Have you ever tried knitting a bag charm? Bag charms are the rage at the moment, from fluffy pompoms to emojis, to cute animals. Just like knit a critter, they are quick and easy to do.
A bag charm is really simple to knit and the raccoon below took me about 3 hours to make altogether. I have included the instructions for the Raccoon bag charm below. The pattern was designed by Louise Smith.
A bag charm makes a wonderful homemade gift and people love putting them on their bags.
Here are some examples of kits to make different bag charms that you can purchase online. Simply click on the picture that catches your eye to find out more about the item.
How To Knit A Raccoon Bag Charm
Knit this gorgeous Racoon Bag Charm up in less than half a day.
You Will Need:
Any DK yarn. This pattern is great for using up scraps.
I used:
Yarn A – Grey
Yarn B – White
Yarn C – Dark Grey
You will only need a few meters of each of these colors, with color A taking up the most yarn.
A pair of 3mm knitting needles
A 3mm crochet hook
A small amount of toy stuffing or batting.
A small amount of black embroidery cotton
Tapestry needle
Keychain
Tension:
The DK yarn used as 4 ply to this tension.
26 sts and 30 rows to measure 10x10cm (4x4in) over st st using 3mm needles.
Abbreviations:
You can see a full explanation of all the abbreviations in this pattern and others here.
For this pattern – K1B means to knit the next stitch using Yarn B and K2A means to knit the next stitch using Yarn A.
Front:
Cast on 4sts using 3mm needles and yarn A.
Row 1: Purl to end.
Row 2: K1, M1R, K2, M1L, K1, (6sts).
Note: Follow the directions for M1R and M1L very well on this abbreviations list, otherwise you will have holes in your knitting like I did while I was trying to work out how to do it.
Row 3: Purl to end.
Join in Yarn B.
Row 4: (K1B, M1R in Yarn B) twice, K2A, (M1L in Yarn B, K1B) twice (10 sts).
Row 5: P4B, P2A, P4B
Row 6: (K1B, M1R in Yarn B) 4 times, K2A, (M1LB, K1 in Yarn B) 4 times. (18 sts).
Row 7: P8B, P2A, P8B.
Row 8: (K1B, M1R in yarn B) twice, K6B, K2A, K6B, (M1LB, K1 in Yarn B) twice. (22 sts).
Row 9: P9B, P4A, P9B.
Break off Yarn A and B and join in Yarn C.
Row 10: K1, M1R, knit to last st, M1L, K1. (2 sts have been increased)
Row 11: Purl to end.
Row 12 – 15: Repeat rows 10 and 11 twice more.
Row 16: K1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. (26 sts).
Row 17: Purl to end.
Break off Yarn C and rejoin Yarn B.
Row 18: K1B, sskB, K8B, K4A, K8B, k2togB, K1B. (24 sts).
Row 19: P10B, P4A, P10B.
Row 20: K1B, sskB, K6B, K6A, K6B, k2togB, K1B, (22 sts).
Now continue with Yarn A only.
Row 21: Purl to end.
Row 22: K1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1, (2 stitches were decreased).
Repeat Rows 21 and 22 until there are 16 sts left on the needle.
Cast off.
Back:
Repeat the instructions above for the front, but use Yarn A only.
Ears:
Make 2 ears in Yarn A and 2 ears in Yarn B.
Cast on 3 sts using 3mm needles.
Row 1: Purl to end.
Row 2: K1, M1R, K1, M1L, K1, (5sts).
Row 3: Purl to end.
Row 4: Ssk, K1, k2tog. (3 sts).
Row 5: Purl to end.
Row 6: Sk2po. (1 st).
Fasten off.
Making Up The Raccoon Bag Charm
With right sides facing each other, sew one Yarn A ear to one Yarn B ear and repeat for the other ear.
Using your black embroidery yarn, embroider a small amount on the middle of each ear base on Yarn B side. See diagram above.
With right sides facing out, sew the front and back pieces together. Position the ears at the top of the raccoon’s head using the picture as a guideline. Sew them into place as you join the front and back. Before sewing the pieces closed, stuff lightly and then sew the seam closed.
Optional: Make a small tassel using the black embroidery cotton and secure around the keychain ring. You can also make a small pom pom out of leftover yarn no bigger than 1.5 inches in diameter. Attach pom pom to the keychain.
Swiss darn the eyes into place using Yarn B. Stitch along three rows of knitting at the bottom of the eye, then two rows of 5 columns of knitting, then again three rows of knitting at the top of the eye as I have done above. The idea is to make it look like the eyes were knitted onto the raccoon.
Embroider small closed eyes in an upside-down V shape into the centers of both the white patches.
Use a length of Yarn C to embroider a few single stitches at the end of the nose.
Secure the raccoon to the keychain just behind its left ear.
Have fun showing your raccoon bag charm off to all your friends.
Hi Michael, this is wonderful post with step by step instruction about knitting. My mother likes to knit cloths of wool and she also like to watch video instruction about that. I think this information in this article is very helpful for those who want to learn about knitting different products and selling them for profit. I like sweaters and jackets made of wool in the winter season.
I believe a video representation of knitting will be also helpful for new beginner who want to learn knitting for their future. Thanks for sharing this information with us.
Thanks for stopping by and if you go to How To Knit For Beginners, you can watch video’s on how to do basic knitting stitches. I am sure this will be a great aid.
Hi Michel – thanks for sharing this cute knitting pattern! Some of these bag charms cost a fortune, so its nice to know that you can make one yourself for a fraction of the price. It looks as though it can easily be adapted to make other animals. If you were to use orange and brown wool it would make a cute fox! All the best, Diane
Great idea Diane, I never thought of a fox.
I’m super excited I found your site because I have gotten back into knitting now that my children are grown and I have grandchildren. My time is now my own again, so old fun crafts are coming back to my life, and I’m enjoying it.
When I was into this the first time, there was no internet, so it was buying books, going to knitting clubs and my local yarn shop for lessons, etc. That’s all unnecessary now with sites like yours, and I just wanted to pop and tell you thanks.
These bag charms are absolutely adorable, and I’m going to make one for my granddaughter. She is going to love it. She loves anything she can place her little lip glosses in. Ha ha. She’s so adorable. Thanks!
It’s great to have time for your hobbies again. This pattern is more a bag charm, but if you leave the top open and the stuffing out of it, you could in fact use it to hold coins or lipsticks. Great idea thanks.
I remember when I was in the elementary grade the girls were taught to knit and we, the boys were taught to wave baskets. That’s a work that you can do anywhere at anytime and with any group to converse with.
A Racoon bag in three hours is not bad so you can have three bags in a day. That’s already a lot of money. Knitting today is a a good and lucrative business.
Abagatan this pattern isn’t for a whole bag which would take a lot longer to make. It is simply for the bag charm that goes onto the bag as decoration.