Regular readers will know that I do love a knitting kit. None is sweeter than this Make Your Own Knitted Cat and Mouse Kit from Red Rose and Blue. The kit came with 100% wool to make the cat and the mouse, stuffing, knitting needles and a tapestry needle for making up. It all arrived in a cute little bag and cost £15.50.
Now, upon perusing the pattern, I observed that the knitting bit for the cat looked easy; one square for the tail and a rectangle each for the head and tail. However, a glance at the picture of the cat on the front of the kit suggested it was all a bit more 3D and therefore some effort would be required with the making up if I wanted it to bear any resemblance to the designer's vision.
Anyway, I set off in faith with the garter stitch knitting for the pink cat. The kit provides some intriguing knitting needles that are supposed to give the feel of ivory but I stuck with my own 3.25mm Signature Needles, which are ace for knitting small things.
I was just getting towards the end of rectangle for the cat's head when disaster struck. I ran out of yarn! This was a bit of a shock as I'd kept the tails short and not wasted any by starting again etc. Anyway, it was all sorted with a quick email to Tola at Red Rose and Blue and soon more yarn was on its way.
In the interim, I knitted the mouse, which was garter stitch with some simple shaping. I sewed it up using mattress stitch and then made the tail from a crochet chain rather than attempt the finger knitting suggested in the pattern.
Once my new supply of pink yarn arrived, I finished the cat's head and made its tail. The making up was indeed tough - the body and head need to be shaped quite a lot in the both the sewing and the stuffing.The yarn kept snapping whilst I was doing the sewing, which was hugely aggravating but not really uncommon. The wool looks really nice on the finished kit though.
Anyway, there you have it. A lovely Waldorf-style kitty and mousey. I have two other Red Rose and Blue kits; one for a bunny and one for a family of chickens. I'm looking forward to making them once I've had a little lie down...
Melx
