Carrot Top Cat Toy
Designed by Tracey Kay A knit carrot stuffed with catnip and topped with a green feather cord.
Materials
orange yarn (20 yards of worsted weight) $12^{\prime\prime}$ green feather cord (available at most fabric stores) · fiberill and catnip for stuffing green thread and sewing needle 4 double pointed needles (dpns) tapestry needle
Gauge
Any yarn will do. Just be sure to select dpn size so the gauge is tight enough that the stuffing will not show and the catnip will stay inside. I used Cascade 220 Heathers worsted weight wool and my gauge was 5.5 stitches/inch with US $6/4.0$ mm dpns.
Dimensions
At 5.5 stitches/inch, the carrot measures 5.5 inches from top to tip and 6 inches around the widest point.
Carrot
Cast on 8 stitches with $\sim\!10^{\prime\prime}$ tail, divide between 3 dpns, and join to work in round. This makes a round hole where you wi insert the green feather top. row $1!\,\mathsf{k}$ (8) row2: $^{*}\mathsf{k}\mathsf{1}\;\mathsf{m}\mathsf{1}^{*}$ repeat (16) row $3:\mathsf{k}$ row 4: $^{*}\mathsf{k}2\,\mathsf{m}\mathsf{1}^{*}$ repeat (24) row 5: k row 6: $^{*}\mathsf{k}3\,\mathsf{m}\mathsf{1}^{*}$ repeat (32) row 7, 8& 9: k row 10: \*ssk, $\mathsf{K}14^{*}$ twice (30) row 11 & 12: k row 13: \*ssk, $\mathsf{K I}3^{*}$ twice (28) row 14 & 15: k row 16: \*ssk, ${\sf k l2^{*}}$ twice (26) row 17 & 18: k row 19: \*ssk, k11\* twice (24) row 20 & 21: k row 22: \*ssk, k10\* twice (22) row 23 & 24: k row 25: \*ssk, $k9^{*}$ twice (20) row 26: k row 27: \*ssk, $k8^{*}$ twice (18) row $28:{\sf k}$ row 29: \*ssk, $k7^{*}$ twice (16) row 30: k
Stop here or when the opening is about 1 inch in diameter to stuff. I stuffed loosely with fiberfill first, made a hollow inside the fiberfill and flled the hollow with catnip, then topped with more fiberfill. row 31: \*ssk, $\mathsf{K}6^{*}$ twice (14) row 32: k row 33: \*ssk, $k5^{*}$ twice (12) row 34: k row 35: \*ssk, $k4^{*}$ twice (10) Add extra stuffing here if you like. Switch from kniting in the round to icord. For i-cord, put all stitches on the right side of one needle with the last stitch knit on the left side. Knit row according to pattern then push all stitches to right side of needle without turning your work over, ready for the next row. row 36: k row 37: \*ssk, $k3^{*}$ twice (8) row 38: k row 39: \*ssk, $k2^{*}$ twice (6) row $40:{\sf k}$ row 41: \*ssk, $k1^{*}$ twice (4) row 42: k Cut yarn and pull tail through 4 remaining stitches 2 times (right to left) then inside the carrot to hide.
Fold the green feather cord in half. Sew the two ends together with green thread by sewing back and forth through the cord, over a length of about one-half inch.
Jam the sewn ends into the hole at the cast-on end of the carrot. It may help to trim off the feathers that will be inside your carrot. Hold the carrot with the top facing you with one of the sewn ends above the other. Use the cast-on tail and a darning needle to make figure 8s around and between the two sewn ends like so: 1. loop yarn clockwise around the top sewn end, stitching through a point on the top half of the cast-on hole (pick a different spot each time) 2. pull yarn between the sewn ends from right to left threading yarn through the right side of the cast-on hole, above or between the stitches holding the sewn ends together, and through the left side of the cast-on hole 3. loop yarn counter-clockwise around the bottom sewn end, stitching through a point on the bottom half of the cast-on hole 4. same as step 2 Repeat until the carrot top is very secure. Pull the remainder of the tail inside the carrot to hide.
