Share Kitty - Knitted Cat Pattern

I've had a lot of requests for the Share Kitty Pattern, so for anyone who didn't get it last time, I've put it up here again.

SHARE KITTY

Justjen-knits&stitches

Share Kitty is 41cm tall. Legs, body & head are knitted as one piece for the front, one for the back, with his arms, ears & tail attached separately.
I request that items knitted from this pattern be used for personal & charity use, not for profit.
Materials –
50gms Main colour (MC) – White 8ply /DK
50gms Colour 1 (C1) – Purple 8ply /DK
50gms Colour 2 (C2) – Green 8ply /DK
Small amounts of pink & black for ears, nose & features.
1 pair 3.25mm knitting needles.
Fibre fill, sewing notions.
Please read through pattern before starting.


BODY BACK
Stocking stitch is used throughout.
LEGS -
Starting at bottom of leg at the paw, with MC, cast on 9 sts.
St st 2 rows.
Next row - Increase 1 st each end of this, and every K row until 15 sts.
Row 8 – Purl.
Rows 9 to 12 – St st
Row 13 – Changing to C1, continue in stripes of 6 rows C1 & 6 rows C2, until 54 rows from cast on edge.
Carry the alternate colour up the side of your work, linking in every couple of rows, ready to use for the next
stripe. You’ll have 7 stripes.
Leaving this leg on needle or stitch holder, do a 2nd leg the same.
Keeping in stripe pattern,
Knit across both legs to begin body – 30 sts.
Continue in 6 row stripes, for 42 rows (7 stripes).

SHAPE SHOULDERS
Keeping in stripes, St st 2 rows.
Decrease 4 sts at the beginning of next 3 rows,
Then decrease 3 sts at the beginning of next row – 15 sts. *

HEAD BACK
Now for the head, we are going to work in 4 row stripes.
The smaller stripes will blend in better with the face markings. You can do a plain colour back head if you prefer.
Continue now, in the same colour sequence, but in 4 row stripes. AT THE SAME TIME, shape head by
following the outside stitches on the graph. Disregard the pattern, & colour key, that is only for the face. On the very last stripe, you’ll be doing 6 rows of C1 instead of 4 to finish the head.

Inner  & X - White
O – C1


BODY FRONT
Work the same as back until you reach *
FACE
Follow the above graph to shape head as you did for the back. AT THE SAME TIME knit the face
markings.
Knit in the Intarsia method, use separate balls of yarn to do the colour work, remembering to twist yarns
when changing colours to prevent holes. I use small spindles of C1 & a ball of white to make untangling
each row easier. If you are unfamiliar with Intarsia, there are many tutorials on the net.

ARMS – Make 2
Starting at the paw with MC, cast on 15sts.
St st 2 rows
Row 3 – Inc in every 3rd st (ie knit in front & back of stitch) - 20sts.
St st 3 rows.
Row 7 – Inc in every 4th st – 25sts.
St st 3 more rows.
Changing to C1, continue in 6 row stripes of C1 & C2 until 6 stripes have been worked.
Keeping in stripes, St st 2 more rows.
Next row – (K2, K2tog ) to last st, K1 – 19 sts.
P 1 row
Next row - (K2, K2tog) to last 3 sts, K3.
P 1 row.
Cast Off.


EARS – Make 4
It’s up to you if you do 4 ears “cat colour”, or 2 inside ears pink.
Cast on 12sts.
St st 2 rows.
Decrease each end of every K row until 2 sts remain.
P2 tog, fasten off.


TAIL – Make 1
Starting with the darker colour (C1 or C2),
Cast on 16 sts.
St st 5 (6 row stripes) – 30 rows. Change to White.
St st 4 rows straight.
Row 35 – (K2, K2tog) to end – 12sts.
St st 3 rows.
Row 39 – (K2, K2tog) to end – 9sts.
St st 3 rows.
Row 43 – K2tog to last st, K1.
Row 44 – P2tog to last st, P1 – 3sts
Thread through remaining sts, pull tight & fasten off.


