Knitted Scrake Plush Project: Version 1

V1 Overview

For Version 1 (V1), I used a pattern for the general doll body, because I had never knitted anything like this before. Most of my knitting experience before this was scarves, hats, and sweaters. I had knitted some bunnies before, but also from following and altering a pattern. I knew I'd have to make up a lot of this one as I went along, because for some reason there were no doll patterns where the doll had a chainsaw for an arm and looked like a crazy butcher/doctor/lumberjack. ;)

The pattern I used for the V1 general body was Lottie Doll Basic Body by Deena Thomson-Menard, found on Ravelry.com.

Some of the alterations to the doll pattern that I made were adding ears (around which to hook the medical mask), adding gloves to the arms, and adding a chainsaw to one arm. I also ended up making some changes to the legs and feet in the pattern because I didn't think they looked quite right on the Scrake. I used the pattern Training Sock - Toe Up, Magic Loop/2 Circulars by Kate Atherley for guidance to create the feet in a sock shape, then knitted the legs up from there (more detail below).

I used another pattern for the clothes, again with heavy alterations. It's a pattern intended for American Girl doll clothing (lololol), but it's the closest thing I could find to the Scrake's scrubs-like outfit. It was: 18" Doll Summer Fun Ensemble by Caroline Hegwer. However, I ended up using techniques I had learned from the sock pattern (Training Sock - Toe Up, Magic Loop/2 Circulars by Kate Atherley) on both the pants and the shirt, too, because I shaped the Scrake to be sitting, and in order to maintain his balance, I needed to knit the clothes for his bum in the same way as the heel of a sock.

More detail on the alterations and techniques I used to knit the Scrake and his clothes are in each section below.

Head & Body

I barely deviated from Lottie Doll Basic Body by Deena Thomson-Menard for the body, so please refer to the pattern PDF for details of how this section was constructed. The only alterations made were to the arms, which are detailed below. The additions specific to the Scrake (eye sockets, ears, medical mask) are listed in detail.

Head & Eyes

I didn't take as many photos as I should have toward the beginning, so I don't have many progress shots from creating the different parts of the doll body. I started with the head. The head is knitted from the chin up, according to the pattern. I used black buttons for the eyes and embroidered red yarn around them to emulate the effect of the Scrake's pitted/red eye sockets in the game.

Medical Mask

I made the medical mask and added ears to the head to make it easier to attach the mask to the face. The ears are a couple rows of single crochet. I just winged that and didn't take notes... oops. But here's how I did the medical mask:

cast on 15 stitches
knit
purl
purl
purl
knit
purl
purl
purl
knit
purl
purl
purl
knit
bind off and weave in ends

Note: I always slip the first stitch of every row when I'm knitting flat (not in the round) to allow for a nice even edge of each piece.

I used the purl side facing outwards so that the indentations emulated pleats in a medical mask. I sewed the sides to the face and pulled the yarn tails behind the ears and sewed them in as well. I left the top and bottom loose so it wouldn't look too attached/static.

D'aaaw look at the cute lil' Scrakies. <3

Here's the neck stabilizer and the arms attached to the torso.

Torso

I didn't alter anything from the pattern for the torso. It's knitted separately and then attached to the head with a neck stabilizer. The neck is stabilized with a set of crocheted rows. The arms are knitted separately and then attached around the neck area as well. The torso and arms are knitted from the top- down, which means that for the second arm, I stopped halfway through so that I could attach the chainsaw later.

Arms

I altered the arms a little so I could add the Scrake's gloves:

Knit the first 35 rows normally.
Switch to glove color and go one needle size up. Purl 5-6 rows.
Bind off.
Flip the purled portion of the arm up the arm to form the top of the glove.
See below for how to proceed per arm

Scrake's Right Arm (chainsaw)

Crochet 1 row of the chainsaw yarn onto the end of the arm.
Stop here-- sew the chainsaw on to this crocheted row later.

Scrake's Left Arm (no chainsaw)

Pick up 15 stitches from the bottom/edge of the arm in the glove color and in the sized-up needle.
Knit the rest of the arm/hand according to the pattern, except stay with the glove color the entire time.

When I first started, I thought I would embroider red yarn throughout the Scrake's clothes to emulate the blood on his clothes in the game. But the Scrake texture is too complex to really do that successfully, so I tossed out that idea later.

Chainsaw

I crocheted the chainsaw pieces of the chainsaw together for an obvious and stiff seam. The blade has knit stitches on the outer edge to emulate the chainsaw's chain edging, while the flat portion are purl stitches.

The chainsaw, like the face-mask, is in garter stitch. This prevents rolling and makes good, tight stitches to prevent stuffing from coming out in between.

