The lion is sometimes called ‘king of the jungle’, bu they most often inhabit the savannahs, open spaces and grasslands of Africa. Lions form strong family bonds and groups of lions, called ‘prides’, can contain many brothers and sisters from the same family. Lionesses will even give milk to cubs of other mothers. To strengthen family ties, lions spend a lot of time grooming and playing with each other.

These round-faced lions don’t look like they’d be up to much zebra hunting. Their soft paws and cuddly bodies suit them more to lazing in the shade of a tree, keeping out of the hot African sun.

The patterns for the lion, lioness and lion cub are from the book Kath Dalmeny’s World of Knitted Toys, and the full list of over 50 projects is shown below.

Materials
For a lioness of approximately 23 cm (9 inches) in length, nose to tail, the pattern requires:

• 80 g DK in sandy brown
• 50 g DK in white
• scraps of DK in dark brown, with 10g DK dark brown extra for the lion’s mane

The pattern also suggests using 10mm (3/8 inch) toy safety eyes, but felt eyes or black stitches would also be appropriate.

KATH DALMENY’S WORLD OF KNITTED TOYS patterns list

The book contains over 50 patterns for making adorable knitted toys – people and animals from all over the world. Each chapter covers a different habitat, the animals that make their homes there, and one of the people who live there, with accessories to represent their lives or work. The knitting patterns are listed under three categories – Easy; Straightforward; and Challenging, to help knitters choose the project that is right for you. The projects are as follows:

BASIC PERSON PATTERN
(which is then adapted for the people patterns below)

IN THE JUNGLE

• South American Indian
• Spider monkey – mother and baby
• Snake
• Tiger cub
• Gorilla
• Orang utan
• Parrot
• Banana

AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK

• Australian sheep farmer (complete with corks hanging from his hat!)
• Merino sheep
• Koala bear
• Duck-billed platypus
• Wombat
• Kangaroo and Joey

DOWN ON THE FARM

• Farmer
• Highland bull
• Pigs and piglets
• Cat
• Mallard duck
• Chicken, cockerel and chicks

THE DEEP BLUE SEA

• Pearl fisherman
• Dolphin
• Shark
• Killer whale
• Turtle
• Octopus
• Clownfish

FOREST FRIENDS

• Canadian Mountie
• Horse
• Grizzly bear
• Beaver
• Raccoon
• Chipmunk
• Moose

ON SAFARI

• African Park Ranger
• Zebra
• Lion family – lion, lioness and lion cub
• Rhinoceros
• Elephant
• Warthog

THE SNOWY REGIONS

• Eskimo
• Husky dog
• Fish
• Penguins – Emperor penguins and Adelie penguins – parents and chicks
• Seal
• Walrus
• Polar bear

PATTERN VARIATIONS

• Sea lion
• Panda bear