{"id":21157,"date":"2016-12-07T06:03:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T13:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allaboutami.com\/?p=21157"},"modified":"2018-04-01T21:38:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T03:38:17","slug":"chester-curious-christmas-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutami.com\/chester-curious-christmas-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Chester the Curious Christmas Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

***Please note that this is the step-by-step tutorial<\/strong> showing the making of Chester the cat. \u00a0The FREE PATTERN<\/strong><\/a> can be found HERE<\/strong><\/a>! \u00a0You can also find the pattern as an inexpensive,\u00a0ad-free PDF in my Etsy store HERE<\/strong><\/a> and Craftsy store HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

Ever since we designed our Christmas Teddy Ornaments<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0five years ago, I had been wanting to make a new Christmas amigurumi.\u00a0 I crocheted a tiny stocking ornament using this pattern HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and thought it would be so cute to design my own stocking and have a kitten peeking out of it with its paws and tail visible!\u00a0 I had seen some adorable dust plugs of cats hanging on\u00a0the edges of cell phones (see HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>), and thought this was such a cute concept.\u00a0 As each Christmas went by, I did not manage to find the time to design this project as I was either pregnant, with a newborn, or with a toddler and a baby!\u00a0 Christmas seemed to creep up so quickly, but I knew I would bring this design floating around my head to life one day.<\/p>\n

\"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

This year, I made sure to plan for this design as my December Lion Brand<\/strong><\/a> collaboration project and start early!\u00a0 My initial plan was to make a small stocking with a tiny\u00a0cat inside so that it could be hung on the Christmas tree as an ornament.\u00a0 However, we decided to enlarge this project so that we would have a functional stocking that could actually hold items.\u00a0 By doing so, the cat would also be larger, and it would be easier to add details such as whiskers, stripes, ear lining, etc to him (compared to if he were tiny).\u00a0 Below is the sketch that Ryan created, and we were excited to get started!<\/p>\n

\"Crochet<\/p>\n

I chose to use Vanna’s Choice<\/strong><\/a> for the majority of this project since this acrylic yarn comes in a wide variety of colours and is great for amigurumi.\u00a0 It is a level 4 worsted weight, and I used my 2.75 Clover Amour hook<\/strong> <\/a>to crochet the stocking and the cat!<\/p>\n

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To begin, I started off using white yarn to create the toe<\/strong> of the stocking.\u00a0 I worked in continuous unjoined rounds to form this bowl-like shape.<\/p>\n

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When flattened, it looked like this!<\/p>\n

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Next, I changed to red yarn and continued working round by round.<\/p>\n

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After completing this red portion, it was time to begin the heel<\/strong> of the stocking!<\/p>\n

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I placed my first stitch marker<\/strong> (green<\/em>) in the last stitch of my current round.\u00a0 Note that this is where the working yarn is located and I DID NOT cut the yarn (we will continue using this red working yarn later on).\u00a0 I counted 17 stitches clockwise from that 1st stitch marker and placed my second stitch marker<\/strong> (peach<\/em>).\u00a0 Note that this is where we will begin working the heel with white yarn.<\/p>\n

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I joined my white yarn where the second stitch marker was located and began working single crochets around.\u00a0 During this part of the heel, I worked in turned rows<\/strong> going back and forth.<\/p>\n

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One row is complete!<\/p>\n

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I worked more rows to build up the heel…<\/p>\n

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Next, I\u00a0chained 10.<\/p>\n

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I then used a slip stitch to join this series of chain stitches to the first stitch of the last row.<\/p>\n

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I continued crocheting around the heel as normal and began approaching the series of chain stitches.<\/p>\n

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I worked in the back loops only<\/strong> of these chain stitches so that the front loops could be used later on.\u00a0 Note that to close up the back heel of the stocking, I worked in continuous rounds.<\/p>\n

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I decreased after each subsequent round to close the gap. \u00a0Here is the circle that was formed!<\/p>\n

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With the toe and back heel complete, it was now time to continue working on the upper part of the stocking!\u00a0 Remember that first stitch marker we placed? \u00a0It was time to revisit it!<\/p>\n

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Starting from that 1st green stitch marker, I continued using the working red yarn to crochet clockwise in continuous rounds to build up the height of the stocking.<\/p>\n

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When working across the back white part, I crocheted in the front loops that were left from before!<\/p>\n

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After many rounds of red, I was happy with the height of the stocking!\u00a0 You’ll notice that this is more of a kawaii 3D stocking compared to the traditional flatter ones.<\/p>\n

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You can stuff the stocking to help it keep its shape!<\/p>\n