The blade is attached to the far left of the front of the chainsaw, just like the in-game Scrake's chainsaw.

I tried to get really detailed and put the logo on the side of the chainsaw, but it looked terrible! So I cut that plan.

Cube/Box:

The general chainsaw pattern is below, all in garter stitch to prevent rolling. Note: I always slip the first stitch of every row when I'm knitting flat (not in the round) to allow for a nice even edge of each piece.

For Top & Bottom: cast on 12, knit 16 rows

Side A (x2) : cast on 12, 21 rows

Side B (x2) : cast on 8, 21 rows

To attach all the sides, crochet them together for an obvious seam. This makes it easier to retain a cube shape after stuffing. I tried to make sure I was consistent with the direction of the V- facing crochet stitches, too, which also helped keep a consistent shape.

Blade:

Cast on 16

Join in the round and knit 1 row

For the rest of the rows: knit 7, purl 1, knit 7, purl 1 --> Do 20 rows this way

Row 21: K2tog all the way around

Row 22: Knit

Pull thru all stitches and turn inside out. While inside out, the knit rows (the ones you purled) will have a nice outer edging that looks like a chainsaw's chain blade thing. The purl rows (that you knitted won't curl because you turned it inside out.

I also put a little bit of cardboard inside just the blade because I didn't want to stuff it.

Attach the Blade and Chainsaw Box

Crochet one row of green (chainsaw yarn) on the bottom of the chainsaw blade, and then sew this to the left-most side of the "bottom" of the chainsaw. Sew it tight so the chainsaw doesn't wobble around too much.

As stated a few times earlier, I always slip the first stitch of every row when I'm knitting flat (not in the round) to allow for a nice even edge of each piece. That also makes it easier to sew them together later, because there's not a bunch of extra yarn on the edging.

I used a small piece of cardboard inside the blade to help it hold its shape.

Finished chainsaw arms.

Finished chainsaw arms with an extra blade and the yarn used for the chainsaw.

This picture has one of the earlier (unsuccessful) chainsaw attempts on the Scrake's right arm. I ended up taking that out because it was too big.

Another shot of the unsuccessful earlier chainsaw attempt.

Feet & Legs

I had some trouble with the legs and feet because I wasn't sure how to execute feet-looking feet. After a while it struck me to follow a baby sock pattern to learn sock techniques, then apply that to my Scrake's little feet. Although the original doll pattern had the legs top-down, I did mine toe-up so I could basically make them huge long socks. As stated before, I used Training Sock - Toe Up, Magic Loop/2 Circulars by Kate Atherley for guidance on the feet. Then for the legs, I tried to keep them the same length as the doll pattern's (about 55 rows). The pattern I ended up following is below.

On the left in this image is the standard leg & foot from the stylized doll pattern used for the head and torso (Lottie Doll Basic Body by Deena Thomson-Menard). Even though my Scrake is stylized, too, I wanted the feet to look more like the Scrake's in-game.

Comparison of the original pattern's design and my altered/made-up design for the legs.

Foot in-progress. I used lots of row markers and stitch markers to help track my progress and count rows. I also stuffed the first fit as I went to get an idea of the size.

Feet in-progress! After keeping track of my process for foot #1, I was able to replicate it three times.

Foot/Leg Pattern

Make 2:

In Sock color:

Using Judy’s Magic Cast On, cast on 12 stitches, 6 on each of two needles.

knit all (12 st)
increase:
1. first half: k1, m1, k to 1 st before center of round (end of needle 1), m1, k1;
2. on second half: k1, m1, k to 1 st before end of round (end of needle 2), m1, k1 (16 st)
knit (16 st)
4 increase (repeat round 2) (20 st)
knit (20 st)
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
increase (22 st): M1R, place 1st heel marker, k 10, place 2nd heel marker on that needle, M1L; k to end of round.
knit all
increase (24 st): M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round.
knit all
increase (26 st): M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round.
knit all
increase (28 st): M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round.
knit all
Row 1 (RS): Knit to 1 st before second heel marker, wrap and turn.
Row 2 (WS): Purl to 1 st before first marker, wrap and turn.
Row 3 (RS): Knit to 2 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 4 (WS): Purl to 2? sts before marker, w&t.
Row 5 (RS): Knit to 3 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 6 (WS): Purl to 3 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 7 (RS): Knit to 4 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 8 (WS): Purl to 4 sts before marker, w&t.
2 sts rem unwrapped in the center.
Row 1 (RS): K2, knit the next 3 sts together with their wraps (1 wrapped st remains), work an ssk on the final stitch together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, p5, purl the next 3 sts together with their wraps (1 wrapped st remains), and work a p2tog on the final st together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 3 (RS): Sl 1, k8 (to 1 st before gap), SSK. Turn.
Row 4 (WS): Sl 1, p8 (to 1 st before gap), p2tog. Turn.
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until all gusset stitches have been decreased, and you're back to 20 stitches total.
Resume working int he round: knit 6 rows.
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
knit all
change to flesh color; knit 55 rows
Weave in ends.

