How to Knit a Cat — From Britain with Love
There is something quietly wonderful about knitting a cat. Not a real one, obviously — though if you could knit a real cat, you would probably be doing rather well for yourself. No, I mean a soft, stuffed, lovingly crafted knitted cat that sits on a shelf, perches on a windowsill, or gets carried around by a small child until it is threadbare and beloved. These little creatures have a charm that shop-bought toys simply cannot match, and once you have made one, you will find it very difficult to stop.
This tutorial walks you through everything you need to know to knit your own cat from scratch — the yarn, the needles, the stitches, the shaping, the stuffing, and all those fiddly finishing touches that turn a blob of knitting into something with a personality. Whether you are a complete beginner who has only just figured out how to cast on, or someone who has been knitting for years and fancies a new project, this guide is written for you. And because it is From Britain with Love, there is a very good chance we will stop for tea at least once along the way.
What You Will Need Before You Start
Before we get our needles clicking, let us talk about materials. Getting these right makes an enormous difference to the finished result, so it is worth taking a moment to gather everything together before you sit down.
Yarn: A double knitting weight yarn — often abbreviated to DK — is ideal for a knitted cat of this kind. It gives you enough detail without being fiddly, and it produces a fabric that holds its shape nicely once stuffed. For a classic British tabby sort of look, a warm grey or a soft ginger works beautifully. You will need roughly 100 grams, though it is always sensible to have a spare ball on hand. If you want to add stripes, ears of a contrasting colour, or a little pale belly, pick up a small amount of a second colour too.
Needles: A pair of 3.75mm or 4mm needles will pair well with DK yarn and give you a fairly tight tension, which is important for a stuffed toy. You do not want large gaps in your knitting through which the stuffing can escape. If you find your knitting is coming up loose and floppy, try going down a needle size.
Stuffing: Toy stuffing — sometimes called polyester fibrefill — is available from any good haberdashery or craft shop and from most online retailers. Use a generous amount. A well-stuffed cat is a satisfying cat. An under-stuffed cat looks a little sad and deflated, like it has had a difficult week.
Tapestry needle: You will need this for sewing up seams and weaving in your ends. A blunt-tipped tapestry needle is best, as it slips through the knitted stitches without splitting the yarn.
Scissors: Sharp ones, please.
Safety eyes: These come in various sizes and give your cat a bright, alert expression. 10mm or 12mm eyes tend to look good on a cat of this scale. If you are making this toy for a very young child, embroider the eyes instead using yarn, as safety eyes are not appropriate for children under three.
Embroidery thread or yarn scraps: For the nose and mouth, and optionally for whiskers, though whiskers on knitted cats are a matter of personal taste. Some people love them; others feel they make the cat look slightly deranged.
Stitch markers: Optional, but very helpful if you are knitting in the round or need to mark a specific point in your work.
A Note on Tension
Tension — or gauge, as our American knitting friends call it — matters more in toy knitting than people sometimes expect. You are not making a garment that needs to fit a human body, so you might think tension is not especially important. In fact, the opposite is true. If your knitting is too loose, your toy will be squidgy and the stuffing will show through the fabric. If it is too tight, your yarn will be under strain and your hands will be too.
For this pattern, aim for approximately 22 stitches and 30 rows to 10cm in stocking stitch. Knit a small swatch before you begin, measure it, and adjust your needle size accordingly. I know swatching is nobody’s favourite part of a project, but your future self — the one sitting there with a beautifully proportioned cat — will be grateful.
Getting Started: Casting On and the Body
The body of your cat is knitted flat in two pieces — a front and a back — which are then sewn together and stuffed. This is probably the most accessible approach for knitters of all levels, as it avoids the need for double-pointed needles or circular knitting, though I will mention how to adapt things if you prefer knitting in the round.
Cast on 30 stitches using your preferred cast on method. The long-tail cast on gives a neat, elastic edge and is well worth learning if you have not already. If in doubt, a simple knitted cast on will do the job perfectly well.
Work in stocking stitch — that is, knit one row, purl one row, alternating — for 40 rows. This forms the main body of your cat.
At this point you will begin the shaping for the neck and head.
Row 41: Decrease 2 stitches at each end of the row by working k2tog at the beginning and ssk (slip, slip, knit) at the end. You will now have 26 stitches.
Row 42: Purl across.
Row 43: Decrease 2 stitches at each end as before. 22 stitches remain.
Rows 44–46: Work in stocking stitch without shaping.
Now you increase for the head.
Row 47: Knit, increasing 2 stitches at each end by working kfb (knit front and back) in the first and last stitches, and also in the second and second-to-last stitches. 26 stitches.
Row 48: Purl.
Row 49: Increase as row 47. 30 stitches.
Rows 50–62: Work in stocking stitch without shaping.
Row 63 onwards: Decrease 3 stitches at each end of every knit row until 12 stitches remain, then cast off.
Make a second piece exactly the same. You now have your front and back body panels.
Knitting the Tail
The tail is a simple tube, worked flat and seamed, or knitted as a tiny i-cord if you fancy a bit of extra neatness.
For a flat tail: Cast on 8 stitches. Work in stocking stitch for 36 rows. Cast off. Fold lengthways, seam along the long edge, stuff lightly, and sew closed at both ends.
For an i-cord tail: Using double-pointed needles or the tips of your circular needle, cast on 4 stitches. Every row, knit across without turning your work, sliding the stitches back to the right needle tip and pulling the yarn firmly across the back. Continue for 60 rows or until the tail is the length you want. Cast off. The i-cord curls naturally into a pleasing tube shape with no seaming required, and it has a lovely smooth finish.
