Knit your own toy lobster with this easy-to-follow pattern!

NOTE this is a digital file for a pattern and not a ready made toy. Click here for the made lobster toy.

Skill level = Intermediate

The pattern includes:

List of materials, list of skills (with links to tutorials), detailed write-up of every step, images and notes to help with reading.

Skills required:

Knit stitch
Purl stitch
Knitting in the round
Increasing stitches
Decreasing stitches (K2tog)
I-cord

I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I have! You can use any wool you like, just ensure your needles correspond with recommended gauge on the label – I use a size smaller for a tighter knit (for example, I use 5mm needles for a wool that recommends 6mm). Also, bear in mind that the chunkier your wool the larger your lobster :)

A few years ago on a family visit to Newfoundland my son, Marshall, then six years old, went fishing with his Great Great Uncle Cyril. As soon as they returned Marshall stepped onto the dock, proudly smiling and holding a cod nearly as large as him. “I CAUGHT THIS ALL ON MY OWN!”

They brought their entire catch onto the rocky beach and without missing a beat Uncle Cyril thew the first fish onto his homemade wooden bench, whipped out his pocket knife and began gutting. Marshall instantly broke into tears.

It was a lesson in where food comes from: “Marshall, you don’t have to eat animals. But if you are going to – this is the reality of your dinner.”

He ate his cod that night, but for the rest of the trip he became increasingly squeamish, to the point where when my Poppy put a lobster in the pot Marshall once again sobbed.

It was very confronting for him, because he couldn’t reconcile wanting to eat animals with the process. So, once again we discussed his options and I also just more generally asked him if there was anything I could do to make him feel better. He thought for a moment and then asked, sniffling: “Could you make me a big toy lobster, so I can cuddle him? A purple one, please.”

So I made the Marshall a knitted lobster as a cuddly reminder of Newfoundland, where his food comes from and the choices he always has.