Description

The Knitted Body Project (#KnitBod) ran in 2016 and resulted in this pattern. It was commissioned by Dr Elizabeth Granger at the University of Central Lancashire and funded by The Physiological Society.

I was asked to produce a life-size teaching & learning aid to help staff and students from The Young Scientists Centre teach primary school children about healthy living and how organs work.

We wanted to include the community in the project, and set up a group which met once a week to knit and crochet the organs and chat to Liz and other students - It was a great way to bring people together. Scientists learnt to knit and crochet and the public learnt about biology!

About the pattern
This is a set of written instructions about how I designed and made up the body. The shapes are simple and generally made in 2 pieces, stuffed and stitched together. To make it accessible for beginners I have used simple shaping.

The body is cut from foam and covered in knit fabric (jersey), with knitted organs:

• brain hat with nerves
• squeaky squeezable heart
• inflatable lungs
• liver
• reversible, filtering kidneys
• bladder
• oesophagus, stomach and intestines to squeeze table tennis balls through.

The pattern is designed for groups and uses both knitting and crochet.

Please note it is designed as a learning aid, not as a toy.

Free for educational use only.