Knit Minion Cuddly Toy (Lovey)

Minion Lovey

Size 6 Double-pointed knitting needles

Size 8 Double-pointed needles

Size 8 circular needle (I used 16” length)

Yarn needle

About 1 ounce bright yellow yarn

About 3 ounces denim blue yarn

Small amounts of white and black yarn

Small black button or sew-on gemstone

Polyfill

The needle size / gauge aren’t all that important. I wanted a tight knit for the head, so the stuffing wouldn’t show, and a looser knit for the body, to make it more cuddly.  I think the body could have been done with size 9 or 10 needles too.

Start with eye (or eyes… you can make your minion either way): (It’s easier to sew the eye on while you’re still working on the head, but your needles will be busy later...so make the eye first.)

With white yarn and size 6 double-pointed needles, cast on 5 stitches, leaving about 6” of yarn at your starting  point.

Round 1: Being careful not to twist your cast-on stitches, join and knit each stitch (5 stitches)

Round 2:  Increase in each stitch (10 stitches)

Round 3: Change to gray yarn. Increase in first stitch, knit next stitch. Continue around, increasing every other stitch. (15 stitches).

Bind off in purl, leaving 9” or so to sew on. Use starting yarn to tighten up hole in center. Sew a small black button or sew-on gemstone to center of eye.

Head:

With yellow yarn and size 6 double-pointed needles, cast on 8 stitches.

Round 1: Being careful not to twist your cast-on stitches, join and knit each stitch (8 stitches)

Round 2:  Increase in each stitch (16 stitches)

Round 3:  Increase in first stitch, knit next stitch. Continue around, increasing every other stitch. (24 stitches).

Round 4: *Increase in first stitch, knit 2 stitches* repeat around (32 stitches)

Round 5: *Increase in first stitch, knit 3 stitches* repeat around (40 stitches)

(It’s easier to take your beginning thread and tighten up the hole in the middle before your tube gets too long… you might want to tighten it up around this point.)

Round 6: *Increase in first stitch, knit 4 stitches* repeat around (48 stitches)

Round 7: *Increase in first stitch, knit 5 stitches* repeat around (56 stitches)

Round 6: *Increase in first stitch, knit 6 stitches* repeat around (64 stitches)

Work 6 rows even in yellow

Work 2 rows in black

Work 10 rows even in yellow.

(After you do 4 or 5 of those rows, sew on the eye on the black band, so that the eye covers where you changed color. When you get to the end of the 10 rows, you can embroider on the mouth.).

Decrease row: *Knit 6, K2 together* repeat around

Knit one row even

Repeat decrease row

Using  the size 8 circular needle, attach blue yarn and pick up 48 stitches (you’re leaving your yellow stitches on the size 6 needles, but pulling up a blue stitch from each of the yellow stitches).  Put point guards on the ends of the needle so you don’t drop any blue stitches. You’ll finish up the yellow before you work on the blue “skirt”.

Continue to work decreases on the head – by knitting 3 stitches, then knitting two together, until you have about 20 stitches left. Fill head with polyfill. Keep on decreasing until you have 8 stitches. Cut yarn, leaving about 5”. Thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight. Tie off and weave in.

Transfer blue stitches to double-pointed needles if your circular needle is too long to work with them.  Figure out the center front of your work (centered under the eye). Count off six stitches to one side of that and place a marker. Place 3 more markers, each after 12 stitches.

Cuddly “skirt”

Each round: Knit around, increasing after each marker.

 I did my increases by picking up a stitch. I think it might look nicer if the increases were done by a yarn-over. I’ll try that on my next lovey.

Just keep on knitting until the lovey is the desired length. I had a 3.5 ounce skein of yarn and I kept going until I was close to running out of yarn. The “skirt” on my lovey is about 8” long.

GRU logo:

With black yarn and size 6 needles, cast on 8 stitches. Work in stockingnet stitch until you have a square. Cast off, leaving enough yarn to sew on.

Using the chart below and white yarn, embroider the GRU G. Sew logo onto front of lovey.

Using 2 or 3 strands of black yarn, pull a loop through at the center of the top of the head. Pull the other end of the yarn through and pull to tighten to make a top-knot of hair.  If you like a minion with spikey hair, you could tie a single strand of yarn at a few locations at the top of the head.