Kitten Nuggets

This project is small and fairly quick. It can be done with small bits of left
over yarn. You can also customize your kittens by alternating light and dark
yarns to create a tabby pattern, or use a light colored yarn for the base and the
bobble stitches to create the look of a colored kitty with a white belly and feet.
These kitties make excellent party favors and class gifts, but I've also found
that they make great cat toys and excellent gifts for any cat lover if you mimic
the colors of their pets.
 Materials and notions:
- worsted weight yarn (red heart, Caron simply soft, "I Love This Cotton" are
just a few of the yarns I've used)

-12 mm safety eyes (you could possibly use buttons but it wouldn't have the
same effect and I wouldn't recommend them for very small children or cats)

-fiber fill for stuffing(I added stiff mint wrappers to the stuffing when making
cat toys to create a crinkle noise when bitten)

-tapestry needle

-F/5-3.75mm crochet hook(or hook to make guage small enough that stuffing
doesn't poke out)

-stitch markers can be helpful but are not necessary if you cant keep track of
your stitches

Techniques to know:
-Magic Loop
-Single crochet(sc)
-Chain (ch)
-Slip (sl)
-Single crochet 2 together decrease (sc2tog)
-Bobble stitch; crochet 5 double crochet stitches together in one base stitch
(youtube can be helpful if you need further instructions)

Set up: sc 8 into magic loop, do not join work rows 1 and 2 in the round, place
marker at beginning of rounds if necessary.

Row 1: 2 sc into each stitch (16)

Row 2:* sc, 2sc* repeat 8 times (24)
Row 3: sc 9, bobble st, sc 4, bobble st, sc9
Row 4: {tail shaping: sc, chain 4, sl in second ch from hook, sc in next 2 ch, sl to
same hole as sc before chain} ch 1, sc to end of row, join to ch1 skipping
over tail and pull tight (24)
Row 5-8: ch 1, sc 24, join (24)
Row 9: ch1, sc2tog, sc8, sc2tog,sc2tog, sc8, sc2tog,join (20)
Row 10:ch1, sc 20, join (20)
Row 11: ch1, sc2tog, sc 6, sc2tog, sc2tog, sc 6, sc2tog, join, fasten off leaving
roughly 8inch tail (16)

Place safety eyes in Row 7 using feet for reference to get them even; I like to
leave 2 stitches between eyes.
Stuff the cat, then pinch the opening flat and sew closed across top by weaving
long tail over 4 stitches(picture A) and stitching from one corner to the other
using outside stitches only (yellow in picture B). Fasten off and weave in end.
Finally use about 6 inches of nose color (pink is fairly universal, and grey works
well for black cats and Siamese) to make a nose roughly one stitch wide just
below the eyes.

Picture A Picture B
# For Siamese cats :
Use white or cream for the main color (MC), and grey or brown for the accents
(AC) bobbles, tail, and top/ear portion.
#Row 9: MC-ch1, sc2tog, AC- sc8, MC-sc2tog,sc2tog, AC-sc8, MC- sc2tog, join.
#Rows 10-11:work normally using only AC.