The Black-necked Swan
How to Knit a Black-Necked Swan
Complete Size – 21 cm width x 31 cm height
What you will need…
Total time – 6 hours 50 minutes Each Knitted Swan (as shown)
3.25mm knitting needles (UK 10, US 3)
Double knitting yarn – Colours according to the breed of swan
Black-necked swan – White, black, red, grey, pink
Sewing up needle
Scissors
Toy filling/stuffing
Craft Pipe cleaners (26cm total length minimum or 2 x 13cm lengths)
Before You Start…
Abbreviations
K = Knit P = Purl St = Stitch Sts = Stitches
St-st = stocking stitch. Alternating a row of knit stitches (right side), with a row of purl stitches (wrong side).
K2tog = Decrease by knitting two stitches together, making one stitch from two.
Inc = Increase – by knitting into the front and the back of the same stitch, to make two stitches out of one.
Sl2tog – Slip two stitches together from the left needle to the right
p2sso – pass two slipped stitches over (over the knitted stitch)
Cast On – I use the thumb method
Cast off – K wise or P wise according to pattern. US – bind off
B&T tightly – Using sewing up needle, thread yarn through all remaining stitches
TOP TIP
This pattern shows the black-necked swan breed, but you may vary the yarn colour to suit your own choice of swan.
MORE SWAN KNITTING PATTERNS COMING SOON!!
You may wish to consider darker-coloured breeds if your knitted swan is a gift for children.
How to Make it…
Made from one knitted body piece, one neck piece, one head and beak piece, two leg pieces and four small knitted pieces to make up the two feet. One extra knitted piece is needed to form the lump at the top of the beak (basal knob). All pieces are sewn together and stuffed, with added stitching for the eye features.
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Body Piece
Make 1
Time – 1 Hour 55 Minutes Each Piece
Piece Size 21 cm long x 25 cm wide (body circumference)
Needles 3.25 mm
Neck Piece
Make 1
Time – 50 Minutes Each Piece
Piece Size - 12 cm width (neck circumference) x 13 cm height
Needles 3.25 mm
Head Piece
Make 1
Time – 45 Minutes Each Piece
Piece Size - 15 cm width (head circumference) x 10 cm height
Head diameter 6cm made-up
Needles 3.25 mm
Basal Knob
Make 1
Time – 10 Minutes Each
Piece Size 3 cm width x 3 cm height
Needles 3.25 mm
Legs
Make 2
Time – 10 Minutes Each
These are knitted from side to side (across the leg) rather than top to bottom.
Piece Size 7 cm width x 3 cm height (1cm leg diameter when made up)
Needles 3.25 mm
Feet
Make 4
Time – 20 Minutes Each
Piece Size 6 cm x 6 cm
Needles 3.25 mm
Piece it Together…
Sewing-up time – 70 Minutes as shown
Sewing Up
Body Piece – With right side of stocking-stitch on the outside, begin at B&t end of the body. Work along sewing through row ends (mattress-stitch for a neater finish), leaving open at the cast-off edge. Stuff lightly as you work along with toy filling.
On completing the row ends, ensure the swan body is filled to a diameter of approximately 24cm (9.5 inches). Then, catch the edge of these row ends to the centre of the cast-on edge, and sew across these cast-on stitches to form the flattened tail-end of the swan. (See picture). Fasten off all loose ends.
Sewing Swan Tail
Completed Swan Body
Swan Neck – Working from one end of the neck to the other, oversew row ends to complete a tube, leaving both the cast-on and cast-off edges open. Ensure you switch the yarn to keep the colour consistent with the neck colour. Mattress stitch gives a more seamless finish, ideal for the neck where the seam would be visible from all angles. Do not stuff at this point.
Sewing Swan Neck
Folded Pipe-cleaner for a Bendy Neck
For a Bendy Neck – This part is not recommended if giving your swan to a young child due to sharp points. Start with a length of pipe-cleaner roughly double the length of your knitted swan neck (approximately 26 cm). Fold it over in half, twist along this new length. Then, flip up the two separate ends, back on themselves, to ‘soften’ the wire ends, so that they don’t poke through your final piece. Leave these short ends of the pipe-cleaner lying slightly off the main length of pipe-cleaner to allow them to work like a bit of a ‘hook’ and reduce the chance of it moving around inside the neck. Place this pipe-cleaner centrally inside the knitted swan neck and stuff lightly around it, covering all ends.
Swan Neck
Pinning Swan Neck
Sewing Neck to the Body – Pin the open end of the lower part of the neck to the top of the curved front end of the swan body as in the picture. Sew into place and fasten off loose ends. Leave this body/neck part aside while the head is being completed.
Sewing up the Swan Head – Begin at the tip of the beak, and pull together the row ends to the centre of the cast-on row. Sew across this cast-on row to keep it flattened. Proceed using mattress stitch to then sew through row ends along the beak. Ensure you keep the sewing yarn colour consistent with the colour changes of the beak.
Once the beak is sewn, next, move to the rear of the head. Pulling up at the B&t end and continuing to use mattress stitch, sew across the remaining row ends, pausing before you reach the beak to leave a small gap in the seam. Use this gap to stuff firmly, but avoid too much stuffing into the beak to allow this part to stay thinner and flatter. Now close the gap in the seam and fasten off loose ends.
