Last December, I was inspired by Bethany’s crochet soft packer Lil’ Bug Soft Packer and the Parts For People Volunteer Group, who make and donate soft packers and breast prosthetics for non-binary, transmasculine & transfeminine people, to come up with a pattern for a knitted soft packer.

A soft packer is a prosthetic made to look like a non-erect penis and is used to create a bulge in a person’s pants. Usually, most packers sold on the market are made out of silicone, which may not be an option for some, as it can sometimes be irritating, hot, sticky, heavy, expensive, etc. With this pattern, you can make your own packer and you can adjust the size, and the amount of stuffing to suit your needs. Overall, the materials can be found for more or less 15$, which makes it a great inexpensive alternative.

It is knit top-down (starts at the tip and finishes with testicles), no seaming, with an opening flap to allow stuffing and de-stuffing for washing the packer when needed. The opening is created with the afterthought method. The skills required to make this pattern includes: knits & purl, cast-on & bind-off, increasing & decreasing, working small circumferences in the round on circular needles with magic loop, knitting flat, short rows, putting stitches on a lifeline, picking up stitches.

Materials Needed
Yarn used is Aunt Lydia’s crochet thread size 10, 100% mercerized cotton. You can use any size 10 cotton thread or smooth lace weight yarn that gives you the same gauge. I choose to use cotton fibers based on these recommendations;
• it is strong (mercerized cotton is stronger than regular cotton), so it will last longer.
• It has less risks of allergies, which makes it a great choice for sensitive skin, and it is ideal if you are making it for someone that you don’t know.
• It takes dye really well.
• Size 10 cotton thread is easy to find in most craft stores and is less expensive than most fibers.

You will need around 137 to 183 meters of yarn (150 to 200 yards); plus a length of smooth scrap yarn in a contrasting color to insert lifelines.

Needles Circular needles size US 0 / 2 mm with a 50 cm (20”) cable or longer (as long as it’s long enough to do a magic loop).

Filling can be polyester fibers or plastic pellets or flaxseeds. See recommendations at the end.

Dye, if you want to dye your packer to make it more realistic-looking.

Dimensions of the packer pictured: Length from the tip to the base is 9,5 cm (3,75”) and girth is 10 cm (4”).

Gauge is:
40 stitches and 60 rows make 10 cm by 10 cm in stockinette stitch worked in the round.

Updated (March 7, 2020): This new version (V2) has now instructions on how to add a foreskin !

The pattern has a light version (with 3 pictures, 8 pages); and another version with pictures at every step to guide you more easily through the pattern.

I am planning to write a tutorial on how to dye your packer to get realistic skin tones just as I did for the packer in the pictures.

Tips:
• You can put the stuffing in a nylon sock before filling the packer in order to prevent the material from poking through the knitted fabric. You can fill your packer with fiber stuffing, plastic pellets, rice or flaxseeds. Feel free to experiment!
• When knitting in the round with cotton, expect laddering! Cotton is not stretchy like wool. A way I’ve found to counteract laddering is to put the packer, once finished, 10-15 minutes in the drier. It will make the cotton stiffer and shrink a little bit, just enough to reduce the ladder, but be careful not to shrink it too much!

Wash and care: Hand wash with delicate soap. Roll up in a towel to absorb excess water, shape and then lay flat to dry.
©Marianne Fournier, 2020

- In regards to selling finished objects -

Some of you have written to me to ask if it was okay to sell packers using this pattern. I have no objection to it and I even encourage you to do it ! My wish for this pattern is to make breathable fabric packers more accessible to people in need.
I’d love it if this pattern can create opportunities for non-knitters to uplift and pay other trans people who knit.

I would only appreciate that if a you are cis person that wants to knit packers for trans people, that you donate them in an act of charity rather than making money off trans issues.
But, those are suggestions and I do keep in mind that not only trans people need and use packers, as it was pointed to me in the comment.

I trust you to use good judgement on those questions and on deciding the pricing as well.

I am sincerely touched by the positive and enthusiastic reception my pattern is getting and I thank you all for your kind comments,
love,
Marianne (they/them)