Cat's Pajamas Homeware Knitting Pattern

Cat's Pajamas Knitted Toy Bag

Project Overview

Cat's Pajamas is a charming knitted homeware accessory and toy from Spud and Chloe that combines functional storage with whimsical character design. This downloadable knitting pattern creates a decorative bag featuring a three-dimensional cat head with embellished facial features, making it both a practical organizer and a delightful decorative piece for children's spaces.

What Is Being Made

The project produces a stuffed cat-head bag with a zippered opening for storage. The main bag body features a cylindrical base that widens at the top, topped with a fully sculpted cat head complete with ears, facial features, and attached limbs. The finished bag measures 5½" in base diameter, 20" in circumference at its widest point, and 11" in height from base to neck. The cat head itself is 6" wide and 5" tall, creating a three-dimensional character that transforms a functional storage piece into a decorative toy.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several intermediate knitting techniques to achieve its dimensional construction:

• Worked in the Round: The primary construction method uses circular needles or double-pointed needles (dpns) to create seamless rounds, beginning with a small cast-on of 8 stitches and expanding through strategic increases.
• Striping: Color work is incorporated through alternating rounds of main color (MC) and contrasting color (CC), with the stripe pattern clearly indicated in the instructions. A two-round stripe repeat creates visual interest on the bag body.
• Seamed Construction: While the main body is worked seamlessly in the round, various components—including the arms, legs, tail, and ears—are worked separately and then seamed or sewn to the main bag body, requiring assembly and finishing skills.
• Three-Dimensional Shaping: The head is constructed by picking up stitches along the upper bag opening and working upward, with strategic increases (make one stitches) to create the rounded cat head form before closing with the Kitchener stitch.
• Embellishment: The face is enhanced with embroidered features including whiskers, nose, and mouth worked in embroidery floss, plus sewn button eyes, adding character and detail.

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches executed in stockinette stitch (st st) as the primary fabric base:

• Knit (k): The foundation stitch used throughout most rounds to create smooth stockinette fabric.
• Make One (m1): Increases worked strategically to expand the circumference, particularly in early rounds (Rounds 2, 6, and 12) to build the bag's dimensional shape from the initial 8 cast-on stitches to 64 stitches.
• Knit Two Together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used for shaping.
• Slip, Slip, Knit (ssk): A left-leaning decrease created by slipping 2 stitches knitwise and knitting them together, used for shaping refinement.
• Slip (sl): Stitches slipped to create clean edges or prepare for decreases.
• Kitchener Stitch: Used to close the crown of the head with an invisible seam, joining live stitches without a visible line.
• Purl (p): Available in the stitch repertoire for pattern variations.

Materials and Yarn

The pattern is designed for Spud and Chloe yarn, with the photo sample shown in Cider #7515 as the main color and Manatee #7525 as the contrasting color, though alternate colorways such as Igloo #7517 and Penguin #7522 are also suitable. The pattern requires approximately ½ yard of 45" lining fabric for the bag interior, a 7" zipper for the opening, and polyfill stuffing for the head, limbs, and tail to achieve the three-dimensional effect.

Tools and Notions

Construction requires double-pointed needles (dpns) appropriate for the yarn weight, stitch markers to track round progression, a stitch holder for managing live stitches, a tapestry needle for weaving in yarn ends and seaming, an embroidery needle for facial features, a sewing needle and thread matching the yarn and lining, assorted embroidery floss for facial details (