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Download the pattern as a pdf file.

How many "false starts" did you have before you got it just the way you wanted?
I wrote down each row as I knitted it, and thanks to my patience, only had to rip back a few times. Translating my chicken scratch into something understandable was definitely a bit of a challenge. Thanks to The Testing Pool group on Ravelry, I was able to recruit a few different people to try the pattern out before really "publishing" it. They all had different suggestions and problems, which led to more editing and a bit of reknitting, but it made me feel a lot more comfortable about the quality and legibility of the pattern itself.

Any other fun designs coming up?
I would love to design some more Maine-related toys, it's just a matter of finding the time and patience to sit down and get working! I'm counting on this summer to give me plenty of opportunities to to do just that.

See Molly's buoys ornaments on her blog.

François the Lobster
by Molly Lincoln

When I found this pattern on the internet I just had to contact Molly and ask her about it. I think it's just too cute (if you can call a lobster cute), and very well constructed. It could even be cuddly made in the color pimento of Knit One, Crochet Too's Fleece—Hélène, the editor

Name: Molly Lincoln
Age: 19
Location: Freeport, Maine
Real Job: I'm a student at Middlebury College in Vermont. I waitress in the summers
Blog: "Dirigo"
How Long Knitting: About four years

Why did you decide to design a knitted lobster?
I was having trouble falling asleep one night and my mind wandered to knitting, which actually happens a lot. I was thinking about how I hadn't seen a lobster pattern online, and how simple the basic shape of the body seemed to be. Before I knew it, I was mentally casting on stitches and trying to figure out increases and decreases, which was a little tricky without any pen or paper. It wasn't until a few weeks later, around final exams, that I decided to try it out.

How complicated was it to design?
I did a few rough sketches and wrote down some ideas that I'd had beforehand, then I just kind of jumped in and started knitting. I would say that the toughest part of the process was trying to figure out how to deal with the increases and decreases - I knit left handed, so I was unsure if what I was imaging in my head would actually work, or if it would come out backwards. I also wasn't positive that the directions would translate perfectly for right handed knitters. I really lucked out, though, because not only did I have a ton of time to work on it (the design and then typing up the pattern) over Christmas break, but most of my ideas on how to knit the lobster actually worked!