Adding the flesh color above the sock's garter stitch cuff.

A finished foot and leg along with one in-progress a ways up the leg. Stuffing ready to go in as soon as the leg is done!

A finished foot and leg, stuffed and ready for attachment.

The first two legs complete, two more to go...

Not sewn and attached yet, but comparing the sizes of the legs and the torso let me know that the length I'd gone for on the first two legs was a good one.

Almost... there...!

Four legs! Two for each Scrake. In case you missed it-- I made two Scrakes simultaneously because I wanted to send one to the Killing Floor devs, Tripwire Interactive-- and keep one for myself!

Clothes

The closest doll clothing pattern I could find to the shape of the Scrake's scrubs from KF1 was 18" Doll Summer Fun Ensemble by Caroline Hegwer. Obviously I left out the frills, but I also altered the design quite a bit as well. In order to get the Scrake to sit properly without falling over, the bum of his pants needed to curve around his seat the same way that the heel of a sock curves around a foot's heel. So it was lucky I did the feet and legs first, and learned the gusset and heel turn techniques from the pattern Training Sock - Toe Up, Magic Loop/2 Circulars by Kate Atherley. I was able to creatively implement them into my knitting of the pants (and a little into the shirt, too). It's worth noting that both the pants and shirt are knit from the bottom-up.

First Attempt: Pants

Like I said, every piece of the Scrake plush's development took a long time to design and execute. Here's an example of how I tried following a pattern first, making only light alterations, only to realize I needed to design something myself to make the piece work the way I wanted.

This was the first pair of pants I made, pretty much just following the pattern with gauge and size alterations for my Scrake, and an added ribbed cuff. But once I put them on the Scrake, I realized that the straight-leg approach made the Scrake simply fall backwards when I tried to have him sitting. I thought about how to make the pants work better for how I wanted the Scrake to be sitting all the time, and I realized the sock's gusset heel technique from my feet/leg knitting could work for the Scrake's bum!

The cuff on the first attempt at pants.

Two pant legs, ready to be joined. The markers are there because they help me count and keep track of how many rows I've knit (60 each here).

One completed pair of pants and the second pair ready to be joined.

The left pant has the original stockinette border, but the pant on the right has one row of single-stitch crochet to prevent stockinette stitch rolling.

The two pants, in the first row of joined knitting-in-the-round.

Pants Pattern

Pant legs: Make 2.

Cast on 28 onto size 7 needles
knit 60 rows

Joining for the top

Knit across the first 14 stitches of one pant, then join by knitting across the first 14 stitches of the second pant. Continue by knitting across the next 14 stitches of the second pant, then the final 14 stitches of the first pant. Now the pants should be joined in the round for a full 56 stitches.
knit 3 rows

Gusset for Pant Seat

Increases: Split stitches evenly between two dpns or circulars (28 on each side).

Increase 1: M1R, place 1st heel marker, k 28, place 2nd heel marker, M1L; k to end of round. (58 st)
knit all
Increase 2: M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round. (60 st)
knit all
Increase 3: M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round. (62 st)
knit all
Increase 4: M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round. (64)
knit all

The following is knit only on the side with the increases and the heel markers (the back).

Row 1 (RS): Knit to 1 st before second heel marker, wrap and turn.
Row 2 (WS): Purl to 1 st before first marker, wrap and turn.
Row 3 (RS): Knit to 2 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 4 (WS): Purl to 2 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 5 (RS): Knit to 3 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 6 (WS): Purl to 3 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 7 (RS): Knit to 4 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 8 (WS): Purl to 4 sts before marker, w&t.

Decreases:

Row 1 (RS): Knit until 4 stitches before marker, knit the next 3 stitches together with their wraps (1 wrapped st remains), work an ssk on the final stitch together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, purl until 4 stitches before marker, purl the next 3 stitches together with their wraps (1 wrapped st remains), and work a p2tog on the final st together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 3 (RS): Sl 1, k until 1 st before gap, SSK. Turn.
Row 4 (WS): Sl 1, purl until 1 to st before gap, p2tog. Turn.
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until all gusset stitches have been decreased, and you're back to 56 stitches total.

Joining Seat & Rise and knitting the Top Cuff

Resume working in the round.
knit all stitches for 2 rows.

Start Ribbing: switch to size 6 needles.

k2p2 all for 4 rows
bind off loosely

Finishing

At the bottom of each pant leg, single crochet a single row to prevent rolling and add a nice cuff. Weave in all ends.

