Since I have a real liking for nature’s most peculiar, weird, mysterious or misunderstood underdogs I decided to design some of them for anyone who wants to get to know these natural weirdo’s a little better!

The pangolin is the only mammal that is covered in hard keratin scales and it is sadly the most heavily trafficked animal in the world, poached mostly for these scales. Pangolins preferably eat ants and termites; they can consume up to 20,000 ants a day. That’s about 7.3 million ants a year, quite the ant-i-cide!
Luckily they can close off their nostrils and ears, so, while rooting around in termite hills, bugs can’t crawl up their noses and ears.
And although the real pangolin is a mainly solitary, sturdy animal, your knitted version needs to be none of those. So, maybe try to knit a wooly pair of these ground pangolins?

This 21 cm pangolin is an easy knit and despite it being a extensive project - knitting all those scales will keep you busy through a few dark autumn days - it is well worth the effort.
It was knitted on 2.25 mm double pointed needles (UK 13, US 1) in Rowan Felted Tweed (157) camel and (160) gilt and Scheepjes Olifantje (009) dark brown. It requires some knitting of stripes and picking up stitches, all precisely explained in the pattern. Enjoy!