Procyon the raccoon would love to be your friend. He has a lovely bowtie and a handy little red wagon that he loves to ride when it’s not full of strawberries, apples and bananas. The body and head of Procyon the raccoon are knit separately with the arms, legs, ears and tail sewn on afterwards. I provide row-by-row instructions and pictures and tips throughout the pattern. Instructions for the raccoon, the bowtie, the wagon, the strawberry, the apple and the banana are included.

Finished Dimensions: Sitting: 20 cm or 8 inches; Standing: 27 cm or 10 inches.

Materials required:

• Yarn: 1 ball (50g) * of grey, black, white, red, blue, yellow, green, pink, and brown.

• Thin yarn or thread for eyes and nose: black, brown, white and blue.

• Sewing needle made for yarn.

• Size 4 mm knitting needles.

• Size 4 mm double pointed needles (2): if you have some great, if not, don’t worry I’ll explain what you can do instead.

• Poly-fill stuffing.

• I ask for 50g of yarn of each colour but all the pieces in this work were created using left over yarn from other projects and it took less than a third of a ball of any colour to complete each piece. It’s always nice to use something you already have lying around! Feel free to change the colours you use.

Gauge: 20 stitches and 28 rows = 4 x 4 square using stockinette stitch and 4 mm knitting needles. This gauge is an approximation. I used a medium (worsted) weight yarn. Since this is meant to be a toy, I wouldn’t worry too much if your gauge is off by a few stitches – it may simply make your raccoon a bit smaller or larger depending on the yarn and needles you use.

Techniques Used:

• Stockinette stitch: knit the right side, purl the backside.
• Garter stitch: knit all rows.
• Increase 1 stitch by knitting once in the front of the stitch and once in the back of the stitch.
• Decrease 1 stitch by knitting two stitches together.
• Making an I-cord. I explain how to do this.