Kitty Cat Tutorial/Pattern .....Part 1

Hi there!
It's been a while!
I seem to have lost my grip on my blogging mojo recently, over a week since a post, so sorry, but I have been trying to create a post that has been niggling at me for a while, and a few nice ladies had asked about this, and it has taken alot of my spare blogging time to figure it all out, but here goes.......

.......... I have finally gotten onto writing a little pattern tutorial for my granny softie I call Kitty Cat.

This is the first time I have tried to write a pattern tutorial post so please excuse me if it is pretty crappy! ( for instance I am looking at the photos I have taken to try and help explain my crochet and can't really figure out what I am doing in some of them!! So I hope I don't confuse you all.)

Having said that, this is a fairly straight forward crochet make and if I could make it I'm sure all you clever people will find it a breeze.

My original Kitty Cat (pictured above) used the Sunburst granny square as the tummy panel, in this example I am using a different square pattern, as I wanted something a bit more solid with less places for stuffing to poke through.

You can use whatever square pattern you like as your tummy square, but I think the ones with less gaps work better for a stuffed softie.


My incredibly high tech pattern writing notebook. Haha. ( I really have been busy!!)


Ok, here is the square I am starting with, this pattern is called Spinner from the Jan Eaton Crochet Squares book, as I said choose whatever square pattern take your fancy and make 2 of them.

The basic construction of this toy is a simple back piece and front piece that are the same, sewn together, with arms and legs sewn on last and the face hand sewn on and embroidered.

I used a 3mm hook and 8 ply wool to make a nice thick piece of crochet to stuff.


How I made it :

Take one square and with right side facing you, join your main colour with a sl/st to any corner stitch of the last round. (above picture)


Round 1 of main colour : Ch 1, (acts as 1st st), sc in same stitch, then sc in each st around square, with 3sc in each corner st. When you get back to the starting point, sc in same st as ch1 and join the round with a sl/stitch.
(there are now 3 sts in each corner st of the round)


Next round : ch 1, TURN WORK and working on the back side of the square, sc in same stitch, then sc in each stitch around the square, working 3sc in each corner st.
When back to the start, sc in first st and sl/st to starting 1ch to join the round.
Round 3 :Ch 1, TURN WORK and repeat the first round

So now you should have a square with 3 rounds of sc bordering it.


(Starting body/head) :
You now start working in rows back and forward to make the head.
Ch1, (acts as 1st sc st so miss the next st) ,Turn work so working on backside, then sc in each st across til 1st corner, (end of row) then Ch 1, turn work, miss 1st st, sc in each st back across row.
Continue on in this way til you can count 12 'double rows' ( see photo below to see what I mean)

Making ears:
On 1st 14 st start shaping a triangle by decreasing 1 st at each end of row on every right side row. Like this :
1st ear
Next right side row, only sc 14sts, then ch1 and turn. Sc in each st back to start.
2nd RS row, Sl/st to next stitch, then ch 1 , sc in next 11 sts, (12 sts all up), ch 1, turn. Sc in each st back to 1st ch.
Continue on in the pattern,( the sc in the middle will reduce by 2 each RS Row) until there are 2 st left. At this point bind off.

2nd ear :
Count 14 st from left hand side of work and join wool, ch1.
Make 2nd ear the same way as the 1st.

You can make your ears bigger or smaller depending on how many stitches you start with in your rows (depends on the square you choose to use), So this is really more of a guide, if you have a different amount of stitches and there is a big gap between your ears (I mean your softies ears!! I don't mean your brain space! haha!! I'm not being rude!) you can adjust the number of sts in each ear, just make sure they are the same number. I like to leave a gap of 3-4 st on my cat.


So they should look something like this when done.

Make another piece the same way for the back, and there you have it, the front and back of kitty cat!
In part 2, I'll show you the arms and legs and face details and how it all goes together.

Sorry this is in 2 parts, but it has taken me so long to get just this far that I think you would be waiting for ages if I did it all in one go. I think I'll be able to finish off the 2nd installment for you pretty quickly, and maybe even post it tomorrow!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial, if you find any problems or inconsistencies with the instructions feel free to let me know and I'll try and fix it! ( this is my 1st try after all!)

Have a great day!

PS. I have used American crochet terms for this pattern, so for you English Ladies, I think that means Sc =Dc