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# Farm Friends Coaster Set
### A beginner-friendly set of four knitted coasters featuring a pig, cow, sheep and chick

Bring a touch of countryside charm to your tea table with this cheerful set of four farm animal coasters. Worked flat in simple stocking stitch with garter stitch borders to keep them lying flat, each coaster is a solid-colour square with the animal's face added through easy embroidery during finishing. Perfect for confident beginners — if you can knit, purl and sew a few stitches, you can make this set.

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## Finished Measurements
Approximately **11 cm × 11 cm** (4¼" × 4¼") per coaster.

## Materials

**Yarn:** Worsted weight 100% cotton (recommended for absorbency and washability), approximately 50 m / 55 yds per colour. Small amounts only — perfect for using up scraps.

- **Colour A (Pig):** Pale pink — 25 g
- **Colour B (Cow):** White/cream — 25 g
- **Colour C (Sheep):** Light grey — 25 g
- **Colour D (Chick):** Buttercup yellow — 25 g

**Embroidery colours (small amounts of DK or worsted in each):**
- Black — eyes, hooves, beak outlines (all coasters)
- Dark pink — pig snout
- Black & white — cow patches
- Cream/off-white — sheep fleece highlights
- Orange — chick beak and feet

**Needles:** 4.5 mm (UK 7 / US 7) straight or short circular needles.

**Notions:**
- Tapestry/darning needle
- Small sharp scissors
- Optional: small scraps of black and pink felt plus fabric glue for an even quicker face finish
- Optional: stitch markers

## Tension (Gauge)
**18 sts × 24 rows = 10 cm (4")** measured over stocking stitch on 4.5 mm needles, after gentle blocking.

*Tension is not critical for fit, but it will affect finished size and yarn usage. Check tension if you want all four coasters to match exactly.*

## Abbreviations
- **k** — knit
- **p** — purl
- **st(s)** — stitch(es)
- **RS** — right side
- **WS** — wrong side
- **st st** — stocking stitch (knit on RS, purl on WS)
- **rep** — repeat

## Pattern Notes
- Each coaster is knitted flat, beginning and ending with a few rows of garter stitch, and with the first/last 3 stitches of each row worked in garter stitch (knitted on both sides) to form a tidy non-curling border.
- All four coasters use the **same base pattern** — only the yarn colour and the embroidered face differ.
- Weave in ends as you go to reduce finishing time.
- Embroidery is worked after knitting, so no colourwork or intarsia is required.

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## Base Coaster Pattern
*(Knit one in each of Colours A, B, C and D — four coasters total)*

**Cast on 20 sts** using your chosen colour and 4.5 mm needles.

**Rows 1–4 (garter border):** Knit every stitch. *(4 rows complete; 20 sts)*

**Row 5 (RS):** K3, k14, k3. *(20 sts — this row sets the garter borders; the centre 14 sts are knitted on RS)*

**Row 6 (WS):** K3, p14, k3. *(20 sts)*

**Rows 7–24:** Repeat Rows 5 and 6 a further 9 times. *(18 more rows worked; 24 rows of body in total including Rows 5 and 6 — 20 sts throughout)*

**Math check:** Rows 5–24 = 20 rows of bordered st st. Body stitch count remains 20 sts on every row. ✓

**Rows 25–28 (garter border):** Knit every stitch. *(4 rows; 20 sts)*

**Cast off** all 20 sts knitwise on the RS. Cut yarn, leaving a 15 cm tail for weaving in.

**Total rows worked:** 4 + 20 + 4 = **28 rows**.
**Finished knitted size:** 20 sts ÷ 18 sts × 10 cm = **11.1 cm wide**; 28 rows ÷ 24 rows × 10 cm = **11.7 cm tall**. After light blocking these even out to a neat ~11 cm square. ✓

Make **four coasters in total**, one in each colour (A pink, B white, C grey, D yellow).

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## Finishing — Adding the Faces

Weave in all yarn ends on the WS using a tapestry needle. Gently steam-block or wet-block each coaster to a flat 11 cm square and allow to dry completely before embroidering.

All embroidery is worked from the RS using a tapestry needle and lengths of contrasting yarn (or 3–4 strands of embroidery floss for finer detail). Centre each face roughly in the middle of the coaster.

### 🐷 The Pig (Colour A — pink)
1. **Snout:** With dark pink yarn, embroider a horizontal oval roughly 2.5 cm wide, 1.5 cm tall, in the lower-centre of the coaster using satin stitch (parallel straight stitches side by side).
2. **Nostrils:** With black yarn, work two small vertical straight stitches on the snout, about 1 cm apart.
3. **Eyes:** With black yarn, make two French knots (or small cross stitches) about 2 cm above the snout, 2 cm apart.
4. **Ears:** With pale pink yarn matching the coaster, embroider two small triangles at the top corners of the face area using 3 straight stitches each.

### 🐮 The Cow (Colour B — white)
1. **Patches:** With black yarn, embroider 3–4 irregular blobs (cluster of long straight stitches filled in) scattered across the coaster — keep one patch around one eye for character.
2. **Muzzle:** With pale pink or grey yarn, satin-stitch a soft oval about 2.5 cm × 1.5 cm in the lower centre.
3. **Nostrils:** Two small black straight stitches on the muzzle.
4. **Eyes:** Two black French knots about 2 cm above the muzzle.
5. **Ears (optional):** Two small white/cream satin-stitch triangles at the top.

### 🐑 The Sheep (Colour C — grey)
1. **Fleece:** With cream/off-white yarn, work a cluster of loose French knots or small bullion stitches all around the upper two-thirds of the coaster to suggest a fluffy fleece. Leave a clear oval in the lower centre for the face.
2. **Face oval:** The grey base shows through — this is the face. Optionally outline it with a single round of grey chain stitch.
3. **Eyes:** Two black French knots in the centre of the face area, about 1.5 cm apart.
4. **Nose/mouth:** A small black "Y" shape using three short straight stitches below the eyes.
5. **Ears:** Two small grey straight-stitch ovals either side of the face, peeking out from the fleece.

### 🐤 The Chick (Colour D — yellow)
1. **Beak:** With orange yarn, embroider a small downward-pointing triangle (satin stitch) in the centre of the coaster, about 1.5 cm wide.
2. **Eyes:** With black yarn, two French knots about 2 cm above the beak, 2.5 cm apart. Add a tiny white straight stitch on each for a sparkle (optional).
3. **Cheeks (optional):** Two small pink straight stitches or French knots just below the eyes.
4. **Feet (optional):** Two small orange "Y" shapes near the bottom edge using three straight stitches each.

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## Tips for Success
- **Keep embroidery loose** — pulling stitches too tight will pucker the knitted fabric.
- **Practice on a swatch first** if you're new to French knots; they give the best "eye" effect with 2 wraps around the needle.
- **For an even quicker finish**, cut small circles of black felt for eyes and a pink felt oval for the pig snout and stitch or glue them on instead of embroidering.
- **Care:** Hand wash in cool water and lay flat to dry. Cotton coasters become softer and more absorbent after the first wash.

## Yardage Summary (per set of 4)
- 20 sts × 28 rows ≈ 560 stitches per coaster, roughly 18–22 m of worsted cotton each.
- Total: ~80–90 m of base colours + small amounts of embroidery yarn.

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Enjoy your little farmyard tea party! These coasters make a lovely handmade housewarming gift bundled with a packet of tea, and the pattern is endlessly adaptable — try a duck (white + orange beak), a horse (brown + black mane embroidery), or a goat (cream + grey horns) to expand your flock.