G.P.O. 1701rm : royal mail and beyond

celebrating 500 years of royal mail 

Galactic Post Office 1701rm  : a royal mail vehicle of the future!

2 versions
A. the impressive one : " royalmail GPO 1701rm "
filled with a die-cast model 
great as a display model 

B. the softie/floppy one : " GPO remember-to-use-the-starcode "
filled with ordinary stuffing
great as a toy

use the pattern here 
or
download a PDF on ravelry for a small fee: all profits to the stroke association, royal mail's charity of the year
https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-we-do/royal-mails-charity-year

materials 

100g red double knitting wool 
(knitted with 2 strands)
oddments orange and blue wool  

set of 4 sock needles  size 4mm (8uk/6us) 

large sewing needle/darning needle

stuffing
version A : a dinky die-cast model of the starship enterprise 
version B : ordinary toy/cushion stuffing 


lettering
yellow thread and embroidery needle 
or printed lettering 
or embroidered lettering

star-box for display
large cardboard box
black fabric
sets of christmas led lights (about 70 leds)



stitches
k= knit
k2=knit 2 stitches
p=purl 
inc = increase (knit twice into next stitch)
dec = decrease ( knit 2 stitches together)
knit front back front = knit 3 times into the same stitch 
p2tog= purl 2 stitches together 
cast on 
cast off 





knitted as 15 separate pieces:-

2 disc pieces (red)
knitted on 4 sock needles

1 edge piece to go round outer edge of disc (red)
icord : knitted flat on 2 double ended needles

body (red)
knitted flat on 2 needles
+ 2 ends (red)
knitted on 4 needles

 2 nacelles (red)
knitted flat on 2 needles
+ 4 ends (2 orange + 2 blue )
knitted on 4 needles 

1 main strut (red)
 knitted flat on 2 needles

2 nacelle struts (red)
 knitted flat on 2 needles

16th piece is a separate shuttlecraft 

disc (knit 2)

 

using 4x 4mm sock needles

knitted from the centre of circle outwards
start using 2 needles

at 10 stitches divide onto 3 needles
4 on 1st. needle, 2 on 2nd. needle, 4 on 3rd
(half as many stitches on one needle)
 
increase in each round to 20 stitches
 then increase 10 stitches on every other round

row  1     row  2     round  1 round  2 round  3 round  4 round  5 round  6 round  7 round  8 round  9 round 10 round 11 round 12 round 13 round 14 round 15 round 16 round 17

cast on 1 st knit front back front (into one stitch) increase 1 k1 increase 1 increase into each stitch divide onto 3 needles  (inc1 knit 1) 5 times   (inc 1 knit 2) 5 times all knit  (inc1 knit 1) 10 times   all knit  (inc 1 knit 2) 10 times all knit  (inc 1 knit 3) 10 times all knit  (inc 1 knit 4) 10 times all knit  (inc 1 knit 5) 10 times all knit  (inc 1 knit 6) 10 times all knit  (inc 1 knit 7) 10 times cast off

no of stitches 3 5 10 4,2,4 15 20 8,4,8 30 12,6,12 40 16,8,16 50 20,10,20 60 24,12,24 70 28,14,28 80 32,16,32 90

edge of disc (i-cord)

 using 2x 4mm double-ended needles 

knit onto right hand needle
then pass needle and knitting back to left hand
so all rows are knit
and always knitted at the front  

row 1 row 2 row 3 ..........

cast on 4 stitches knit 1 row pass needle with knitting back to left hand knit 2nd row pulling wool tight behind continue until long enough to go around disc cast off

4 4 4 4

 sew one side of i-cord around 1 disc 

join 2 ends of i-cord 

sew 2nd disc to other side
adding stuffing as you go

   

body  

using 2x 4mm needles 

row 1 row 2 row 3 row 4 row 5 row 6 row 7 row 8 row 35 row 36

cast on 22st knit to end  purl to end  knit to end  purl to end  knit to end  purl to end  knit to end  purl to end  continue knit row/ purl row until 36 rows in total  knit to end  purl to end  cast off

22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22

 sew cast-on edge to cast-off edge

body end disc  (knit 2)

using 4x 4mm sock needles

round 1 round 2 round 3 round 4

cast on 1 st knit front back front (3 times into stitch) increase 1; k1; increase 1  divide onto 3 needles  knit to end  increase into each stitch knit to end  cast off

1 3 5 2,1,2 2,1,2 4,2,4 10

sew 1 to each end of body 

adding stuffing as you go

nacelle (knit 2)

using 2x 4mm needles

row 1 row 2 row 3 row 4 row 5 row 6 row 7 row 8 row 9 row 10 row 11 row 12 row 13 row 14 row 15 row 16 row 17 row 18 row 19 row 20

cast on 17st knit to end  purl to end  k1;  increase1;  knit to end  purl to end  k1;  increase1;  knit to end  purl to end  k1;  increase1;  knit to end  purl to end  knit to end  purl to end  (top of nacelle) knit to end  purl to end  k1;  decrease1;  knit to end  purl to end  k1;  decrease1;  knit to end  purl to end  k1;  decrease1;  knit to end  purl to end  knit to end  cast off

17 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 18 18 17 17 17

sew cast-on edge to cast-off edge

orange nacelle end (knit 2)

using 4x 4mm needles

round 1 round 2 round 3 round 4

cast on 1 st knit front back front (3 times into stitch) increase into each stitch divide onto 3 needles  knit 1 row  (inc1 knit 1) repeat to end   cast off loosely

1 3 6 2,2,2 6 9 9

sew 1 to the flat end of each nacelle

blue nacelle end (knit 2)

using 4x 4mm needles

round 1 round 2 round 3 round 4

cast on 1 st knit front back front (3 times into stitch) increase into each stitch divide onto 3 needles  knit 1 row  (inc1 knit 1) repeat to end   cast off loosely

1 3 6 2,2,2 6 9 9

sew 1 to the shaped end of each nacelle 

adding stuffing as you go

main strut

using 2 x 4mm needles

row 1 row 2 row 3 row 4

cast on 15 sts knit to end cast on1; p5; p2tog; p1; p2tog; p5 cast on 1; k14 cast on1; p5; p2tog; p1; p2tog; p5 cast off 14 stitches fold in half and sew outside edge  stuff  sew to top of body sew disc to top

15 15 14 15 14

nacelle struts (knit 2)

using 2 x 4mm needles

cast on 10 stitches
row 1  :  knit to end
row 2  :  purl to end
repeat these two rows 4 times more
cast off

stitch sides together
sew one end to body

sew nacelle to other end 

lettering  

"royal mail GPO 1701rm"

and

" GPO remember to use the star-code"

created on a janome 200e embroidery machine

thanks to fablab manchester 
https://manchesterfablab.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk/ 

or 
embroider onto disc using yellow thread 
or
print lettering, cut out and glue to top
and/or
embroider over printed lettering 

shuttle craft

using red wool and 4 double ended needles

cast on 6 stitches

work 2 rounds

k2 inc2 k2 = 8sts

8 rowscast off

stuff and sew up ends

star-box

take a large cardboard box 
cover the inside with black material 
(i knitted it)
use black thread to sew it in place
make holes through the cardboard 
push led lights through the cardboard into the box