A sleepy little friend to cuddle at bedtime.

A fuzzy and/or tweedy yarn for your main colour will make it look more like a real sloth. The intarsia face markings add a lot of charm to the finished toy, but you can also work them as duplicate stitch, or knit the head all in the MC for a different type of sloth. The claws can be worked as I-cord, or embroidered. The poncho is simple to knit and construct, with some rows of slipped stitches to add texture to the stripes. While sport weight yarn is suggested, you can substitute another weight yarn, as long as you knit the pieces to the correct dimensions.

The pattern is advanced beginner to intermediate level. Skills required include stockinette stitch, left and right decreases, m1 increase, intarsia, slipped stitches, picking up stitches, I-cord, and mattress stitch. All pieces are knit flat, then seamed, stuffed, and assembled.

Sloth Materials
50 g of worsted weight yarn in light brown or grey (MC), 10 g of worsted weight yarn in white (CC), 5 g of worsted weight yarn in black (B), pair of 4 mm (US size 6) knitting needles, two 4 mm (US size 6) double-pointed needles (dpns, optional), stuffing, pair of 10 mm safety eyes or buttons, tapestry needle

Striped Poncho Materials
13 g of sport weight yarn in colour A, 13 g of sport weight yarn in colour B, pair of 3.5 mm (US size 5) knitting needles, safety pin or stitch marker, tapestry needle, button and hand-sewing thread and needle (optional), small crochet hook (optional)