, I've started by creating a very simple design for a knitted starfish. It's really really easy. All you need to be able to do is cast on, knit and cast off. It really is that simple. You can try different sizes too, once you get the hang of the pattern. I knitted one on the train on the way to work this morning.

Materials: 2.75mm needles, doulbe knit yarn in any shade that takes your fancy, scissors and a knitter's needle.

Directions: Cast on 10 stitches

Row 1: Knit 10

Row 2: Knit 10

Row 3: Cast off 7 stitches, knit the remaining 3 stitches

Row 4: Knit 3, now turn the needle round and now cast on 7 stitches. This splits the row to make the gaps between the legs.

Row 5: Knit 10

Row 6: Knit 10

Row 7: Cast off 7 stitches, knit the remaining 3 stitches

Row 4: Knit 3, now turn the needle round and now cast on 7 stitches.

Row 7: Knit 10

Row 8: Knit 10Row 9: Cast off 7 stitches, knit the remaining 3 stitches

Row 4: Knit 3, now turn the needle round and now cast on 7 stitches.

Row 10: Knit 10

Row 11: Knit 11

Row 12: Cast off 7 stitches, knit the remaining 3 stitches

Row 4: Knit 3, now turn the needle round and now cast on 7 stitches.

Row 13: Knit 10

Row 14: Knit 10

Row 15: Cast off 7 stitches, knit the remaining 3 stitches

Row 4: Knit 3, now turn the needle round and now cast on 7 stitches.

Row 16: Knit 10

Row 17: Knit 10

Cast off 10 stitches

You should now have a knitted piece with 5 legs. These need to be stitched into a star shape as in the picture.

Now you have your very own knitted starfish! I have also adjusted pattern to make the fish bigger, by knitting the legs at a length of 15 stitches instead of 10. I kept the number of stitches always cast on at 3. See more pictures here.

I plan to have the knitted aquarium completed later in the year. Watch this space....