The three little kittens! (but I don't think they have lost their mittens :) )
I love cats so was very quickly drawn to the Ami Cats crochet cats, designed by June at Planet June.
The patterns are not free, you do have to purchase them, so I only bought one - the tabby cat - as I wasn't sure how easy it would be and didn't want to waste money. You can buy one pattern for each of three cats, or all three in one pattern at a discounted priced.
The patterns are really well written with lots of written instructions and also photographic help for both right and left handed crocheters. There are instructions for making the features in a variety of ways too.
I would recommend using stitch markers as it is easy to lose count and a marker will help note of the first stitch of each round. Stitch count is essential, make one mistake and the whole cat will look wrong, so count each round has the right number of stitches to make sure you have got it right, rather than risk finding it doesn't work out at the end. Also, for the tabby there are lots of colour changes for the stripes so it is easy to lose count of those.
It can get quite fiddly to do the stripes and some of the small pieces, such as the ears but all you need is patience, time and concentration.
The instructions tell you to stuff the front legs and then continue to work around them to fasten to the body, but I found it easier to attach them first, then stuff them once the body was finished, but that is a matter of personal choice and what works for you.
I first made a tabby. I've called him Tiger:
As previously said it does have a lot of yarn changes for the stripes and you will have a lot of yarn ends to darn in, but there are tips on how to best use the yarn to avoid having too many. I used 6mm eyes as that was all I had at the time, but they seem a bit too small.
Next I tried one in a grey variegated yarn, leaving out the stripes and just working the whole cat in one shade. I called him Isiah, because when I'd finished I noticed one eyes higher than the other!
I tried 10mm eyes on this one but they seem too big, although it does give that nice wide eyed kitten look and before I sewed on the ears it did look more like a seal.
Having a look through my stash I found some fur yarn in a very light blue, it made me think of a beautiful Persian blue cat, so I thought I would see how that worked out. It was tricky seeing the tiny stitches through the fur but it seemed to come out OK, again it needed time and patience and it was probably a mistake to try and make it while watching War and Peace on TV! After quite a few mistake I decide to leave it to a quieter time when I could fully concentrate. Because of the War and Peace connection I've called him Pierre.
I used 8mm eyes on this one and they seem just right.
By a strange coincidence while looking through a box for yarns I came
across an old book that I'd had from my childhood, it was called The
Three Little Kittens!
I remember vividly reading this with my mother and loving the little kittens. I'm sure this is where my love of cats came from.
You can find the pattern for the Ami Cats here:
http://www.planetjune.com/blog/amicats-crochet-patterns/
and thank you June for such a fun time making them.
Whatever you get up to, happy crocheting!
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