Victorian Mouse
Materials Required
● 10 yards worsted weight yarn in color A (body, legs, ears)
● 2 yards worsted weight yarn in color B (tail, nose)
● Scrap of any black yarn for eyes
● Size US 3 double pointed needles
● Whiskers (optional)
Abbreviations
● K knit
● SSK slip, slip, knit
● K2tog K 2 sts together
● P purl
● dpn(s) double pointed needle(s)
● X number of times to work the instruction in parenthesis
● Rnd(s) round(s)
● CO cast on
● st/sts stitch or stitches
● EOR end of round/row
● M1 make 1 (see * below)
* My preferred method of increase is to lift the right leg of the next st, place it on the left
needle, then knit it as you would any other stitch.
Head and Body
Work begins at tip of nose and is worked backwards in one piece through the end of the
tail. The EOR for all rnds/rows is located at the bottom/center of head and body.
Set Up: CO 4 sts with color A onto 1 dpn. Slip sts to the other side of dpn, and pulling
up the working yarn from the last st (as in an icord), K4. Slip sts to other side of dpn
again and pull up working yarn from last st to work the following increases on 3 dpns, as
follows:
1
1st dpn: M1, K1
2nd dpn: K1, M1
3rd dpn: K2 (EOR) (6 sts)
Join sts in the round.
Rnd 1: K all sts
Rnd 2: (M1, K2) 3X (9 sts)
Rnd 3: K all sts
Rnd 4: (M1, K2) 4X, M1, K1 (14 sts)
Rnds 5-6: K all sts
Rnd 7: K5, SSK, K2tog, K5 (12 sts)
Rnds 8-9: K all sts
Rnd 10: K3, (M1, K2) 3X, M1, K3 (16 sts)
Rnd 11: K all sts
Rnd 12: K5, (M1, K2) 4X, K3 (20 sts)
Rnds 13-20: K all sts
Rnd 21: K2, (SSK) 4X, (K2tog) 4X, K2 (12 sts)
Rnd 22: K2, (SSK) 2X, (K2tog) 2X, K2 (8 sts)
Stuff your mouse fully now, keeping bottom of body flat and rounding the top.
Rnd 23: K2, SSK, K2tog, K2 (6 sts)
Row 24: K all sts onto 1 dpn
Tail
Cut color A; join color B and K all sts. All of the rows below are worked as an icord. Sts
are slipped to the opposite side of the dpn now and after every row, and working yarn is
brought up from the last st.
Row 1: K all sts
Row 2: K2tog, K2, SSK (4 sts)
Rows 3-7: K all sts
Row 8: K2tog, K2 (3 sts)
Rows 9-26: K all sts for 18 rows or about 3.5 inches from color change
Cut yarn, thread through remaining live sts and pull closed. Weave loose end down
side of tail. Darn any holes on body or bottom of tail.
2
Front Legs (make 2 the same)
The legs are worked flat with 2 dpns. CO 2 sts of color A onto 1 dpn.
Rows 1-6: K all sts
Cut yarn, thread through live sts and pull closed. Weave loose down leg. Seam or hot
glue half of leg to underside of the body, and fold other half downward to support the
front of body and head as pictured.
A word about the front legs – they’re wonky. I’m aware of that. Please consider them
as you would an impressionist painting. They are to give the impression of legs more
than anything else, although they will hold up the front of the body.
Ears (make 2 the same)
The ears are worked flat with 2 dpns. CO 4 sts of color A onto 1 dpn.
Row 1: P all sts
Row 2: SSK, K2tog (2 sts)
Cut yarn, thread through remaining live sts and pull closed. Weave loose end down
side of ear. Ears should be folded in half to create a slight hollowing in the center and
can be seamed to head or attached with hot glue. Color B can be embroidered inside of
the hollowing, if desired.
Finishing
Embroider tiny nose with color B.
Whiskers are optional and can be made with white sewing thread, embroidery floss, or
artificial whiskers. They can be sewn in place or secured with hot glue.
