Cat Toy Knitting Patterns

Two kinds of knitted cat

This is a small, focused collection, and it covers two quite different jobs. The first is a knitted toy cat for a person: a soft, stuffed creature with an embroidered face, made to be held, given as a present and kept for years. The second is a toy for an actual cat, usually a simple stuffed shape filled with catnip and stitched shut with no attachments whatsoever, designed to be batted under the sofa and lost. Both are quick makes from oddments, and several patterns in the collection are free to download.

Choosing a pattern

• Simplest: a flat-knitted cat made from two shaped pieces, seamed and stuffed. All knit and purl plus basic decreases.
• Next step: a cat worked in the round on double pointed needles, giving a smoother body with no side seams.
• More involved: sculpted cats with separately knitted legs, tail and ears sewn on at the end, where the character comes entirely from the assembly.
• For the cat: a catnip mouse or small cushion. Firm fabric, no buttons, no ribbons, nothing that can be chewed loose.

Yarn, needles and stuffing

Use DK or chunky yarn with needles a size or two smaller than the ball band recommends. This matters more for toys than for anything else you knit: a loose fabric lets stuffing poke through in visible white wisps, and a firm one holds the shape crisply. Smooth, tightly plied yarns give the best stitch definition; fluffy yarns hide the shaping you have carefully worked. Acrylic is the practical choice for a toy that will be washed or dragged around. Stuff in small pinches rather than one handful, filling the extremities first with the blunt end of a knitting needle, then the body, and keep going until the toy feels slightly firmer than you think it should, since stuffing settles.

Faces, safety and cat safety

Embroider eyes, nose and whiskers in a contrasting yarn rather than sewing on beads or buttons if the toy is for a small child, and use safety eyes only where they are properly locked and the toy is for an older recipient. For a genuine cat toy, leave off every attachment: no ribbon, no bell sewn on the outside, no long tail that can be swallowed. Sew the closing seam with doubled yarn and a mattress or ladder stitch, then go back over it a second time. Cats test seams harder than children do.

Washing and gifting

Knitted toys in acrylic can usually be washed on a wool cycle in a mesh bag and dried flat, which is worth knowing before you gift one to a family with young children. Wool toys should be surface cleaned or hand washed carefully, since felting will shrink the fabric around the stuffing. A knitted cat with a small handwritten tag giving the yarn and washing instructions makes a much better present than the same cat without one, and it saves the recipient ruining it in a hot wash.

Cat toy knitting questions

Are any of these patterns free? Yes, several designs in this collection are free PDF downloads.

How much yarn does a knitted cat take? Very little, usually well under one 100g ball of DK, so oddments are ideal.

Can a beginner knit a toy cat? Yes. Start with a flat two-piece pattern before attempting one worked in the round.

What stuffing should I use? Washable polyester toy filling, added in small amounts and packed firmly into the extremities first.

Is a knitted toy safe for my cat? Only if it has no buttons, eyes, ribbons or loose ends, and the seams are double stitched.