Crazy knitting projects - The cat jumper

While I patiently await the arrival of a baby of my very own, I am not ashamed to admit that I use our precious Burmese cats as baby replacements. And every baby cat needs a knitted jumper. Enough said.

After all the fun I had been having with beanies, I decided it was time to move on to bigger and greater projects. As I was casting my mind around some potential knits, one of my cats slunk past me, probably up to no good. And while I gazed after her, trying to figure out what she was planning on shredding next, an idea was born: My cats need a knitted jumper!

You may have spotted the familiar twirling look from the ever popular Hurricane Hat, which is super easy to implement across all sorts of projects. The pattern for the jumper itself came from a variety of source inspirations, mostly intended for humans...

What you will need:

• Some soft, light yarn of your choice and appropriate size 40 cm circular needles
• Blunt sowing needle for weaving in ends
• A good understanding of the gauge you will be working with

I chose:

• Pure Wool Supa YARN in dark blue (available at Spotlight, Australia)
• 5 mm/ 40 cm circular needles

The gauge and the maths:

Note on required size: I have never owned cats before these two, so I am not familiar with how big they normally are. Mine are two female, Burmese cats that have just reached adulthood and weigh around 3kg. Be sure to measure your cat (or dog) carefully before you begin this jumper and replace my measurements and gauge (in purple) with yours.

You will need to make a few calculations before you can begin knitting this project. The easiest way to make this jumper is to find out how many stitches you need to start with (calculation A), how many stitches you need to finish with (calculation B) and how big the chest and back piece need to be (calculation D). You can then simply match your work to the measurements as you go. Alternatively, use the optional calculations (C, E and F) to find out exact stitch and row numbers.

Gauge with my yarn and needle size was 17 stitches x 24 rows = 10 x 10 cm/ 4 x 4 inches.

Calculation A - Belly circumference:

• 35 cm
• So 3.5 x gauge stitches (17) = start with approx. 60 stitches

Calculation B - Neck circumference

• 21 cm
• So 2 x gauge stitches (17) = end with approx. 35 stitches

Calculation C - Length between the hind and front legs:

• 15 cm
• So 1.5 x gauge rows (24) = knit approx. 15 cm or 36 rows from start of work to beginning of front leg holes

Calculation D - Length between the front legs

• 7.5 cm
• So 0.75 x gauge stitches (17) = approx. 13 stitches for front piece and thus 47 stitches for back piece

Calculation E - Width of the front legs at the very top

• 5 cm
• So 0.5 x gauge rows (24) = knit each piece for approx. 5 cm or 13 rows

Once you have established your minimum numbers you can adjust them slightly, to accommodate for any particular stitch patterns you would like to use.

The pattern:

K - Knit
P - Purl
K2tog - knit 2 stitches together
K2togtbl - knit 2 stitches together through the back loop (this is just like a SSK - just try both and see which one you prefer)

Cast on a multiple of 5 plus 2 stitches in your preferred method. The stitch number should be as close to calculation A as possible.

Start the rib for the edge:

Join the round, being careful not to twist the work.

Knit in [K1, P1] rib for approx 2 cm. When you are in your final ribbing round, knit [K1, P1] until you have two stitches left. Knit those two stitches together to bring your stitch total to a multiple of 5 plus 1 stitches. Don't worry, it won't stick out like a sore thumb, as the decrease will blend in nicely with the ribbing.

Start the Hurricane pattern:

Just like the Hurricane Hat frees you from having to count rounds, so does this pattern.

Simply start knitting in [K4, P1] and watch your work grow until it's long enough to cover the length between the hind and front legs (see calculation C).

Start the front leg holes:

Now split the work into the front piece and the back piece (see calculation D for the required number of stitches for each piece).

These pieces will be knitted in rows rather than rounds and will require a little bit of thinking. Slip all the stitches required for the back piece onto a stitch holder purl-wise and only work with the smaller number of stitches required for the front piece. Slipping stitches purl-wise prevents them from twisting.

You may have noticed by now that when you were knitting this pattern in the round, your purl stitch is always right before your last purl stitch from the row below. You don't want to be purling into your purl stitches, as this would just give you some sort of wide ribbing effect.

When you work in rows, this will be a little bit different, as the right and the wrong side of the work will be facing you with every alternating row. In this case, when the right side of the work faces you (the one that shows you the lovely Hurricane pattern), proceed as explained above. When the wrong side of the work faces you, also known as the purl side, do the exact opposite: [P4, K1] for the whole row. On the wrong side, the new knit stitch will always be right after the knit stitch from the row below.

For the front piece, also keep an eye on the beginning of each row, to ensure your hurricane pattern gets replaced as it drops off the end.

Once you have knitted the required length for the front piece, as per calculation D, cut the yarn leaving a nice long tail for weaving in later. Slip those stitches onto a stitch holder and don't forget about doing it purl-wise.

Slip the back piece stitches back onto your working needles, join the yarn and keep on knitting in pattern for the required length (again as per calculation D).

Join it up again:

When you have finished both pieces, you can join all stitches in the round again and begin your decrease. Decreasing around the front legs will mean that you can hide the decreases nicely.

Calculation B tells you how how many stitches you need to reduce to, to make the neck comfortable and ensure you little furry friend doesn't choke. Unless your cat has a very long neck or you want to make it a turtle neck jumper, you can decrease by two stitches on every round, until you reach your required final stitch count. To do that, simply continue knitting in pattern, and do one [K2tog] before the right leg hole and one [K2togtbl] right after the left leg hole.

When you reach your required number of stitches as per calculation B, knit one or two more rounds in pattern, before binding of loosely. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Weave in all ends.

Enjoy watching your cat either strut through the house in a jumper or try to rip it off herself. :)

Such a happy cat. :)