This stuffed cat can be customized in whatever color you want. It’s cute as a decoration or as a stuffed toy.

A few months ago, I posted about the beautiful checkerboard baby blanket that I made for my brother- and sister-in-law.

I also made this adorable stuffed cat for my mom…and then I put the pictures away and forgot to post about it. Naturally.

This cat has to be one of the weirdest things I have ever made. Mostly because it uses double-pointed needles, which are naturally weird to work with. But part of it is made while there is stuffing inside. So I’m trying to knit the tail and balance a fully-stuffed cat torso at the same time. Which isn’t as difficult as it sounds, just awkward.

Anyway, I actually got the Parlor Cat pattern for free from Craftsy (it can be found here)! They have a ton of free (and cute) stuffed animal patterns.

My only regret is that, at the time, I had no idea how to embroider. So Mom’s cat doesn’t have a face. I did stick buttons on there for eyes, but they creeped me out a little. Not having a face was somehow less creepy. 😛

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I love the way his butt swirls to form his tail. It’s the little things. 😛

Stuffed Cat Knitting Pattern

What I used:

• 1 skein (120 yards) Lily’s Sugar & Cream in warm brown for the body
• 1 skein (120 yards) Lily’s Sugar & Cream in jute for the chest and feet– won’t need more than half a skein
• 1 skein (120 yards) Lily’s Sugar & Cream in red for the bow — only needed a couple feet
• poly-fil stuffing — get the smallest bag you can find
• US 5 (3.75 mm) circular needles, 16 inches (optional, but I found them necessary)
• US 5 (3.75 mm) DPNs
• yarn needle
• stitch markers

I recommend getting the yarn at a store like Michael’s. One skein is only $1.99.

I won’t lay out the steps for you, since you can view them in the pattern. But I’ll go over the things I had trouble with.

Firstly, when you cast on for the body, use the circular needles. It was impossible keeping all of those stitches on DPNs, especially when the increases started. If 52 stitches aren’t enough for the circular needles, then cast on with the DPNs and switch to circular later.

Secondly, this was my first experience “picking up” stitches. It was a little confusing, so I used this video from New Stitch a Day to figure it out. I watched many videos trying to figure this out, and that one was definitely the most helpful.

Now for the chest she says, “Count 10 stitches to the left of the first CO stitch.” That part greatly confused me. I counted ten stitches and…wound up in completely the wrong place. Basically, all those holes that are in the body from increasing? You want those to be on top of the cat’s back. If they’re not, then you counted incorrectly.

Next she says to “purl back across all stitches on the 2nd DPN only.” Another thing that confused me. The reason you’re doing this is because you’re going to work short rows using the “wrap and turn” method to create the chest. So instead of starting at the top and knitting as usual, you want to purl back to the middle (until you reach the end of that DPN) and then stop. So you purl back the 2nd DPN (meaning the one where your working yarn begins) and then instead of doing the same on the 1st one, you’re going to knit back up that 2nd DPN. It sounds weird if you’ve never done short rows, but you’ll soon see what this does.

The chest was THE most confusing part for me. But once I figured it out, it was pretty easy. Anyway, to learn how to wrap and turn (WT), this video from Cotton & Cloud is very helpful.

For the Bow

The bow is optional, but if you want to add one, the pattern is simple.

CO 9 stitches
Work in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row, repeat) for 3 inches.
BO and cut the yarn so you have 6-10 inches of excess.
Weave the yarn into the bow through the back, until you get to the middle of the bow.
Wrap the remaining yarn around the middle, tightly. Sew the bow into the cat’s neckline.

For Stripes

If you want your cat to have stripes like what the pattern author shows, she doesn’t mention it in the pattern. But it’s every three rows. Knit 3 rows, change color, knit 3 rows, repeat. Easy!

For the Legs

I had a lot of trouble attaching the legs. I recommend attaching them directly on the bottom. I attached mine sort of to the side and now if my cat is laid on a flat surface, he kind of just falls over. I didn’t tuck his toes in, either, because I liked the way they looked pointed out. But that’s a stylistic choice.

I suppose he is a bit creepy without a face, isn’t he? I may fix that another time. Now that I know how. 😛