What could be more pleasing that a round squishy cat?

Made in honour of a strapping local moggy (affectionately nicknamed Ginger Wub Chub), this is a fun little ornament suitable for the Christmas tree or all year round. They look particularly good en masse, and would be a unique, quirky touch for a cat lover’s house.

This pattern is knitted in the round on double pointed needles. The body, paws, tail, head and ears are knitted separately and sewn together. Full instructions are also given for embroidering the face and paws, though if you prefer you can leave this step out.

Finished size using 2.5 mm needles is approx. 14cm from nose to tail.

Gauge is not crucial for this project, but your knitting must be tight enough that stuffing won’t show between the stitches.

Skills required (or be willing to learn!):

• Knitting and purling
• Long-tail cast-on
• Basic increasing and decreasing (kfb, m1, k2tog, k2tog tbl and ssk)
• Knit cast-on
• Disappearing loop cast-on (a link is provided to a tutorial)
• Cable cast-on
• Knitting in the round
• Simple embroidery

Please note that there are small parts to manipulate so this pattern may be best suited to those with some experience of toy knitting.

Materials and Equipment

• Yarn – DK in Main Colour (MC) and Contrast Colour (CC). The example uses orange for MC and white for CC.
• Needles – 2.5mm (US size 1.5) dpns
• Black, pink, white and grey/tan embroidery floss
• 7.5mm cat safety eyes (vertical pupil)
• Polyester toy stuffing
• Stitch marker to mark beginning of round, if desired
• Wool or darning needle
• Sharp sewing/embroidery needle
• Doll-making or packing needle (optional)
• Sewing thread matching MC and CC
• Long sturdy pins for pinning limbs in place while sewing up – I use Gutermann Glass-headed Pins No. 2/0 (0.80 x 48 mm)
• Soldered jump ring (I used a 6mm ring). You can buy these on ebay.
• Gold/silver cord or ribbon for hanging
• A stuffing tool or chopstick for stuffing paws and tail