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Make Your Own Knit Cat Bed

Round knitted cat bed
Cook Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day
Servings 1 cat bed
Author Kayleigh Kosmas
Cost $30

Ingredients

  • 400-600 yards extra bulky craft yarn
  • 10mm knitting needles
  • A darning needle

Instructions

  • This bed is knit with two strands of yarn held together as one (also called plying) to give the feel and appearance of bulkier yarn. Wind two skeins into one big ball of yarn by holding two strands together and rolling away, which leaves you with one extra thick strand.
  • Cast on 28 stitches, leaving a two-foot tail, and start knitting a garter stitch. See how the two strands together make one functional strand? Keep on knitting, and come back when you’ve done about 60 rows.
  • Here’s where you can adjust the size of the bed based on your cat’s size. Hold the short ends of your rectangle end to end—this is roughly the circumference of the finished bed. Start checking for size around 60 rows, and keep knitting until the bed is as big as you want it. I stopped around 65 rows because Bisou likes her beds pretty snug (she’s 9 lbs. for reference). A bigger cat might need a 70-80 row bed. When you’re ready, cast off. You should have a very long, simple rectangle like this one. Tie off and trim leftover yarn, but leave the tails you made when you cast on.
  • Make a loop by attaching the short ends of the rectangle to each other. Use the darning needle and one of the long tails to sew the sides together, pulling the tail tightly through the end stitches for a snug seam.
  • Once the sides are sewn together, stitch one more loop and pull the tail through the loop. Tighten and trim the excess yarn.
  • Now that you have a big loop, it’s time to cinch one of the ends (the one with the remaining tail) together to form the middle of the bed. Weave the tail through every other stitch along the edge of the loop as shown.
  • Cinch as you go by pulling on the yarn as tightly as you can! You want a really tight cinch with no hole in the middle, so tighten then tighten some more. Once the whole edge is cinched, make another loop, thread the tail, tighten and trim the excess yarn.
  • Push the cinched part down—this is now the center of the bed. Pull the sides up and fold them over so the bed looks like this. It’s kitty ready!