Ears, Paws, and All the Little Bits
Ears are knitted as small triangles. Cast on 10 stitches. Knit one row, purl one row. On the next knit row, decrease 1 stitch at each end. Repeat this decrease every knit row until 2 stitches remain. K2tog and pull the yarn through to fasten off. Make two, or four if you want to line them with a contrasting colour. Sew two ear pieces together (wrong sides facing) for each ear if using a contrast lining, leaving the cast on edge open. Fold the cast on edge slightly and sew to the top of the head.
Paws can be knitted separately as small ovals or simply suggested by embroidering a few lines onto the base of each leg with a contrast thread. For knitted paws, cast on 6 stitches, increase to 10 over the first few rows, work straight for 8 rows, then decrease back to 6 and cast off. Seam around the edge, stuff very lightly, and attach to the body.
If you want a belly panel in a contrasting lighter colour — which gives your cat that authentic two-tone look of so many real cats — simply knit a slightly narrower version of the body piece in cream or white and sew it to the front piece before assembling the two body panels together. It adds a lovely touch and does not take very long at all.
Putting It All Together
This is the part that can feel a little daunting, but take it step by step and it is genuinely satisfying.
Place your two body pieces together with wrong sides facing outward (so that the right sides, the smooth sides, are on the inside while you sew). Using your tapestry needle and a length of matching yarn, work a mattress stitch or whip stitch around the edge, leaving a gap of about 6–8cm at the base for turning and stuffing.
Turn the body right side out through the gap. At this point your cat will look rather like a deflated stuffed animal, which is entirely correct and nothing to worry about.
Now stuff it. Start with the head, pushing stuffing up into it with your fingers, then work down through the body. Be more generous than you think you need to be — the knitting will compress the stuffing over time, so starting firmly is sensible. Make sure the neck area is well supported, as this is where unstuffed toys tend to flop in an unsatisfying way.
Once you are happy with the firmness, sew the gap closed using mattress stitch or a ladder stitch, which is invisible from the outside and gives a very tidy finish.
Attach the tail to the back lower body, the ears to the top of the head, and the paws to the front lower body. All of these are sewn on using the tapestry needle and matching yarn. Take your time with the positioning — it really does affect the character of the finished cat. Ears placed quite far apart and tilted slightly outward give a slightly surprised expression. Ears closer together and upright suggest alertness. Ears folded down suggest a cat who has had quite enough of this nonsense, thank you very much.
Eyes, Nose, and Face
If using safety eyes, push the shanks through the knitted fabric at your chosen position — slightly below the centre of the head, spaced about 4–5 stitches apart — and secure the washers on the inside before you close up the head entirely. If you forget to do this step before stuffing (which is a very easy thing to do; I speak from experience), you will need to carefully loosen a small section of the head seam to get your hand inside to attach the washers. Annoying but fixable.
For an embroidered nose, use a small amount of yarn in pink or dark brown and work a small triangle of satin stitch at the centre of the face, just below the eye line. For the mouth, bring the needle out just below the nose and embroider a tiny inverted V shape. These details are small but transformative — without them your cat looks slightly blank; with them, it has a face.
Whiskers, if you choose to add them, can be made from stiff embroidery thread or even a length of fishing line. Thread through the muzzle area with a tapestry needle, pull to equal lengths on both sides, and secure with a tiny knot inside the stuffing. Three or four whiskers on each side is plenty.
Stripe Variations and Colour Ideas
One of the joys of a knitted cat is how easily you can vary the colourway to create entirely different characters. A plain cream cat becomes an elegant white cat. A dark grey with subtle stripes becomes a convincing British shorthair. An orange and white cat is immediately a tabby. A solid black cat with green eyes is mysterious and perfect.
To add simple horizontal stripes to the body, change yarn colour at the beginning of a knit row every 4–6 rows. Carry the unused yarn loosely up the side of your work rather than cutting and rejoining each time, which saves a great deal of ends to weave in later.
For a more complex striped pattern — the sort of beautiful swirling tabby stripes you see on real cats — intarsia knitting technique is worth exploring, though it adds considerable complexity and is perhaps a second project rather than a first.
Finishing Touches
Once your cat is assembled, give it a gentle block if needed — a light steam or a damp cloth pressed against it can smooth out any unevenness in the knitting. Check all your seams are secure by giving the toy a gentle firm squeeze and a tug at the limbs. Weave in any remaining ends so that nothing can be pulled out.
At this point you might consider adding a little ribbon around the neck, which is optional but very charming. A narrow velvet ribbon in a deep colour — burgundy or forest green or midnight blue — tied in a small bow gives your cat a very distinguished look indeed. Alternatively, a tiny knitted bow worked in contrast yarn does the same job and feels satisfyingly handmade.
A Few Words on Gifting a Knitted Cat
A handmade knitted cat is one of the nicest things you can give to someone. It takes time and care to make, and those qualities are visible in the finished object in a way that mass-produced things simply are not. Children adore them. Adults who claim to be too grown-up for soft toys tend to keep them on their desks and deny that they are attached to them, while clearly being very attached to them.
If you are making this as a gift for a child under three, please remember to embroider the eyes rather than using safety eyes, and to check all seams are extremely secure. Safety is not the most romantic part of toy making, but it matters enormously.
Keeping a Record
One last piece of advice, from one knitter to another: write down what you did. Note the yarn you used, the needle size, any modifications you made to the pattern, and what the finished cat looked like. You will almost certainly want to make another one, and there is nothing more frustrating than trying to recreate a project you cannot quite remember. A simple notebook kept with your knitting supplies is one of the most useful tools you can have.
There you have it — a complete guide to knitting your very own cat, from the first cast on stitch to the final whisker. It is a project that rewards patience and attention to detail, but it is never difficult, and the result is something genuinely lovely. Put the kettle on, find a comfortable chair, and cast on. Your cat is waiting to be made.
Happy knitting, from Britain with Love.
