Why are these cats square? Nobody knows.

Why do patterns grow on their tummies? This is just as mysterious.

Where did they come from? An even greater enigma.

All that is known is that they are eyeing up a space on your mantelpiece.

Make your visitors scratch their heads over these philosophical conundrums while they envy your knitting skills.

Difficulty: Easy

Stitches used: kfb, k2tog

You will need:
• Wool in your chosen colours, max 25g per cat. I used Double Knit (8-6 ply, “light worsted”.) Tension square: 10cm x 10cm square is 24 stitches across and 32 rows.
• Knitting needles – I used UK size 11 (3.0mm, US size 2.5)
• Tapestry needle
• Black wool to stitch the eyes and swirls, plus choice of other colours to embroider the motifs.
• Stuffing. To make a paperweight, you could fill with beans instead.
• Scrap pieces of cardboard
• Optional: pencils or thin pieces of dowel
• Optional: 4-peg doll for French-knitting (“spool knitting”, “corking”) or double-ended needles