Catnip Cloud
December 22, 2010
I made this fun catnip toy for my sister’s new kittens. All the supplies were from Knittn Kitten. I know I mention them all the time, but it’s only because I love buying from them because their things are so inexpensive and usually really good quality. They don’t pay me or anything!
The cloud and rain drops are made from vintage rayon/wool felt. The string is kind of blue metallic. I put three bells in the cloud so it’ll make a nice toy sound to entice the kittens. I only put about one tablespoon of catnip in the toys I make because a little goes a long way if you have a catnip loving cat. The prototype I made was from leftover fabric and my cats LOVE it. I was reading in my herb book about an herb that worked on dogs like catnip to cats but can’t recall it. I’d love to see a dog rolling around like crazy similar to my cats. It’s such a funny thing how they react!
I was thinking about making several more catnip toys with a weather theme. Chris suggested I call it Forcats. Get it? Maybe I will make some more. This one was fun to make. If you have a kitty, I’m sure they would be very appreciative of a catnip cloud. Let me know if you make one!
Finished Mittens
December 21, 2010
Chris is sporting the mittens I knit him for Christmas. It’s been very chilly when he heads to work in the morning, so he got to have them as soon as I finished making them. He would like it noted that he doesn’t normally wear shorts, suspenders and bowties together or ever (except maybe the shorts on that one hot day a year). He was in costume for our Christmas picture. More on that later.
I enjoyed making these mittens. They came together very quickly. I do knit tightly, though I try to loosen up! They are made with Plymouth worsted wool and I’m really hoping they don’t get washed on accident because they’ll shrink to kitty mitten size (okay not that small). There’s a pattern on ravelry for mittens knitted large then you felt them. I’m intrigued by this idea and may try it out. For any knitters intimidated by knitting mittens, just barge right into the pattern! It’s far easier than knitting the gusset on a sock.
Elena gave me some great advice with the thumb. When you go to pick up stitches, add as many as you need to avoid little holes between the mitten and the thumb. Then decrease to the suggested amount. This worked so well for me! The pattern called to pick up 4 stitches, instead I picked up 10. Maybe overkill but there weren’t any holes. If you’re on ravelry, you can check out my project page for the mittens here.
Vintage Socks
December 20, 2010
I picked up this sock booklet at Knittn Kitten the other day. They carry a bunch of vintage books like this, many of them tend to be for doilies. I really get an urge to make doilies because they look so pretty but what can you do with them? Maybe connect them to make a blanket. I already have a bunch that were from my great grandmother and pull them out sometimes.
Socks are one (two?) of those things you pretty much always need. Especially in Portland where it’s chilly half the year.
What do you think of these bed socks? That long tubular one is just for wearing in bed. And that weird looking pair in the lower left hand corner — not foot socks, exactly. Instead, they’re knee socks! I suppose that some people have chilly knees.
There’s this nice colorful spread of men’s socks. I would like to learn how to knit two socks at once but there are a couple of projects ahead of that. I put a bunch (14) knitting books on hold at the library and am waiting for them to arrive. I haven’t found a fingerless mittens pattern I really love yet. Maybe I should work on some socks… I’ve found that I’m very into knitting recently, more so than sewing. I think it’s because I do a lot of that at my job. There are four things I’m working on in my sewing room but they are taking so long! Mostly because I haven’t made time for them. Curling up in my quilt and knitting has just sounded a lot cozier than sitting and stitching. You know what I mean? This switching back and forth between things? I try not to give myself a hard time about it, trying to just go with it and not apply pressure to myself. I create better things when I enjoy the process.