Maneki neko literally means "beckoning cat" in Japanese. It is also sometimes referred to as a lucky cat or a welcoming cat. They are typically found in front of stores and businesses as a lucky charm to welcome or beckon in prosperity and luck. While maneki nekos can come in all kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes, there are typically two more prominent distinctions that are made between them. The distinctions are whether the neko (cat) is raising its left or right paw (and sometimes even both!). Which paw is raised and the meaning attached to it differs within the culture, but when I first learned about them one paw was meant to beckon wealth, while the other was to beckon luck.
I ended up making two versions--a teeny tine neko and a small-ish-medium sized neko. I made two partially because I had a lot of fun making the first one, and partially because I wanted to see how the pattern I made for this project looked using the standard double-thread version. I also altered the larger version to make the coin stand straight up, rather than tilted in the smaller one. I absolutely love the tiny version. It is incredibly cute and oh-so tiny!
