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 giant anteater is a weird looking animal, closely related to the sloth. With their enormous tongues these anteaters can suck up and devour 30.000 ants every day.
The mother anteater is a veritable Uber: she will lug her young around on her back until they’re weaned.
But although it looks cuddly, the giant anteater isn’t a very huggable animal. It has very impressive knife-like claws on all fours! Contrary to its wild look-alike, the knitted anteater is very sociable and cordial. It won’t try to skewer you and will eat far less than 30.000 ants per day!

This model measures 33 cm from nose to tails’ end. The project is a medium to advanced knit, requiring knitting in the round and flat, transferring and picking up stitches, intarsia color work and loop stitches (explained in the pattern). If you follow the directions in the pattern step-by-step, it should come out nicely!

The tiny anteater is included in the pattern!

The giant anteater was made with Lana Grossa Ragazza Voi (07) white, knit together with a strand of white Silkhair to create the fluffy texture and the mane. The tail, backside of the body and back legs were knitted in Lana Grossa Cool Wool Baby (224) mocha combined with Scheepjes Mohair Rhythm (685) hiphop. Pipe cleaners were used to make the limbs and tail pliable and firm.