Cat Knitting Patterns

I almost titled this “knitting patterns for cats” but the projects shared here make cats, they aren’t strictly for your cats. Unless you turn them into cat toys, which is entirely your business.

If you have a tiny bit of DK weight yarn (though of course you can use other weights to make other sizes) and a few minutes to spare you can make a mini cat with this free pattern from Ravelry. Designed by a person cleverly named A knitter, this pattern takes about 20 yards or 18 meters of yarn, and you can make them any color you like. It calls for tiny doll eyes, but you can embroider the eyes just like you do the whiskers if you want.

The tiny car in a life preserver pattern from Anna Hrachovec is another cute and quick pattern that would be great to stitch up as a gift for the cat lover in your life. It’s made with 20-30 yards (18-27 meters) of fingering weight yarn, and of course you could knit the kitty without the life preserver but I don’t know why you’d want to resist its cuteness. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Getting a little bigger but still very cute in a different way, we have these pocket buddies from French Lavender Home on Etsy. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and you can change up the colors and details to make them look like cats, dogs, foxes, bears… They’re worked flat and the little sweaters are part of the body, but there’s also an optional hat that’s worked separately. This is a great little skill building project because it includes duplicate stitch, stranded knitting and cables, depending on how you style the sweaters.

Gathered has an adorable cat knitting pattern that includes a little pair of overalls. There are different coloring options so you can make one to match your pet, or just use the yarn you have on hand. It calls for DK weight yarn and was designed by Sophie Jordan for Simply Knitting magazine.

Ginger and Smudge are sweet pudgy cats designed by Fluff and Fuzz. They’re shown striped but you could make them solid if you prefer, or add some duplicate stitch to the face to match your feline friend. These are worked with DK weight yarn and stitches flat for ease of knitting.

If you’re looking for the purr-fect knit cat, though, it might be these from Dot Pebbles. They’re worked with mohair blend yarns for the pettable fuzz factor, and they’re worked flat but joined as you go to make an interesting knit. And who can resist those little faces?

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Sashiko is a traditional Japanese embroidery technique that uses running stitches to make lines (straight or otherwise) that reinforce and insulate fabric. It can be used as a mending technique or for decorative purposes, and it has become popular in recent years as a visible mending technique.

It’s also the inspiration behind the Sashiko Tee by Elenor Mortensen. This top down, circular yoke top is worked in the round with allover stranded knitting designs reminiscent of intricate sashiko stitching.

You’ll find floral patterns, starbursts, straight lines and individual colorwork stitches in this design.

The pattern is offered in six sizes and two different gauges (both use fingering weight yarn) making a dozen different size options. The finished bust circumference of the sweater ranges from 33.8 to 57 inches, or 86 to 145 cm.

The project calls for two colors, and I love the traditional blue and white of the designer’s sample, but some of the projects shown on Ravelry use more than two or use a multicolored yarn as one of the options, which gives it a different look that’s even more interesting. There are also some projects that show longer sleeves, repeating the patterns from the body on the sleeves, which is a great move if you need a sweater for the fall.

I know I say this a lot but it’s worth your time to look at the different ways people have approached this sweater by clicking on the projects tab on Ravelry. You’ll find different colors and sleeves, different ribbing treatments, added beads, a bit of mohair, different lengths, subtle colors and bolder choices…so many fun options.

The pattern is available in English, French and German, and you can grab a copy of Ravelry. I think this one would be a fun way to get into colorwork knitting without having to deal with a bunch of colors, and you get a cool result and lots of practice following a chart.

[Photo: Elenor Mortensen]

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