One of the first handwork projects 1st graders in Waldorf schools make is a knit kitty. I used to help teach 1st graders handwork before I began Ritual Dyes and this project always stuck with me! It is a super sweet and easy project that yields adorable results. If you are helping a child to make this kitty, the majority of this can be completed by them. If you'd like to make the finished result a surprise, you can tell them that they are just practicing knitting and walk them through the first steps as described below. 

You can watch all of my Learn To Knit video tutorials on my YouTube Channel here. 

Start by casting on 15 stitches and knitting until you have a square of stitches, then bind off leaving the tails long. 

Fold the square in half and pin in place. Using a sewing needle with a large eye, thread one of the tails by the shorter side and begin whip stitching one of the short sides, and then down the long side. Leave the tail long.  

Note that one short side is left open and unsewn. 

Turn right side out and bring the tales to the outside. 

With small fluffs of wool, stuff the body. 

At this point, if you are helping to make this with a child, I like to take over from here and present them a finished kitty that has magically come to life. To continue, use one of the tails along with your sewing needle and take some stitches in and out on both side of the top to imply ears. 

You can also take some stitches in and out of the neck area to emphasize the neck.

If you are familiar with crochet, you can use a crochet hook to chain the final tail of the work into a proper kitty's tail. If you do not know how to do this- don't worry! Your kitty will look just as cute if you leave this tail and trim it to an appropriate kitty length. 

Materials used:

• Wool Batting 
• Ritual Dyes Learn-to-Knit Kit (or Single Point Straight Needles (US #10)and Bulky Weight yarn)
• Scissors
• Pins (or you can use the knitting needle to keep the work in place while sewing)
• Crochet Hook (E)
• Sewing Needle with large eye