NOSE – Make 1
(Easier than trying to embroider on a nose).
With pink, cast on 2 sts.
Purl 1 row
Increase each end of every K row, until 10 sts.
Purl 1 row.
Cast off.


MAKE UP
BODY
Sew in all the ends of the colour work on the face. I tend to use some of the ends on the toy to sew up, sew
in all other ends not needed.
With right sides facing out sew up around the whole cat, using a mattress stitch, BUT leave an opening at one
side of the body for stuffing.
Don’t try too hard to match the stipes on the back head to that of the front face, they don’t completely
match…. it’s just the way it is :-).
Fill the legs first, but only ¾ fill them so the cat is flexible enough to sit. Sew a small running stitch across the first row of the body to separate the legs from the body. Finish stuffing the rest of
the body & head firmly, especially at the neck and stitch up gap at side of body.

ARMS
Run a thread through the cast on edge of paw & gather in tight. Continue seaming up arm until about an inch
from the top, to give yourself some room to stuff. Stuff arm, again not too full (¾) and continue sewing up
seam. Flatten top of arm opening, so the arm seam is positioned at the back, not the side of the arm, before
sewing across.
Sew arms to the body at shoulder, with the seam facing in towards the body.

EARS
Join 2 ears right sides facing out & slip stitch together for each ear. Sew to head, see photo for guide.
NOSE
Stitch nose to face, then embroider on mouth. Use black yarn to make French knots for eyes, & sew on
whiskers.
NOTE – do not put buttons, beads or removeable eyes on any toys meant for children under 5 years.
Check in your area for local standards.
TAIL
Sew up seam from tail up, and stuff, again ¾ full and sew on to back of cat.
PAWS
To sew in the toes on the paws, knot a long length of 8ply black yarn. Make a large knot. From the back of paw, off to one side, sew through from back to front, pulling knot inside the toy to anchor. Stitch three stitches over edge of paw, one to the side, middle and other side. As you do, pull each stitch to form the toes and fasten at the back of each stitch before going to the next one (see photo for a guide).  Bury yarn back inside the toy to finish.
Please let me know if there are any mistakes, or if there is something you don’t understand.
Hope you enjoy the pattern.

© Jennifer Stacey 2012
I request 
that items knitted from this pattern be used for Personal and Charity use,  not for Profit.

Daylily Tea Cosy For Mother's Day - Crochet

I have two new ripple crochet Tea Cosies for Mother's Day.
Both are to fit small 1-2 cup Teapots. I use a small teapot most mornings, and it does go cold quite quickly so a cosy is essential. The little ones look so darn cute, I'm sure that's the main reason why I make a lot of them. Here's the first one.

Daylilies have always been a favourite in my family, with my Mother loving them.They come in several colours in Nature, and I've had so much fun the last few weeks, trying out different colours. This cosy and the next one are a variation of my Easy Ripple Tea Cosy  pattern, but are completely different to each other.
ETA - I've had a couple of emails asking whether this could be made for a larger teapot. You could use the original ripple pattern, to make a similar cosy for a large teapot. Just make it taller, you won't need to crochet around the side petals, but the flower petals will look smaller on a large teapot.
 When I was making this cosy, I did experiment shrinking the original pattern down to fit a small teapot, which worked fine, however I wanted to retain the larger petals so it looked more like a daylily.
I also found 6 leaves, (or stitching up the 2 side ones) on such a small cosy, looked a bit messy, so that's why I've done it differently  (and because I think they look better as small cosies :-). But by all means, if you want to to experiment with a larger one, it's all good :-).

DAYLILY TEA COSY - CROCHET

Justjen-knits&stitches

Not a new pattern but a variation of my Easy Ripple Tea Cosy. It is so EASY to make! 

It is an open top cosy but with the draw string option it still keeps a little teapot snug and warm. It's proved very handy the last few day, if you want to top up your pot, you don't have to take the cosy off. One cup of tea is never enough on a cold morning.

The cosy is made to fit a 1-2cup teapot, measuring 35cm circumference, 12cm tall. I have quite a few pots this size and they hold close to 2 teacups.

