A Christmas stocking for the cat, worked in worsted weight yarn with paw prints across the front and a small fish face detail.
Yarn
Written for Red Heart Super Saver: one skein each of soft white (A), tea leaf green (B) and cherry red (C), plus a small amount of black (D) for the fish face. Any worsted weight acrylic will substitute cleanly.
Acrylic is the right choice here for a reason beyond cost. A pet stocking gets batted around, chewed and dragged under furniture, and it needs to survive a hot wash afterwards. Wool would felt; cotton would go limp.
Working the colour changes
The paw prints are worked in contrast colour against the background. Carry the unused colour along the back of the work rather than cutting and rejoining at every change – it saves a great many ends to weave in, and on a stocking the inside is never seen.
Keep the carried strand loose. Pulled tight, it will draw the fabric in and the stocking will narrow visibly wherever the colourwork sits.
Safety around cats
Weave every end in thoroughly and trim close. Loose yarn ends are exactly what a cat will find and pull, and swallowed yarn is a genuine veterinary emergency rather than a minor nuisance.
For the same reason, skip any dangling decorations, pom-poms or bells hung on string. If you want something for the cat to play with, put it inside the stocking rather than attaching it.
Finishing
Work a firm hanging loop and anchor it into the fabric properly. A stocking filled with treats and toys is heavier than it looks, and a cat pulling at it from below adds considerably more load than a hook is usually asked to take.
