At the beginning of the week I finally finished my giant Puppycat!
Isn't he a beaut?!
Well the cat is still suspicious...Or jealous....
As you can see from this bad picture taken when he was just finished, he was sitting a little bit taller, but over the past few days the weight of his head has caused him to sag and I don't think there is much I can do about that - although if anyone does have any anti-sagging tips I would love it if you could let me know! I plan to make more giant crochets in the future, they're so much fun!
As you can see I made a few alterations to
Twinkie Chan's pattern, because he is so big, I decided to put his back legs into a different position to aid sitting, and I also stitched his tail to the body because I couldn't get it to bend correctly and thought this was a good alternative. It isn't obvious but I also added an extra increase into the body.
This was my inspiration moment -
So here are my pattern alterations, which can be used on a regular sized Puppycat too. The only difference between the two sizes is that I used a 7.0 mm hook, and crocheted 3 strands of dk weight yarn all at the same time like a super size yarn.
BODY ALTERATIONS
**American terms used here to follow with Twinkie Chan's original pattern and avoid confusion**
Follow rounds 1-9 as per Twinkie's pattern for the head.
10) [Sc 8, inc] round (70)
11) [Sc 9, inc] round (77)
12 -16) Sc round (77)
17) [Sc 9, dec] round (70)
18-20) Sc round (70)
21) [Sc 7, dec] round (63)
22) Sc round (63)
23) [Sc 7, dec] round (56)
24-26) Sc round (56)
27) [Sc 6, dec] round (49)
28-29) Sc round (49)
30) [Sc 5, dec] round (42)
31) [Sc 4, dec] round (35)
Finish off with a slip stitch and knot, I used the tail from the head to attach the head to the body so no need to leave a long tail here. Stuffing at the end is fine if you are making the large version, if making the regular one, I would stuff before the hole gets too small - use your own judgement on this one :)
BACK LEGS
These are made in two parts, the circular part that is lightly stuffed and sewn onto the sides, and the foot part which is stuffed halfway and attached underneath.
The circle bit, make 2 -
1) Sc 7 into a magic ring (7)
2) inc round (14)
3) [Sc, inc] round (21)
4) [Sc 2, inc] round (28)
5) [Sc 3, inc] round (35)
6) [Sc 4, inc] round (42)
7) Sc round in blo (back loops only) (42)
finish off as before, leave a long tail for sewing onto sides of body.
The foot bit, make 2 - 1) In brown Sc 4 in magic ring (4)
2) inc round (8)
3) [Sc, inc] round (12)
4) [Sc 2, inc] round (16)
5-6) Sc round (16)
7) In white Sc round (16)
8) Sc round (16)
9) [Sc 2. dec] round (12)
10-13) Sc round (12)
14) [Sc, dec] round (8)
15-16) Sc round (8)
finish off, leaving a long tail. Again, if making the regular size, start stuffing the feet after round 13 whilst you can still jam it in is best.
BELL1) in goldish yellow Sc 6 in a magic ring (6)
2) inc round (12)
3) [Sc, inc] round (18)
4-5) Sc round (18)
6) [Sc, dec] round (12)
**Stuff bell here**
7) dec round (6)
Finish off, Leave a long tail for sewing on, and thread it through the loops of the last 6 stitches to ensure it stays closed. Cut two slim strips and 4 small circles from black felt and stitch/glue on to make the ball look like a bell. Either attach to collar, or slip a couple of stitches into the body like I did to secure it firmly. I have a cat who could spot a loose looking bell at 100 paces and would proceed to steal it, hence the extra stitches!
As usual, if there are any queries, do not hesitate to ask in the comments :)
Obviously I do not own the rights to Puppycat and this pattern alteration is not to be made to sell either as a pattern or as a completed toy.
So, is anyone going to take on the giant crochet challenge?! The only problem is where to keep him, at the moment he is guardian of the front room book depository (every time we buy a new bookshelf it gets filled up immediately and an even bigger pile seems to amass on the floor...until we move there is no more room for bookshelves, not that it stops us buying more books!).