The technique for the gusset for the heel transferred well to the seat of the pants, modeled here by Scrake #1.

Shirt Pattern

Lower Shirt Cuff

Cast on 68 stitches onto size 6 needles.
knit 5 rows with k2p2 ribbing

Lower Shirt Body

Switch to size 7 needles
knit all for ~24 rows

Gusset for Seat

Increases: Split stitches evenly between two dpns or circulars (34 on each side).

Increase 1: M1R, place 1st heel marker, k to end of first needle, place 2nd heel marker on that needle, M1L; k to end of round.
knit all
Increase 2: M1R, k to center of round (after previous made stitch), M1L. K to end of round.
knit all

The following is knit only on the side with the increases and the heel markers (the back).

Row 1 (RS): Knit to 1 st before second heel marker, wrap and turn.
Row 2 (WS): Purl to 1 st before first marker, wrap and turn.
Row 3 (RS): Knit to 2 sts before marker, w&t.
Row 4 (WS): Purl to 2 sts before marker, w&t.

Decreases:

Row 1 (RS): Knit until 2 stitches before marker, knit the next stitch together with its wrap (1 wrapped st remains), work an ssk on the final stitch together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, purl until 2 stitches before marker, purl the next st together with its wrap (1 wrapped st remains), and work a p2tog on the final st together with its wrap AND the first of the gusset stitches. Turn.
Row 3 (RS): Sl 1, k until 1 st before gap, SSK. Turn.
Row 4 (WS): Sl 1, purl until 1 to st before gap, p2tog. Turn.
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until all gusset stitches have been decreased, and you're back to 68 stitches total.

Upper Shirt Body

Resume working in the round.
k 14 rows
Decrease 1: K6,k2tog, k4,k2tog three times, k6,k2tog; K6,k2tog, k4,k2tog three times, k6,k2tog (58 st)
k 3 rows
Decrease 2: k4,k2tog all the way until the last 4 stitches of the round, then k3, k2tog (last stitch and first stitch of next row) (48 st)
k 14 rows

Sleeves and Collar

Switch to size 6 needles. Split stitches evenly, either on stitch holders or 2 sets of circulars. There should be 24 stitches on each set.

Front

Begin knitting the second half, which is the front (the opposite side from where the gusset/rear was knit). Slip the first stitch of every row to obtain a smooth edge.

WS: bind off (b/o) 1, p all
RS: This is the first ribbed row: b/o 1, k1, p2tog, p1, k2p2 four times, k1, k2tog, p2 (20 st)
WS: k2p2 all
RS: k2p2 all
WS: k2p2 all
RS: k2p2k2, bind off eight stitches, k2p2k2
On each side (separately), k2p2k2 two more rows
put on holders (these will be seamed to the backside later)

Back

Switch to the back half, reversing shaping. (For personal ease, I also started with a WS purl row on the back. However, this causes the ribbing on the sleeves not to match-- if you care, then just reverse knits and purls below.)

WS: bind off (b/o) 1, p all
RS: This is the first ribbed row: b/o 1, k1, p2tog, p1, k2p2 four times, k1, k2tog, p2 (20 st)
WS: k2p2 all
RS: k2p2 all
WS: k2p2 all
RS: k2p2k2, bind off eight stitches, k2p2k2

Finishing

Pull the shirt onto the Scrake, feet first. You must seam the shoulders together while he's wearing the shirt or it will be really difficult, if not impossible, to get it on after because of the chainsaw! (I guess for the Scrakes in-game, they were dressed already when they got their chainsaw arm...)

To seam, for each side, perform three-needle-bind-off, starting from the center (toward the neck) on each side. Reform any damage to the Scrake's stuffing in his head or arms, and weave in all ends.

The bottom of the shirt in-progress.

A revision attempt at stomach, shoulder, and neck shaping, using a different count of stitches (less decreases) and ribbing to prevent rolling on the sleeves.

First attempt at stomach, shoulder, and neck shaping.

Progress shot.

The final version of the stomach, shoulder, and neck shaping, according to my design. Time to put it onto the Scrake so it can be sewn together.

Full shot of the first shirt on the Scrake, ready to be seamed. Shirtless over on the right is still waiting for his. (And my broken G500s's cord hanging in the background... oops.)

Scrake's left side. Seaming for the sleeves has to be done with the shirt already on the Scrake.

Ready to be sewn.

It's easiest to seam with three-needle-bind-off from the center outwards on each side. That means the left side (Scrake's right) from the front (left to right) and on the right side (Scrake's left) from the back (again left to right). This is not an easy operation, and I ended up smooshing the Scrake's head a bit in the operation. I had to reshape it-- not hard since it's squishy in order to increase the snuggle factor.