Octopus toy

I thought of someone to give it to, so I can make a big octopus. Here it is finished and swimming along on the couch.


I started with the legs. The octopus legs are based on the coiled tube seen here. They need to be stuffed every inch or two while knitting. Starting at the tip of the tentacle:
Bind on 3 stitches. This is knit in the round.
Row 1: k1, yo, k2.
Row 2: k1, yo, kt (knit with stitch twisted), k to end.
Repeat row 2 until there are 12 stitches including the yo.
Row 10: k1, yo, kt, k3, k2tog, k5.
Repeat row 10 until the leg is long enough then cut the yarn and pass it through the stitches to hold them for later.

Twisting the other direction:
Bind on 3 stitches.
Row 1: k2, yo, k1.
Row 2: k until the yo, kt, yo, k1.
Repeat row 2 until there are 12 stitches.
Row 10: k5, k2tog, k3, kt, yo, k1.
Repeat row 10 until long enough then hold the stitches.


The twist wasn't the same size for each of these even though one is the reverse of the other. To complete 8 legs, I knit 2 each in each direction then arranged them how I liked with the smaller twists to the front and back and the bigger twists to the side. Join the legs together simply looping the yarn twice through each of 3 stitches on each leg.


Each leg has some stitches that look straight and some that seem to be on a diagonal. The legs are arranged so that the straight stitches are centered to the outside of the circle (which will become the top of the octopus) and the diagonal stitches are to the inside (which will be the bottom.)

Once connected into a circle, place the 2 unused stitches of the bottom plus one used stitch on either side on each leg onto knitting needles for 32 stitches. Starting between the back legs:
Row 1: k to end
Row 2: k3, (k2tog, k6) x3, k2tog, k2.
Row 3: with last stitch of row 2 (k2tog, k5) x4.
Row 4: k3, (k2tog, k4) x3, k2tog, k1.
Row 5: (k2tog, k3) x4.
Row 6: k2, (k2tog, k2) x3, k2tog
Row 7: (k2tog, k1) x3, k2tog.
Bind off the last 4 stitches by passing the yarn through each once front to back and once back to front and tying tightly. Knots on the inside will not show.

Place the unused stitches of the top on needles together with one on each side of the used stitches for 48 stitches. Starting between the back legs:
Row 1: k to end.
Row 2: (k6, pm (place marker), yo, k6, pm) x4.
Row 3: (yo after marker, k to 2nd marker) x4.
Row 4: k to 1st marker, (yo before marker, k to 2nd marker) x3, yo, k to 1st marker.
Row 5: (yo before marker, k to 2nd marker) x4.
Row 6: k to 1st marker, (yo after marker, k to 2nd marker) x3, yo, k to 1st marker.
Row 7-9: repeat row 4-6.
Row 10 and for a few rows: k80.

Decreases aren't done symmetrically. Instead, the middle is decreased for a few rows, then decreases are added to either side for a few rows. This continues until there are eight decreases. The decreases alternate between k2tog and ssk so that the decrease does not create a spiral. Here is an illustration showing the decreases. The arrow marks the middle (front) and the bar marks the back where rows start. On the 1st 3 decrease rows, the red decreases are made, on the 2nd 3, the blue, then green, purple, cyan.


Row 1 (red): k39, k2tog, k39.
Row 2 and all even rows: k.
Row 3: k39, ssk, k38.
Row 5: k38, k2tog, k38.
Row 7 (blue): k25, ssk, k11, ssk, k11, ssk, k24.
Row 9: k24, k2tog, k10, k2tog, k10, k2tog, k24.
Row 11: k24, ssk, k9, ssk, k9, ssk, k23.
Row 13 (green): k13, k2tog, (k8, k2tog) x4, k13.
Row 15: k13, ssk, (k7, ssk) x4, k12.
Row 17: k12, k2tog, (k6, k2tog) x4, k12.
(Might be time to think about getting the head stuffed.)
Row 19 (purple): k5, ssk, (k5, ssk) x6, k4.
Row 21: k4, k2tog, (k4, k2tog) x6, k4.
Row 23: k4, ssk, (k3, ssk) x6, k2.
Row 25 (cyan): k2tog (includes last stitch from previous round), (k2, k2tog) x8, k2.
Row 27: ssk, (k1, ssk) x8, k1.
Row 29: k2tog x8.
Finish by drawing the yarn through the loops once each direction and pulling tight. Knot and finish.

The yarn and needles don't matter. The above octopus uses about half a skein worth (total) of Caron Simply Soft in persimmon and sage on a set of #3 dpn, which are much smaller than recommended for this yarn. The legs each have a different design of these two colors. Once solid of each, and one each split in half alternating in opposite ways. One is a swirl (alternating every row), one alternates every 4 rows, one alternates every 16 rows. The last starts with 3 rows sage, then 4 rows persimmon, then 5 sage and so on increasing in number each time.