Welcome to the home of the Morgans, a perfectly normal upper-class British family in the late nineteenth century, except perhaps for one small detail—they’re a little obsessive about their cats. This book will take you on a personal tour of their home and garden, introduce you to each resident, and practically pour you a cup of tea. Of course, it also includes knitting patterns along the way. From Aunt Pru’s Persian to the Scullery Cat, there are 20 cat patterns in all for the enjoyment of the proper hand knitter and lover of felines the world over.

Most of the patterns in this book have sections that are worked flat and sections that are worked in the round, so your attention will always be held. A few of them are geared toward the beginner, with shaping achieved by simple increasing and decreasing. Others are more challenging, using advanced techniques, but even these aren’t hard if the knitter is up for learning something new. I use double pointed needles when working in the round, but have been told that circulars and the magic loop method work for my designs also.

I’m a firm believer in using what you have on hand — don’t stress about yarn brand, needle size, or gauge. Just make sure that the fabric you create is tighter than it would be for a garment, so the stuffing won’t show through the stitches in the end. Creating a tighter fabric will also help maintain the shape of your creation. Many of these cats (as with all of my designs) are worked in one piece, so the final outcome and appearance of your project will partially depend on the fabric you create.

There are many illustrations throughout the pages of this book — carefully selected 19th century engravings. Modern computer-generated graphics and vectors have been intentionally avoided. I hope you will have as much fun knitting these cats and looking through the pages as I did designing the patterns and bringing this very special book to life.

published in November 2024 by Stackpole Books

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