Famous for their circus performances, sea lions are agile and intelligent. They are able to follow even quite complicated instructions from the circus ringmaster. But these skills weren’t developed merely to entertain human beings. In the wild, sea lions need their agility and skill in underwater acrobatics to catch up with the fast-moving fish that are their food.

The pattern for the sea lion and walrus are from the book Kath Dalmeny’s World of Knitted Toys, and the full list of over 50 projects is shown below. Simply by using brown yarn for the main pieces, and adding knitted tusks, this sea lion pattern can be adapted to make a walrus.

Materials
The sea lion pattern requires 60 g DK black yarn; and a scrap of DK in grey for the nose and mouth.

The pattern also suggests using 14mm (1/2 inch) toy safety eyes, but felt eyes or coloured stitches (in grey or another contrasting colour to show up against the black) 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