Kitty Egg Warmers

After finishing my Garter Stitch Xmas Gnomes last year, I found that they fitted quite nicely over an egg. That's when I got the idea to knit some egg warmers in an animal shape. My first thought was to to knit an easter bunny (which still needs some adjustments :)  - then I tried a cat.  At first I wanted to create the face with colorwork knitting, but this look too pixelated (or just ugly), so I ended up with an embroidered face.

The egg warmer is knitted completely in garter stitch with a few short rows for shaping. For this project you can use up small leftovers of yarn. A small project such as this is also great for learning a new technique like short rows. provisional CO or grafting in garter stitch.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



Materials

• about 6 to 9 grams of yarn (Sports weight)
• about 40 cm of scrap in a contrast color (I used fingering weight)
• 2.5 mm knitting needles 
• scrap yarn for provisional CO
• a tapestry needle for grafting and for embroidering the face

Techniques

• Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provision CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam - this technique is shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com.

Instructions
With scrap yarn provisionally CO16 sts
Setup row (WS): k all
Ridge 1: k8, w+t, k to end
Ridge 2: k10, w+t, k to end
Ridge 3: k12, w+t, k to end
Ridge 4: k10, w+t, k to end
Ridge 5: k8, w+t, k to end
Ridge 6: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 7: k all, turn, k1, ssk, k to end
Ridge 8: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 9: k all turn, k1, ssk, k to end
Ridge 10: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 11: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 12: k all, turn, k to end - I'd advise to mark this row with a stitch marker or some scrap yarn, it's the middle of the cat's face and will help to start the embroidery at the right place
Ridge 13: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 14: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 15: k all, turn, k1, kfb, k to end
Ridge 16: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 17: k all, turn, k1, kfb, k to end
Ridge 18: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 19: k8, w+t, k to end
Ridge 20: k10, w+t, k to end
Ridge 21: k12, w+t, k to end
Ridge 22: k10, w+t, k to end
Ridge 23:  k8, w+t, k to end
Ridge 24: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 25: k all, turn, k1, ssk, k to end
Ridge 26: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 27: k all, turn, k1, ssk, k to end
Ridge 28: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 29: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 30: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 31: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 32: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 33: k all, turn, k1, kfb, k to end
Ridge 34: k all, turn, k to end
Ridge 35: k all, turn, k1, kfb, k to end
Ridge 36: k all, turn, k to end
Now your piece should look like photo no. 1.
Put the stitches from the provisional CO on another needle, cut yarn, fold piece and graft live stitches from the two needles together in garter stitch. Now your piece should look like photo no. 2. The pink piece of scrap yarn that you see on the photos was what I used as a marker for ridge 12.

Illustration

Sew upper edge together. Thread your tapestry needle with the yarn in contrast color and embroider face according to chart below (or the way you like it best). Weave in ends.

How to read the chart: The chart can be used as complete pattern. Each column shows one knitted ridge. When the ridge ends with a "w+t", knit on RS up to that point, then wrap and turn your work (i.e. knit a short row). All other rows are knitted to the end. When a stitch is marked with kfb or ssk, knit this stitch on the WS. 

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