Saturday, May 10, 2008

Chaton Minet - Free Cat basket Knitting Pattern




The cat basket is finished. The lovely boy in the basket is Miche. Chaton Minet is the name I ended up giving to this cat basket. It is also the title of a famous French Nursery rhyme. I thought the name suited the whimsical spirit of the basket. I really like the chevrons, and the edges which I curled into shape.






The basket is knit in the round, and there is no seaming to do! The basket is then felted.
I hope you will have fun knitting it, and that your feline friends will love it!

Chaton Minet

Materials: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, 2 of each color: M-18 Khaki, M-13 Sun Yellow, M-52 Spruce, M-120 Limeade.
Needle: 29" US 13
Finished size after stretching and shaping 17" diameter

Chevron Pattern:
R1: *K1 f&b, K9, SL2, K1, P2SSO, K9, K1f&b* Repeat from * to *
R2: Purl





Please note that the whole basket is knit in garter stitch using 2 strands of yarn held together. The garter stitch felts thicker, and gives the basket a firm texture.

With Spruce, CO 161 stitches. Join round. Knit 6 rows in garter stitch.

Start chevron pattern above in following order of colors:
*4 rounds limeade, 4 rounds khaki, 4 rounds sun yellow, 2 rounds spruce* This forms 1 color pattern repeat. Knit a total of 3 color pattern repeats. On the last color pattern repeat replace the last 2 rounds of spruce, with 6 rounds of plain garter stitch with no chevron in Spruce.


Base decreases:
Base is knit in Khaki.
R1: K2tog, *Knit8, K2TOG* Repeat from *
R2: and all even rounds purl
R3: Knit
R5: Knit
R7:*K7 , K2TOG*Repeat
R9: Knit
R11:Knit
R13:*K6, K2TOG*Repeat
R15: Knit
R17: Knit
R19:*K5, K2TOG* Repeat
R21:*K4, K2TOG* Repeat
R23:*K3, K2TOG* Repeat
R25:*K2, K2TOG* Repeat
R27:*K1, K2TOG* Repeat
R29:*K2TOG*
Repeat R29 until 5-7 stitches remain. Gather remaining stitches with a darning needle.
Weave in ends.



Put the basket in a zippered pillow case, and throw in wash in hot water with laundry detergent, monitoring the progress.
The basket will be crumpled, and somewhat wavy because of the chevron and will need to be shaped, pulled, and tugged on. If you don't believe me look at this picture.I find that paying a lot of attention to the shaping really pays off, and our feline babies deserve only the best!



Copyright, Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer 2008. This pattern is for personal use only.

13 comments:

Laiane said...

Just lovely! (Both the basket and the cat) I've done the Kitty Pi felted cat bed 4 times. Well, 3 and a half time; I'm still working on the fourth and going brain dead from the never-ending garter stitch.

I'll definitely try this pattern next. The chevron pattern will keep me interested and I'll be able to use up a lot of Cascade 220 leftovers from sweaters.

Jen Renoden said...

I LOVE this kitty bed and I bet my "Rosie" would too!!! I'm definitely putting it on my project wishlist!

Darla said...

What a cool basket! How old is Miche? He is such a beautiful cat!

Claudia M. said...

This a fun basket! I bet it's a quick knit too.

Mary said...

I am going to start one tonight!

Cynthia A. said...

This is really lovely, thank you very much for posting the pattern. I was wondering, is this knit throughout with just one strand of worsted, or do you use it doubled with that size of needle?

I really like the colours that you have used, and it appears that Miche loves it!

Anonymous said...

The cat is beautiful and so is his basket. Will he sleep in it though? Our cats sleep on:

the fridge
top of the boiler
windowsill (depending on where the sun is)
any box that someone leaves open
large shopping & handbags (if they can fit in)
Top of someone's wardrobe (it's fun to jump off and land on a human in the middle of the night and scare them half to death)
under the hedge
newly washed clothes (especially those in a contrasting colour to the fur, so shed hairs are more visible)
knitting (of course)

etc etc, but I doubt they would sleep in anything intended for that purpose.

Enjoy you basket & kitty.

Alison (UK)

Sherri said...

So cute (kitty & basket). I made the kitty-pi when our Gerorgi was a kiten, but he's to big for it now ... I shall have to give this one whirl for our sweet boy!

Nessa said...

This is so great! I'm going to have to add this to my list of must-knits.

Munchkin said...

I would love to try this pattern but what does K F&B mean?

mla925 said...

This is such a wonderful pattern - many thanks for making it available via Ravelry! It's a gift for another cat .. but both of mine, including my very particular Calico have taken ownership. Looks like it's time to start another one!

SockPixie said...

Thank you for the lovely feedback.

boohboo said...

SockPixie, may I applaud your talent in designing this wonderful pattern. I made one already and I was thrilled with the outcome. "Sylvester" is thrilled with it too. I am starting another one for "Vinnie" and I have one question: When you refer to "rounds of the chevron pattern" would a round include the row of chevron followed by row of purl??