About 15 “ pole to pole, 12.5” around.
The key to a good emergency gift is to have a half-made, abandoned project lying around.

A few years ago I was trying to make a hat that was a squid for my nephew. I went in a different direction with the project, but I had a knit hat. I cut it down, stuffed it with a ball of yarn, and knit it closed.

I also had a bunch of icord made with the same yarn. I used that for the ‘hair’ and the lower tentacles, which help keep the toy from rolling over.

The eyes were some teddy bear eyes I had lying around.

The mouth tentacles were a fringe from a Nicky Epstein book. CO 9. BO 8, repeat.

The nose is a bobble. It’s not perfect, but I’ve made myself stop messing with it so I can ship it after I show my knitting group.

The key to pulling this off was very careful sewing of all pieces and fanatical, if not always successful, dedication to proportion.