Repeat Crafter Me

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Pete the Cat Crochet Doll

I don’t mention this often, but my 3yo has been in speech therapy since he was 21 months old. At two years old he had NO words. So I am sure you can imagine the communication barrier we struggled with. Fortunately, he has been diagnosed with nothing more than a speech delay and ever since he turned 3, he has been catching up quickly. I credit a lot of his progress to a speech therapist we see every Tuesday and most recently to a wonderful government funded Early Childhood Special Education school he attends on Thursdays. The program encourages language development and he receives focused attention. For the past two weeks they have been reading a book called “Pete the Cat: I love My White Shoes” by Eric Litwin, art by James Dean. I had never heard of this book, but my son made sure to tell me all about it when he got home. It was the first time I’ve heard him tell me the entire sequence of a story and attempt to sing the song that went with the book. He usually only sings songs he is comfortable with (like ABC’s and Twinkle Twinkle). This prompted me to look up the book on youtube where I came across this adorable video of the author and illustrator giving a live narration of the story. 





At this point, I fell in love with this book too. Pete the cat has become our new favorite character and for good reason: he is one cool cat! He has awesome shoes and he says things like “groovy,” “rock and roll,” and “everything is cool.” But best of all, Pete has a wonderful moral to his story: “No matter what you step in, keep walking along and signing your song…because it’s all good.” I knew at this point that I would have to crochet my son a Pete the Cat doll to go along with his new favorite story. He has been patiently watching me make the different color shoes and body parts all week. And now it’s finally done!

I pretty much freehanded this doll but took some notes as I went along. So I apologize if you find this pattern incomplete or confusing.


Pete the Cat Crochet Doll
Materials:
– Medium worsted weight yarn in blue, red, light blue, brown, and white
– Size H (5.0) Crochet Hook
– Tapestry Needle
– Felt for eyes and nose & hot glue gun for attaching (or you could sew these on)



Feet/Legs: (updated 6/10)
Chain 6,
SC in 2nd chain from hook, SC in next 4 (5 SC)
Working on the other side of chain, SC 5, join to 1st SC, chain 1
Note: Your last stitch should not be in the same stitch as you chain.
Rd 2: 2 SC in next 4, 2 HDC in next 3, 2 SC in next 3, join, chain 1
Rd 3: SC in next 8, 2 HDC in next 4, SC in next 8, join, chain 1 
Rd 4: In back loops only, SC around (24 SC), join, chain 1
Rd 5: Change color, Working in both loops, SC around (24 SC), join, chain 1
Note: Be sure to stuff with poly-fil and weave in ends as you go
Rd 6: 6 SC, 6 SC Decreases, 6 SC, join, chain 1
Rd 7: 4 SC, 5 SC Decreases, 4 SC, join, chain 1
Rd 8: 5 SC, 2 SC Decreases, 4 SC, join, chain 1
Rd 9-10: SC around (11 SC), join, chain 1
Round 11- 28: Change color to blue and SC around (no need to join each row at this point) in continuous rounds.

Head:
Chain 15,
SC in 2nd chain from hook, SC 14, SC 14 on other side of chain (do not join)
Rd 2: 2 SC in first chain, Sc 13, 2 SC in next, Sc 13, 
Rd 3-8: SC around
Rd 9-13: SC around but when you get to each end, start making SC Decreases. Start with 1 SC decrease on each end, then 2 decrease on each end for the next row, etc. This doesn’t need to be an exact science. Crochet is very forgiving.


Eyes and nose were cut from felt and hot glued on on, the black whiskers were tied on using black yarn.

Ears:
Magic ring, sc 3, do not join
2sc in each around (6sc)
2 sc, 1 sc, in each around (9 sc)
SC around (9 sc)
2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 8 (10 sc)
2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 9 (11 sc)
SC around (11 sc), fasten off, weave in ends. Do not stuff. sew onto head.



Body:
Chain 11,
SC in 2nd chain from hook, SC 10, SC 10 on other side of chain (do not join)
Rd 2-24: Continue to SC around but increase by making 2 SC when you get to each end. So for instance, Rd 2 would look like: 2 SC, SC 10, 2 SC, SC 10 and Rd 3: 2 SC, SC 11, 2 SC, SC 11, and so on. Depending on how you want the body to look, you may want to switch between increasing and doing rounds of just SC’s. You could even just SC around for awhile to get a longer, straighter body like how the artist has drawn him.


Tail:
Magic Ring, 
3 SC in magic ring
Rd 1: 2 SC in each (6 SC)
Rd 2: 2 SC, 1 SC around (9 SC), do not join
Rd 3-23: SC in rounds without joining until desired length (my was approx. 23 rows long)


Sew all limbs closed and then sew seems together.



