Nope, not a typo — poppet is just the older spelling of puppet. As if that statement alone doesn’t make it obvious, I will openly admit that quirky is my thing. Quirky is also my husband’s thing, and our kids. We are a big ole nerd/geek/quirk family. So, when it comes to gifting things, we are the land of the strange! My husband is difficult to shop for, so for the most part, I don’t bother. I have turned to creating his gifts because 1) he likes that, 2) they are designed for him, and 3) I enjoy the dickens out of it!
So, we have Valentine’s Day impending…what do you get a man? Seriously, women get candy, jewelry, flowers…well, most women do. I get board or video games, kitchen gadgets, books, etc. Anyway, I went pattern hunting, just sort of milling through ravelry.com to see if anything jumped out. Talk about your overload! The whole time there was this little idea squirming in the recesses of my brain and then (possibly because I was on my second cup of coffee) it slammed into the forefront. A LOVE VOODOO DOLL!
Let me live ‘neath your spell
Do do that voodoo that you do so well
‘Cause you do something to me
That nobody else could do
The above from Frank Sinatra’s “You Do Something to Me”
Sinatra had it right
Now I had a title to fill that little search bar, and YAY! a perfect little doll. His title is “Bad Juju,” and the original pattern can be found on ravelry, artist name Zabet Stewart. The pattern is a little difficult to follow if you’re not very experienced, so I have included my notations (look for *xxxxx*) and pictures as a guide.
- I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice on the white and random wool mixture on my husband’s
- One yard each of red and white embroidery floss or laceweight yarn.
- Set of 4 US 4/3.5mm needles (you need a tight knit to hold the stuffing in)
- 3 stitch holders or waste yarn *waste yarn was easier for me, it will be holding 11 or 16 stitches so SMALL holder*
- smooth waste yarn for provisional cast on
- 2 stitch markers
- tapestry needle
- stuffing material (Example uses polyester fiberfill stuffing.)
Head:
Provisionally cast on 36 sts in a smooth yarn onto DPNs. *Use smooth yarn of the same size as what you are knitting with.* Switch to main yarn and knit in the round 20 rounds.
Shoulders:
K 9,pm, m1, k18, pm, m1,finish round.
Increase one stitch after each marker every other round 4 times. *46 stitches*
Next round, k9, slip11 sts to holder or waste yarn, knit to next marker, slip 11 sts to another holder or waste yarn, finish round. (24 sts remain) *should be 9-9-6 per needle, you will notice stitch marker is sliding off…this will correct shortly as you are adding stitches again.*
Torso:
Next round, m1 after each marker. *see, I told you 🙂 okay, so replace that marker that was slipping off and add your stitches*
Increase 1 st after each marker every other round 3 times *32 stitches total 13-9-10 on needles*
Legs:
Divide sts into 2 sets of 16 so that the split places the legs squarely below the shoulders. Place one leg on a holder, divide the other 16 sts on the DPNs. *get ready to finagle stitches here*
Notice my marker on the right needle
You can see that the legs do not line up perfectly, so you have to maneuver some stitches around. Don’t try to balance from the start of your round; just knit down that needle then continue to next step.
Knit first and last stitch of leg together to join the round, knit 20 rounds.
Rounds 21 and 22: K2tog around.
Break yarn, run through remaining stitches twice and leave tail inside the body.
Repeat for the other leg.
Arms:
Place 11 arm sts on DPNs. Knit the first and last sts together to join the round. Knit 12 rounds. *Be aware of the direction! You want to be sure you are knitting from the outside not on the inside*
Rounds 13 and 14: k2tog around.
Break yarn, run through remaining sts twice and leave tail inside the body.
Repeat for other arm.
Finishing the Body:
Sew up any gusset holes. *The below is the gusset that the instructions refer to. Using your tapestry/blunt tip needle just run a quick seam.*
Stuff body firmly. Stuff torso and head last, leaving a slightly less packed gap where the neck will be.
Finishing the Head:
Undo the provisional cast on. Rip back 5 rounds and place the stitches back on DPNS.
* I HATE THIS! Ripping back the work always throws me off and I cannot get the needle back into the stitches easily, so here’s a trick…
Then, K2tog around until 5 sts rem on needles. Break yarn and run through the rem sts twice. Leave tail inside the body.
Wrap a short length (about 12in) of yarn around the neck (noose optional) around the neck. Embroider eyes, mouth, and heart in your choice of colors.