The cosy is made with 5 colours. 1 row each of 2 colours (for this one light pink, hot pink) for the edge of the petals, a main colour for the body of the flower, then 2 different shades of green for the leaves.

You'll need - 

50gms DK/ 8ply yarn for the main colour of the flower.

Small amounts of  2 other colours for the edge of the Lily petals, and 2 different greens for the leaves.

4.00mm crochet hook and a smaller 3.00 or 3.50mm hook to crochet the drawstring.

Crochet instructions are in British Terminology. Dc are used throughout so if you are used to American Terminology, our dc = your sc.

Terms -

dec over next 3 sts - insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, miss next st, insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, yo & draw through all 3 loops on hook.

dec over next 2 sts - Insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a  loop, yo & draw through all 3 loops on hook.

MAKE 2 -FRONT & BACK 
You will be beginning at the petals and finishing with the leaves, with this cosy. With your first chosen colour for the edge of the petals -
1st Row - Make 42 ch, miss first ch, 1dc in next 9 ch, 3dc in next ch, 1dc in next 9 ch, dec over next 3 ch, 1 dc in next 9 ch, 3dc in next ch, 1 dc in next 9 ch.
Change to 2nd flower colour.Turn.
To change colours at the end of a row, work your last dc, but join in the new colour and use it to work the last "yarn around hook and pull through 2 loops on hook" to finish the dc.

2nd Row - Work in back loop of every dc to give a ridged effect.

1ch, dec over next 2 sts, 1dc in next 8dc, 3dc in next dc (which should be the middle dc of the 3dc in last row), 1dc in next 9 dc, dec over next 3sts, 1 dc in next 9 dc, 3dc in next dc, 1dc in next 8dc, dec over last 2 dc. Change to main flower colour.
Turn.
At this stage use a stitch marker or small safety pin to mark that this is the right side of the work, it will make it easier later.

Continue repeating the 2nd row now. Crochet 16 more rows for the flower.

Change to the darker green and work 4 rows.
Change to light green and work 4 rows fasten off.
Do another side the same, also marking the right side

 From here on, I'll use photo's of a purple Daylily cosy. This one is white, mauve, purple.

The one in the Title photo was the first one I made and was pretty experimental. I was so excited I forgot to take progress photos, so the following ones will be much clearer.
Turn the pieces so the green is on the bottom, the flower on the top.
Sew in any ends you don't use for sewing up along the way.

Placing the right sides facing in,(the flower petals and leaves will be turned out revealing the right side), stitch the front & back together using a flat seam..
Sew up a small amount at the bottom of each side, leave room for your handle and spout (depending on your own teapot). Now continue sewing up the side until you are in line with the valleys in the ripple. Stop & fasten off, at the first row of the main flower colour ie before you reach the first 2 colours of the flower.
Try it on your cosy, it should be quite a snug fit, fold out the petals, it will look like this.

Now you need to crochet around the the side petals.

With the inside facing you (the right side once turned out) & using mauve, attach with a sl st close to the mauve on the other side of the petal, and dc down to the v and back up the other side finishing at the  mauve on the other side. Fasten off and turn. 

This photo just won't turn up the right way, so you're looking at the right hand side.

 Fasten white to the white on the tip of the petal. Dc across again, to mimic the ridge on the other petals, dc in the front loop of each purple dc from the previous row. Finish again with a sl st. Turn.

Miss first dc, dc across, but on this last row, when you come to the V, decrease over 3 dc, as you have done in the ripple pattern. Finish with a slst & fasten off.  

 All that's left to do is turn up your leaves to the outside and sew in place. I didn't use buttons for these cosies, instead I put a stitch about halfway up the leaf, so they curl out a little.

Your cosy should be a snug fit, which will help the petals sit nicely. If you find the cosy stretches with use, use a drawstring to draw the top in just a little. Using the smaller hook, make a ch long enough for a drawstring and thread it through the stitches about 4cm under the valleys.

That's about it. Let me know if there are any mistakes, or if there's anything you don't understand.
Of course use any different colour combos you like. I'll put up pics of other colours I've done shortly - Jen.

© Jennifer Stacey 2012
For personal use, not for profit.