Don’t crochet? You can purchase a Pete the Cat doll from Amazon! I also encourage you to add this book to your collection. I am sure you will love it as much as we do. It currently sits at #5 on the The New York Times Best Seller List!

*** You may make and sell my patterns but if you do I ask that you link back to my post. Please do not copy and post this pattern and claim it as your own.***

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Comments

  2. My daughter happened to be sitting next to me and shouted that she wants one. Of course we had to watch the video about a million times too! It looks great. I guess I'll be making one for her bday coming up…along with the book which is now one of her faves! We never heard it until we went to a library class last month and they read it. Thanks!

    Reply

  9. I just had to comment on this because its amazing! I am an SLP and avid crafter so when I saw this I died! I just introduced Pete the Cat to my preschool students and I, like you, am in love with Pete. Thank you so much for sharing you thoughts and pattern! As soon as I have the time (and yarn) I am going to start one for myself!!!!

    Reply

  10. Thank you sooooo much for this pattern!!!!!!!!!!!! My grandaughter loves Pete the Cat!!! She was also speech delayed and went to speech therapy, and is now attending Early Childhood Developement. She has done wonderful, considering last year this time she only said two words, and now she talks constantly. I love your patterns, keep up the great work!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

  12. Again I cannot thank you enough for this pattern…. My daughter bought Pete the Cat from her book fair a couple weeks ago & has not put it down lol…. After asking you where to find the pattern & looking it over, I spoke to the teacher & am going to take the Pete the Cat doll I crochet along with my daughters book (and maybe another one in the series!) & we're going to have a "Pete the Cat" reading circle & maybe make some crafts after I read the book during circle time. My daughter is absolutely thrilled with this & wants me to start NOW lol but I have a few hat orders I have to complete along with Christmas presents to finish too so her patience is wearing thin…. :p I will post pics from her classroom as soon as I get home the day we read… Thank you again for being so inspiring & creative!!!!!! Because of you I get to be even more involved with my daughter at school… to me that is priceless & words alone cannot express my gratitude!!!!!!

    Reply

  18. On the legs; I'm having a hard time between rows 5 and 6. Row 5 shows ending with 24sc. Row 6 calls for 6sc then 6sc dec then 6sc. I looke up Doug the sc dec and I still have 6 st left over. I just wanted to know if I'm missing something.

    Reply

  19. Sarah,
    Thanks so much for sharing your story about your son. My 3 year old son was diagnosed with speech delay as well and attends an early education preschool 3 days a week and speech therapy on all three of those days as well as occupational therapy once a week. It was in preschool where we also learned about Pete the Cat. He won a book in a contest they had and he's IN LOVE with Pete. This pattern is awesome and I appreciate you sharing it for free! Going to make it for him for Christmas with a new book and give one to my niece for her birthday with a book as well! Thank you thank you! Jennifer

    Reply

  20. This is amazing. My four year old has speech issues. And Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons has helped SOOOO much! Our story with Pete is very similar to yours. It was the first time my son actually conveyed a story to me completely.

    Thanks for making this pattern 🙂

    Reply

  27. Hi, first off, i LOVE that you shared this pattern 🙂 I was super excited to start it! but i’m having trouble with the head. I noticed someone else had asked about it too. So was wondering if you had it written out better.

    Reply

  28. My 5 year old grandson Bubba Sal loves Pete the cat. I just got him 2 books for valentines Day. He also has a speech problem. His sister is 5 1/2 years older then him and we all thought he didn’t talk because Veronica talked for him. When he finally started talking he could not speak clearly and stuttered. My daughter got him into a pre school program for children with learning disability’s. He also went to summer school and is now in kindergarten. He is speaking clearer but still has a long way to go. Sometimes when he gets so excited he stutters and then breaths heavy which is what happened when I gave him the books. He was trying to tell me that he read the book in school. At least now I can understand him even if its not that clear. My son in law is great and really works with him. I love it when he reads to me.
    I baby sit every Wednesday night so I will get him to read the book to me. I won’t tell him that I am going to make Pete. He will love it. They were selling one at Barnes and Noble for $20 but I have so much yarn stash this will be easy. Best of luck to you and your family. I will keep you in my prayers. I love your web site. I have been crocheting since I was 7. I made minion hats, sock money, aligator, hello kitty, Thomas the tank engine, and I am now in the process of making ear flap hats for our local shelter.

    Thank you and God Bless.

    Kathy

    Reply

  29. You have the best projects! Im starting a Pete today to make for my daughters preschool classroom then ill make one for her too!

    Reply

  30. I love this and am in progress of making 3! Wondering about finishing up the body, am i just to sew it closed or end it like the head with the gradual dsc’s? TIA!!

    Reply

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