Amazing animal knitting patterns

There are lots of great reasons to knit animals – they’re super cute, they make gorgeous gifts (especially for little people!) and they’re ridiculously fun to knit. On top of that, from a technical point of view, knitting an animal will introduce you to a whole new range of knitting skills.

You’ll learn how to shape your knitting, how to change colours in knitting, how to sew up and more. These techniques will see you through all your future knitting projects.

Ready to get started? Here are some of our favourite animal knitting patterns to inspire you.

Buzzy bees

You might be a busy bee, but make sure to take some time-out to knit these simply bee-autiful insects! Not only are bees are great fun to knit – they’re a great way to use up black, yellow and white yarn in your stash. We've got bee knitting patterns galore – from booties and finger puppets to cuddly toys and mobiles!

Perfect penguins

Can you name one person who doesn’t love penguins? We certainly can’t! These perfect little penguin knitting patterns are always favourites whether you knit teeny tiny ones or big squishy penguin cushions. They make ideal motifs to knit into garments and accessories too!

Bouncing bunnies

Hop, bunny, hop! With their sweet floppy ears and super cute little faces, rabbits are very popular to knit, and we've got a whole hutch full of bunny knitting patterns for you! How will you choose between cuddly bunnies, rabbits with outfits to wear, bunny hats and glove puppets?

Excellent elephants

Elephant trunks are the sweetest thing for tiny fingers to curl around, making elephants the perfect choice for baby knits! Our stunning collection of elephant knitting patterns includes toys, elephant intarsia, elephant hats and elephant rattles, so get knitting those trunks!

Stunning sea life

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – and we’ve got patterns to prove that creatures from under the sea can be just as cuddly and cute as any land animal! We've got an oceanful of sweet sea creatures for you to knit, from dangly jellyfish (which are helpful for premature babies according to research in Denmark) to squid mittens, octopus cushions to lobster hats and pretty much everything in between!

Cheeky monkeys

Monkeys make the perfect knit for any cheeky kids in your life, and we’ve got a handful of monkey knitting patterns that you’re sure to adore. Not only are they great fun to knit, these playful knitting designs that are sure to give you a challenge.

Fabulous fish

Find your catch of the day amongst our huge list of simply fabulous fish knitting patterns. From a common carp to a beautiful rainbow trout, you’ll have a whole aquarium full by the time you’ve worked your way through our collection of super swimmer!  

Happy Hamsters

Is there anything cuter than a hamster? The tiny little balls of fluff look just as sweet in knitted form and we've got the perfect pattern for a huggable hamster. In this simple step-by-step video, we show you how to make Harriet the hamster!

Beautiful bears

And last but definitely not least, bears! This round-up wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from the most famous of all knitted animals – teddy bears.

Can’t find your furry favourite on this list? Don’t worry! We’ve got a whole plethora of patterns for knitted animals, whether you’re looking for frogs, lions, mice, crabs or something else.