Knit Catnip Mouse Pattern
Warning – this post is image heavy and many of those images are filled with cameo appearances from Lada the NourishNestBreathe cat. If you are not charmed by cat photos, consider yourself forewarned!
Lada enjoying the new mouse!
I am guilty of spoiling my cats. I believe there is no such thing as too many toys. Lada (the resident NourishNestBreathe kitty) has a toy box which is overflowing with toys of all kinds, many of them homemade. But I don’t only make toys for Lada, I like to gift toys to the cats of friends and family as well. One of the toys which is well received when gifted is my knit catnip mice. I am so happy that the cats love them for a few reasons:
- This is an easy pattern! I can churn out several of these while watching tv or a movie at night.
- The pattern is a great way to use up the vintage wool yarn I couldn’t resist buying at thrift stores for years (and as a result have a nice large basket of).
- This pattern also lets me use little scraps of batting (it is a great way to use cut-off scraps of batting after making the eye mask pattern here) which are leftover from other projects.
Lada surveying a sea of mice awaiting tails and stuffing
If you want to make these really indulgent, you could include some matatabi or silvervine in with (or instead of) the catnip. Some cats prefer wool yarn, others seem to not care about the fiber content of the yarn as long as the mouse contains catnip! If for any reason your cat does not like catnip or matatabi, you can make the mouse and fill it with just batting omitting the catnip.
Cast on for the mouse – I am using vintage wool baby yarn doubled.
Also, if your cat is a chewer, you might want to omit the tail, Lada does have a habit of nibbling the tail off bit by bit. I don’t like her ingesting the yarn, so the next batch I make for her will be tailless. If you want to use yarn scraps to stuff the mice, make sure they are wrapped up in the batting, cats also have a tendency to eventually chew the faces off the mice. Once there is a hole in the mouse if they were able to get to loose scraps of yarn, they might eat them and run into issues.
Ready to cast-off. Lada fell asleep waiting for the mouse!
PSA – it is really dangerous for cats to swallow string, yarn, ribbon, etc. It can get wrapped up in their intestines and require emergency surgery. When making knit toys for cats, always keep in mind both your cat’s behavior and ways to minimize their ingestion of any yarn.
If you enjoy making these catnip mice as much as I do, consider making a few extra to donate to your local animal shelter. If you are feeling really generous I know your shelter would love to receive a bag of food or litter along with the mice to help them provide for the cats in their care.
Catnip Mouse Pattern
Materials
- 10-15 yards worsted weight yarn (or two strands of baby/fingering weight yarn held together)
Mouse ready to have the nose and belly seamed.
- Six 6 knitting needles (either circular or double pointed)
- Pinch of catnip
- Small piece of batting
Directions
Cast on 20 stitches, leaving at least a 6-inch tail.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit
Picking up the tail stitches
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit to last three stitches, K2tog
Row 6: Purl to last three stitches, P2tog
Repeat rows 5 and 6 until there are six stitches left on the needle.
Cast off all stitches and cut yarn, leaving a very long tail.
Preparing to stuff the mouse (notice the “helping” hand)
Fold the triangle of fabric in half, and seam up the nose and bottom of the mouse. You will now have two strings of yarn at the base of the back of the mouse. I like to tie a quick overhand knot in these strings to secure them. One of the strings will be shorter (your cast-on tail), the other will be longer (your cast-off/seaming up tail).
Mouse stuffed and ready for sewing the final seam
Pick-up three stitches from the base of the mouse’s back. Knit 3-stitch i-cord with the longer piece of yarn. Cast off when the tail is approximately three inches (make the tail shorter or longer based on your preference and the length of yarn you have). You can also crochet a chain for the tail if you would rather avoid i-cord. I prefer the i-cord tail as it is sturdier (especially when you are playing tug-of-war with your cat). Run the end left from casting-off the tail back through the tail and tuck it into the body of the mouse.
Get a small piece of batting and spread it flat into a circle Place your pinch of catnip in the middle of this circle. Fold it up to create a roughly mouse shaped wad of batting which contains the catnip and has one end wider than the other. Put the narrower end into the nose of the mouse. Make sure the batting is all the way into the mouse. Use the shorter tail to seam up the back of the mouse. Weave in the end.
Toss to your cat who probably has been staring at you since you got out the yarn and needles anyway!