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To create the fuzzy rim of the stocking, I used “Homespun” in Hepplewhite<\/strong><\/a> with a 4 mm hook<\/a>.\u00a0 I worked in joined rounds to create this ring.\u00a0 Note that when working with fuzzy yarn, the “right” side is actually less fuzzy compared to the “wrong” side (read more about the right and wrong side when working in rounds HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Thus, I flipped my ring inside out so that the fuzzier side would be showing!\u00a0 I then sewed this rim onto the top part of the stocking so that the rim overlapped the last round of red.<\/p>\n

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To make the rim even fuzzier, I pulled out my old Dog Slicker Brush (similar HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>).\u00a0 I used this brush when I first started my blog for my “Valentine Teddy<\/strong><\/a>” and “Fuzzy White Bear<\/strong><\/a>” projects.<\/p>\n

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As you can see, by using this special brush on the rim, it became much fuzzier!<\/p>\n

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Now my stocking was complete!\u00a0 If you were just looking for a unique stocking pattern, you could stop here!\u00a0 You could personalize them with your initials (see this crocheted alphabet HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>) or some fun crochet appliques!<\/p>\n

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Now it was finally time to begin working on the cat<\/strong> who would be peering out of the stocking!\u00a0 I started off by crocheting around a foundation chain to create an oval shape.\u00a0 See my tutorial on how to do this HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/p>\n

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I was very happy with how the head shape was turning out!<\/p>\n

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I also crocheted two triangular ears and three series of chain stitches for the stripes atop the cat’s head!<\/p>\n

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Ryan added the safety eyes and embroidered the nose\/mouth and whiskers before I closed up the head.\u00a0 He then sewed the ears and the three grey stripes onto the top of the cat’s head!\u00a0 What a kawaii face!<\/p>\n

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Here is a close-up of the whiskers!<\/p>\n

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Here is a close-up of the top so you can see how the ears are slightly pinched and where\u00a0the stripes are placed.<\/p>\n

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I thought I would include more views and angles of the head too!<\/p>\n

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Next, I crocheted some little arms and inserted wire into them so that they could bend.\u00a0 You may remember that I used wiring for my amigurumi Chinese New Year Monkey<\/strong><\/a> so that his tail was poseable and his arms could hold a banana. I used decorative floral wiring (12 gauge)<\/a> and in this case, we wanted him to be able to hold onto the stocking!<\/p>\n

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We also added three black lines for each paw as an optional detail!<\/p>\n

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We then sewed the arms onto the bottom of the cat’s head!<\/p>\n

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Here is a view of the attachment from underneath.<\/p>\n

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Instead of a sharp right angle, we bent the arms so that it was more of an “S” shape slanting downwards.<\/p>\n

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I crocheted a long tube for the tail and stuffed gently as I went along.<\/p>\n

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To get ready for the tail wiring, we folded a long piece of wire and cut it.\u00a0 We inserted the bent tip into the tail so that it was at the tip of the tail (thus no sharp ends would have a chance to protrude outwards).<\/p>\n

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With the wiring inserted into the crocheted tail, it could take on a beautifully curved shape!<\/p>\n

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Ryan then inserted the tail into the stocking and sewed the bottom part of the tail onto the top of the stocking using white yarn as shown below. \u00a0By using white yarn, the stitches would not be visible on the outer rim of the stocking.<\/p>\n

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Here is a closer-up view:<\/p>\n

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This next part is the trickiest part: Ryan sewed the cat’s head onto the tail.\u00a0 He positioned the cat’s head and paws so that at resting position, the cat would cover the opening of the stocking.<\/p>\n

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By securing the cat’s head only on the tail, this allowed the tail and head to pivot backwards, thereby making the stocking functional!<\/p>\n

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After all the crocheting, wiring and attaching, our cat and stocking were complete! \u00a0The curved tail serves as a wonderful way to hang your cat stocking onto the mantle, doorknobs or anywhere you want!<\/p>\n

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When we were creating this little fella, the name “Chester”<\/strong> immediately came to mind!\u00a0 Don’t you love Chester’s sweet face?<\/p>\n

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Chester is such an adorable way to add some Christmas decor to your home!\u00a0 If you are ambitious, you could make one for every member of your family! \u00a0Can you imagine cats of all different colours?\u00a0 Or maybe different kawaii animals in each stocking? \u00a0You could use Chester’s pattern as a guide and modify the ears and tails to make different animals!<\/p>\n

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I am delighted that we could finally bring this Christmas design to life after all these years of wanting to make him!\u00a0 He turned out so well, and I love how the stocking is actually functional too!<\/p>\n

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You can check out this short video we filmed showing how Chester and the stocking work!<\/p>\n

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A video posted by Stephanie (@allaboutami)<\/a> on