Bertie was knit with natural dyed yarn from Colorstorms:

https://www.colorstorms.com

Bertie is knit in the round from the bottom up. The arms are knit first and then set aside to be attached later. Next each leg is knit and then joined together to work the body. The arms are then joined before knitting the shoulders, neck and head. The stitches for the muzzle are provisionally worked with waste yarn which is later removed. The live stitches are then picked up and worked in the round to form the muzzle. The ears are knit separately and sewn on and the ossicones (horns) and tail are worked as i-cords by picking up stitches on the okapi’s head and back. The sample okapi has embroidered eyes, but tips are included for using safety eyes.

Materials

Yarn
For Bertie - Woolpaca by Colorstorms, 218 yards/218 m. Sample used about 40 yds/37 m in Walnut, 15 yds/ 14 m in Natural, and 4 yds/4 m in grey for hooves.
1 yd/1 m of brown sport or fingering weight yarn for ossicones (horns)
For Bertie’s sweater - Gradient set from Colorstorms, fingering weight, 105 yds/96 m. Sample sweater used about 45 yds/41 m in yellow and 5 yds/5 m in purple.

Needles
US size 2/2.75 mm or size needed to obtain gauge below. You’ll need two sets of double pointed needles for Bertie (one set for knitting and one for holding stitches) plus a 24” circular needle in the same size for the sweater.

Gauge

Okapi Gauge - 7 sts by 9 rows over 1” lightly stuffed. Make sure your fabric is tight enough so the stuffing doesn’t show through when stuffed at this gauge. I recommend at least two to three sizes smaller than the recommended needle size for your yarn.

Sweater Gauge - 7 sts by 10 rows over 1”/2.5 cm lightly blocked.

Miscellaneous- 4 locking stitch markers; darning needle for weaving in ends; about 1/4 oz/7 g of wool stuffing (or stuffing of your choice); a scrap of fingering weight yarn or embroidery floss in black for the eyes; two 6”/15 cm scraps of fingering weight yarn to hold stitches for the muzzle and pockets.