Baby geese look nothing like their parents. They appear ungainly and badly designed, but at the same time fluffy and adorable. The collective noun for a group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, when in flight a skein and when flying close together a plump. Goslings don’t feature much in literature and the best known is definitely Ryan.
It’s quite difficult to get the gosling to stand up as he’s top heavy, so use the cocktail sticks to stabilize him.
Length: 10cm (4in)
Height to top of head: 10cm (4in)
• Pair of 2¾mm (US 2) knitting needles
• Double-pointed 2¾mm (US 2) knitting needles (for legs and for holding stitches)
• 5g (⅛oz) of Rowan Pure Wool 4ply in Shale 402 (sh)
• 10g (¼oz) of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Cream 634 (cr)
• 10g (¼oz) of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Essence 663 (ec)
NOTE: some of this animal uses 1 strand of cr and 1 strand of ec held together, and this is called crec
• 2 pipecleaners for legs and feet
• 2 cocktail sticks or wooden kebab sticks to support legs
• 2 tiny black beads for eyes and sewing needle and black thread for sewing on
See here.
See for I-cord Technique.
(make 2 the same)
With double-pointed needles and sh, cast on 4 sts.
Work i-cord as folls:
Knit 8 rows.
Shape feet
Row 9: Inc, k2, inc. (6 sts)
Row 10: Purl.
Row 11: Inc, k4, inc. (8 sts)
Row 12: Purl.
Knit 3 rows.
Row 16: P2tog, p4, p2tog. (6 sts)
Row 17: Knit.
Row 18: P2tog, p2, p2tog. (4 sts)
Row 19: Knit.
Cast (bind) off.
Legs and Feet
Manipulate the legs and feet after finishing to help the gosling stand up.
With crec, cast on 5 sts.
Row 1: Inc, k4. (6 sts)
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: Inc, k4, inc. (8 sts)
Row 4: P8, cast on 2 sts. (10 sts)
Row 5: K9, inc. (11 sts)
Row 6: Inc, p9, inc. (13 sts)
Row 7: Inc, k11, inc. (15 sts)
Row 8: Inc, p13, inc. (17 sts)
Row 9: K16, inc. (18 sts)
Row 10: P18, cast on 2 sts. (20 sts)
Row 11: Knit.
Row 12: Purl.
Row 13: Inc, k18, inc. (22 sts)
Row 14: P22, cast on 2 sts. (24 sts)
Row 15: Knit.
Row 16: Cast (bind) off 3 sts, p to end. (21 sts)
Row 17: K19, k2tog. (20 sts)
Row 18: Cast (bind) off 5 sts, p to end. (15 sts)
Row 19: Inc, k12, k2tog. (15 sts)
Row 20: Cast (bind) off 6 sts, p to end. (9 sts)
Row 21: K2tog, k7. (8 sts)
Row 22: P2tog, p6. (7 sts)
Row 23: K5, k2tog. (6 sts)
Row 24: Inc, p3, p2tog. (6 sts)
Row 25: Knit.
Row 26: P4, p2tog, cast on 4 sts. (9 sts)
Row 27: Knit.
Row 28: Purl.
Row 29: K7, k2tog. (8 sts)
Row 30: Inc, p7. (9 sts)
Row 31: K2tog, k3, inc, k3. (9 sts)
Row 32: Inc, p6, p2tog. (9 sts)
Row 33: K2tog, k5, k2tog. (7 sts)
Row 34: P2tog, p3, p2tog. (5 sts)
Cast (bind) off.
With crec, cast on 5 sts.
Row 1: Inc, p4. (6 sts)
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3; Inc, p4, inc. (8 sts)
Row 4: K8, cast on 2 sts. (10 sts)
Row 5: P9, inc. (11 sts)
Row 6: Inc, k9, inc. (13 sts.)
Row 7: Inc, p11, inc. (15 sts)
Row 8: Inc, k13, inc. (17 sts)
Row 9: P16, inc. (18 sts)
Row 10: K18, cast on 2 sts. (20 sts)
Row 11: Purl.
Row 12: Knit.
Row 13: Inc, p18, inc. (22 sts)
Row 14: K22, cast on 2 sts. (24 sts)
Row 15: Purl.
Row 16: Cast (bind) off 3 sts, k to end. (21 sts)
Row 17: P19, p2tog. (20 sts)
Row 18: Cast (bind) off 5 sts, k to end. (15 sts)
Row 19: Inc, p12, p2tog. (15 sts)
Row 20: Cast (bind) off 6 sts, k to end. (9 sts)
Row 21: P2tog, p7. (8 sts)
Row 22: K2tog, k6. (7 sts)
Row 23: P5, p2tog. (6 sts)
Row 24: Inc, k3, k2tog. (6 sts)
Row 25: Purl.
Row 26: K4, k2tog, cast on 4 sts. (9 sts)
Row 28: Knit.
Row 29: P7, p2tog. (8 sts)
Row 30: Inc, k7. (9 sts)
Row 31: P2tog, p3, inc, p3. (9 sts)
Row 32: Inc, k6, k2tog. (9 sts)
Row 33: P2tog, p5, p2tog. (7 sts)
Row 34: K2tog, k3, k2tog. (5 sts)
Cast (bind) off.
With WS together and whip stitch, sew sides of body together along centre back, up back of neck and across top of head.
Row 1: With sh and RS facing, pick up and k6 sts across end of head.
Row 2: P2, p2tog, p2. (5 sts)
Row 3: K2tog, k1, k2tog. (3 sts)
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: K2tog, k1. (2 sts)
Row 6: P2tog and fasten off.
(make 2 the same)
With crec, cast on 2 sts.
Beg with a k row, cont in st st.
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: K1, [inc] twice, k1. (6 sts)
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: K1, inc, k2, inc, k1. (8 sts)
Work 5 rows st st.
Cast (bind) off.
Eyes
The gosling has both French knots and black beads for eyes. The beads are optional.
SEWING IN ENDS Sew in ends, leaving ends from cast on and cast (bound) off rows for sewing up.
BODY With WS together and whip stitch, sew two halves of body together from tail, along bottom of body and up front including beak, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) gap.
STUFFING Stuff the gosling firmly, then sew up the gap. Mould body into shape.
LEGS AND FEET Thread a pipecleaner through each i-cord leg and shape lower end into a triangle to form a webbed foot. Sew foot around the pipecleaner. Push other end of pipecleaner through base of body approx 1cm (¼in) apart. Sew legs to body. Insert wooden sticks up backs of legs and into body; these act as heels to help stabilize the gosling.
WINGS Sew wings to body with knit side uppermost and angled up towards back.
EYES With sh, sew 2-loop French knots positioned 3 sts back from beak and 2 rows down from top of head. Sew black beads on top of knots.
