Little Knit Apples

The Little Knit Apple is a fruit sprite, observed in apple orchards in late summer and early fall. Notable characteristics include tiny eyes and short, stick-like legs. Shows a preference for sitting on window sills and admiring wildflower bouquets. The apples are constructed with small amounts of yarn, making them particularly well-suited for stash-busting and using up leftovers from other projects. **Size** The finished apple is 5.5cm / 2.25” tall (not including the optional legs), and 18.8cm / 7.5” around at the widest point on the body. See the schematic in the images for more details. **Yarn and Yardage** The apples use fingering weight sock yarn, and needs ~18 yards for C1 (red), 5 yards for C2 (green), and 1-7 yards for C3 (brown). Sock yarn with nylon or silk, or a high twist is preferred, as it will be more durable. Black embroidery thread or scraps of black fingering weight yarn is also needed if working the eyes. **Needles and Gauge** Approx. 32 sts and 46 rnds over 10cm / 4”. Exact gauge isn’t important for this pattern, but the fabric should be tight enough to not show the stuffing. I find for most yarn, US 0 / 2.0mm or US 1 / 2.25mm is the best choice to achieve a tight fabric. **Notions** Knitting needles (for knitting flat and in the round), darning needle, polyfill for stuffing, and black embroidery thread or scrap pieces of fingering weight yarn for eyes (optional). **Techniques** The apple is knit in the round, the leaf is knit flat, and the stem and legs are worked as i-cords.