Gruesome Eyes

In the spirit of Halloween this week I thought I might share a quick gruesome project.

This year I’m making cat toys for Christmas gifts and I wanted something a little different to your regular toy. I searched Ravelry for cat toys and came across a few eyeball patterns. I already had a crocheted toy pattern in mind so I decided to a knitted eyeball. The pattern I chose was Gruesome Knitted Eyeballs. On Ravelry you can see projects others have made using the pattern you are looking up. Out of all the knitted eyeball patterns available I liked the finished eyeballs of this pattern the most. The pattern name is a little deceptive as really they are very plain and not as gruesome as other patterns which have bloodshot eyes but you could easily add in streaks of red to create them. I liked that they were simple looking which is what drew me to knit them.

The pattern uses 4ply yarn but I made these in 8ply as that is what I had in my stash. For my first one I used a 3mm needle but it seemed a little small so for the remaining 7 I used a 3.75mm needle. The patern also says to use double pointed needles which I haven’t learnt to use yet so I did them using magic loop which is where you use one circular needle. The pattern is easy to follow but if I could make one suggestions it needs a definition on what method to use for the make 1 increase. I did knit front and back for my increases which worked for the pupil but when I got to the iris my stitch count was off by 2 stitches each time. These are a toys so I wasn’t worried but I think it would be a little bit helpful. I did also add in an extra row of increases in the white section after the final increase row, this really just made up the extra stitches I missed on previous rows. Overall I found the pattern really good. It was a very quick project.

To fill these I used polyester stuff (hobby fill) with a bit of catnip. I have never owned a cat but reading online catnip is popular in cat toys. You can buy dried catnip online from pet shops, I thought the price was a little expensive but I found an online herb shop that sold it in Australia which had it cheaper. I wasn’t sure if 50g would be enough but it is a lot. You only use a bit in each toy and this will fill all the cat toys I’m doing this year with ample left over. I placed a bit of stuffing in each eye followed by a bit of catnip and then more stuffing on top. It was a little tricky getting it in the small diameter of the opening but I managed to fill them and not make too much of a mess.

I’m happy with how these turned out. Mr StitchNSew commented that they are small and they may get lost but I like the idea of finding random eyes around the house.

Cassiy