Peko cats egg cozies : Winter 2013

by Diane Trap

Egg cozies fit over a boiled egg to keep it warm. These are shaped like cats.

The first time I'd heard of egg cozies was in The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy, by James Anderson. The egg cozies, a set of six made of fluffy white wool if I remember correctly, were dismissed as bazaar tat, a small thing to buy at a parish fete if one must buy something to be polite, until, of course, they became a Vital Clue.

According to light British literature and the BBC, soft boiled eggs, cooked three minutes and served in the shell in a proper egg cup with toast soldiers for dipping, are a mainstay of nursery teas and breakfasts with kippers. Christopher Robin would share an egg with Pooh and Piglet, Bertie Wooster and Bingo Little would stare moodily at an SBE after a night on the tiles, and Miss Marple would have a nice fresh one brought up on a tray.

My design process was something like "you could make egg cozies shaped like cats... and the paws could be made with a picot bindoff! And i-cord for the tail!" They are one small step in a fiendish master plan to rule the world by covering small domestic items with knitting. (It's a secret plan. Shh! Don't tell.)

The doll house in the photos was built by my grandfather, Carl Jensen, in the late 1930s. The furniture is original.

photos: Diane Trap


SIZE Large egg

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest circumference: 6 inches
Length: 2.5 inches, plus tail

MATERIALS
Yarn
One color cats:
Patons Classic Wool Worsted [100% wool; 210yd/192m per 100g skein];
[Grey cat] Dark Gray Mix, 1 ball
[Cream cat] Aran, 1 ball
[Light brown cat] Natural Marl, 1 ball

Stripy cat:
Patons Classic Wool Worsted [100% wool; 210yd/192m per 100g skein];
[MC] Yellow; 1 ball
[CC1] Aran; 1 ball

Siamese cat:
Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool [100% wool; 465yd/425m per 227g skein]
[MC] Oatmeal; 1 ball
[CC1]: Natural Brown; 1 ball

All cats, for collar:
[CC] Patons Classic Wool Worsted [100% wool; 210yd/192m per 100g skein]; color: Bright Red; 1 skein

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 set US #5/3.75mm double-point needles

Notions
heavy-duty sewing thread, for whiskers
glass beads, size E, for eyes and nose
standard sewing thread for beads
sewing needle
yarn needle

GAUGE

24 sts/32 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

A completed Peko Cat takes only about 20 yards of yarn.

Note for the Stripey Cat: On this small piece, the "jogless jog" technique for stripes adds bulk without benefit. Nothing bad will happen if you change the striping pattern, but remember to change colors on a knit round, not on the purl round before the feet and tail are worked.

DIRECTIONS
BASIC CAT

Body
With MC, CO 4 st onto 1 DPN.

Round 1: Pull yarn all the way to the right as for knitting i-cord, kfb 4 times. 8 st. Distribute sts across DPNs and join for working in the round.

Round 2: Knit.

Round 3: Kfb 8 times. 16 sts.

Rounds 4-5: Knit.

Round 6: [Kfb, k1] 8 times. 24 sts.

Rounds 7-8: Knit.

Round 9: [Kfb, k2] 8 times. 32 sts.

Rounds 10-11: Knit.
Join CC for collar; do not break MC.

Round 12: Knit around with CC.
Break CC, continue with MC.

Rounds 13-23: Knit.

Round 24: Purl.

Create paws:
Round 25: BO 12 knitwise. 1 st on right needle. Put point of working needle between first 2 sts on the left needle and, using the cable cast-on method, CO 3 sts onto the left needle; BO 8 sts, (starting with the working st on the right needle and working across these new CO sts); CO 3 sts onto the left needle as before; bind off until 3 sts rem (including the 1 on the right needle). K the last 2 sts; pick up a st from the start of the round and knit it together with the last st. 3 sts rem.

Tail
Pull the yarn to the right to begin knitting I-cord tail.
Work 12 rows of I-cord.
Break yarn, and pull the yarn tail through the live stitches to close off.

Weave in all ends.

Ears
Fold the cat flat, so the tail is centered between the paws. Rejoin yarn, and using a single DPN, pick up and knit three stitches, three stitches down from the top of the head, along the folded edge.

Knit 3 rows.
Row 4: K2tog, k1. 3 sts.
Row 5: K2tog. 2 sts.
Row 6: K2tog. 1 st. Cut yarn and pull through rem st to finish.

Repeat on the other side of the cat for the second ear.

SIAMESE CAT
Body and tail
Work as for BASIC CAT, with colors as follows:
Work Rounds 1-6 of Body with CC1.
Break CC1 and join MC.

Work Body through Round 22 with MC (including Round 12 with CC collar).

Break MC and join CC1.

Work Rounds 23-25 and Tail in CC1.

Ears
Work Ears with CC1.

STRIPY CAT
Body and tail
Work as for BASIC CAT, with colors as follows:
Work Rounds 1-13 with MC (including Round 12 with CC collar).

Join CC1 at start of Round 14, and alternate one-round stripes of CC1 and MC to end of Round 23, ending with MC round.

Work Rounds 24-26 and Tail in MC.

Ears
Work Ears with MC.

TORTOISESHELL AND TUXEDO CATS
Work as for BASIC CAT.
Add markings with duplicate stitch, as desired.
See photos for ideas.

FINISHING
Sew beads in place for eyes and nose. For whiskers, thread a needle with doubled heavy duty thread, and stitch a loop where the whiskers should go, securing it with a stitch inside the work. Clip the loop and trim the whiskers to length.

Block and weave in ends.

If you make an egg cozy that looks like your own cat, your feline overlord may briefly deem you an adequate human.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Diane Trap is on Ravelry and blogs occasionally here.

She has not eaten a boiled egg in living memory.