Pin the cast-off edge of the open swan neck to the back/underside of the completed swan head. Once happy with positioning, sew into place. Fasten off any remaining loose ends.
Sewing Basal Knob – Pin the basal knob piece centrally above the beak, aligning cast-on and cast-off edges with the colour changes of the beak. (See picture.) Sew three sides into place, then stuff very lightly before sewing the final edge. Fasten off loose ends.
Sewing Swan Leg – Second Line
Sewing Swan Leg – Second Line
Swan Eye Features – The Black Necked swan has white patterning for eye features, which measures between 3.5 and 4cm on this knitted swan. Preferably use photos for guidance, and use two lengths of white yarn together to form a thicker yarn to stitch on these eyes/facial markings.
Use pins to mark the end of where the facial features come back to, ensuring they sit symmetrically on either side of the swan head. Begin at this pin furthest from the beak.
Sew one stitch vertically, and continue to do this repeatedly along a horizontal line, towards the beak. When four knitted stitches away from the red beak colour, continue this stitching but split into two with a clear knitted-stitch free between the white eye-stitching to form the eye space. Remove any pins if used.
Sewing Eye Features
Sewing Eye Features
Sewing Swan Leg Pieces – Lay out the leg piece horizontally and fold over cast-off edge towards the purl (wrong) side of stocking-stitch. Roughly sew or tack this edge to the centre of the leg piece, catching it all the way down the middle of the leg. (You could pin it first if you would find this easier.) Then roll the cast on edge over this (effectively like a long Swiss roll) and sew this neatly down the full length of the leg (as seen in pictures). Remove any pins if used.
Sewing Swan Feet – Place two foot pieces back to back, with purl (wrong) side of stocking-stitch together. Oversew cast-off edges together, and then along each side of row ends, and the cast-on edge. Fasten off loose ends and remove any pins if used.
Swan Completion – Sew one end of the first completed leg piece to the top of the completed foot, and then sew the other end to the underside of the completed swan body. This position should only be a few knitted stitches away from the seam. Complete your swan by attaching the second leg to the other foot piece, and sew the top of this leg piece to the underside of the swan body equidistant from the seam as the other leg. Fasten off all remaining loose ends, ensure all pins are removed if used, and your swan is now complete! See Make it Different below for some knitting ideas to complement your knitted swan, or build a swan collection or family.
Make it Different…
I chose to make four different types of swan, as these are the ones that bring me happy memories of trips to South America and Iceland, and ones that I have the pleasure of seeing in my rural hometown of Melton Mowbray, England.
Have a look at the following section for different swan types that you may wish to knit, including cygnets to make a whole swan family. Colours required for your knitted swan will depend on your breed of choice, and this knitting pattern is specifically for the Black Necked Swan. Although this pattern may be amended to make these other types of swan, there are some slight pattern differences, and so it may be easier to follow those specific swan knitting patterns rather than amending this one.
I have tried to make this knitting pattern as close as possible to the real thing. It may look a little odd - but they actually do in real life! Children may not be fussed if it is not anatomically correct, and it also makes things quicker if you choose to make your knitted swan a little simpler. Some of the parts may look particularly odd, such as the basal knob, so you could choose not to add this part if you prefer.
Build up a wildlife collection! Take a look at the fittinginknitting website for some more inspiration. As well as more swans, there are some sealife knitting patterns such as knitted dolphins and knitted turtles, and several knitted flowers to build up any knitting displays and co-ordinate with your home decor.
And keep an eye on what’s coming next by following me on any of your favourite social media platforms - just look for fittinginknitting!
Swan Species…
Mute Swan
White - Body, neck, head
Black - Facial triangles, basal knob, tip of beak
Orange - Most of beak
Grey - Feet and legs
Black Swan
Black - Body, neck, head, feet and legs
Red - Beak, facial triangles (no basal knob)
White - Tip of beak
Whooper Swan
White - Body, neck, head
Black - Half of beak, feet and legs
Yellow - Half of beak, facial triangles (no basal knob)
Black Necked Swan
White - Body, lower neck, facial stitching
Black - Main neck and head
Red - Front of head, basal knob (no facial triangles)
Grey - Beak
Pink - Feet and legs
Coscoroba Swan
White - Body, neck, head
Red - Beak (no basal knob or facial triangles)
Dark Pink - Feet and legs
Trumpeter Swan
White - Body, neck, head
Black - Beak, facial triangles (no basal knob), feet and legs
Tundra Swan
These have two subspecies, the Bewick’s Swan and the Whistling Swan. These are both similar to the Whooper Swan above.
Cygnets!
Beautiful swan babies or ‘Ugly Ducklings’! These are not specifically covered in this knitting pattern, but are generally grey or light brown in colour. If you would like to make cyngnets smaller than the adult size, I would suggest reducing the number of rows for the neck and central body.
Duck, Duck… Goose?!
These are a fairly similar shape to the swan. Got a picture you can work from? Amend the pattern colours and you can wing it and make a goose too!
Behind the Scenes!
These patterns are all made up as I go along, learning from mistakes along the way. Every time I create a new pattern, I record it in the Updates part of this site (effectively my blog…) There is a story behind each creation, and this can help give you some more ideas and encouragement. See the Update info….
All done?
Feel free to share your successes or any other tips or suggestions by contacting me. If it’s all gone swimmingly and you’re ready for your next challenge, have a look at what to try next! My next pattern!
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