Meet Knitty Kitty – so named by one of my sons, and gifted last Christmas to an exuberant toddler. If you’re looking for a baby-safe easy knit that can stand up to some serious loving, this pattern may be for you.

Everything on Knitty Kitty is knit flat and then seamed, and it’s all stockinette. All color changes are at the edge, so no need to get fancy with the one-yarn-in-each-hand trick. I just carried the unused yarn up the sides, and left all of the niggly ends inside with the stuffing. Easy peasy!

This pattern is so forgiving that I ended up using two different weights of yarn (it was what I had on hand), and it worked out just fine. Just be sure that you attach the arms, legs, and tail to the correct end of the cat. It’s no fun to go to embroider the ears and find out that the whole thing is upside down. Or so I’ve heard. Ahem.

Knitty Kitty currently resides in a posh crib, where he’s been known to wake up his new bud from his afternoon nap. “Knitty Kitty woke me up. He was being pouncy.”

Details:

Started:	10 Dec 2008
Finished:	21 Dec 2008
Pattern:	Knitted Cuddlies by Louisa Harding. Ravelry link to pattern page. The pattern also has variations for a teddy bear and rabbit. This pattern is free, though you need to sign up for the Knitting Daily website to download it (also free.)
Yarn:	Knit Picks Merino Style (DK) in color Hawk (dark gray), adn Lion Brand Wool Ease (worsted) in Gray Heather.
Needles:	US6 / 4.0mm trusty old straight aluminums.
Notes:	Features embroidered with the same yarn I used to knit him with. He’s stuffed with ‘Airtex premium’ polyester fiberfill. Ravelry link for this project.

Here you can see the back and tail… and my cat checking out the competition.

Pride Goeth Before a Fall

I’ve been chugging along on my Mom’s Christmas birthday present, the lovely Beech Leaf Vest from Fiddlesticks Knitting. We got off to a rocky start, the beech leaf and I, but have been getting along nicely since the holidays. This pattern is well written. The back of the vest, pretty little thing, flew off my needles. The fronts went even faster, as there are fewer lace panels to do. Swish, click, zoom! I got to the armhole and neck shaping and actually had to stop and read it a few times. Thanks to Rogue, I’m very cautious about those “at the same time…” instructions. But, they were clear and concise. Knit on!

As I approached the top of the vest, I realized I would be a stitch or two short for decreases unless I altered the pattern a bit. That’s not a big deal – over the course of 21″, I could see my row gauge being off enough to account for a row or two. I took careful notes of what I did, which is what you do when you are Exceedingly Clever and want to replicate your alterations on the other side of your work.

My new, improved deadline for the vest was this Sunday, for I am going to a class on “How to Photograph Your Fiber” with Franklin Habit. I am hoping that he’ll show me how to make my cotton knitting look smooth and polished in my photographs. Yes, after being annointed by Mr. Habit, I believe my lens will gain the power to block my knitting.*

So, I planned to finish up knitting last night, block it overnight, sew it up today, and put on the edging Friday. Yesterday morning, right on schedule, I hit my altered decrease section. No problem, for I am Exceedingly Clever. I followed my notes and the right side did, indeed, match the left.

We both know where this is going. If you have stopped by the blog before, you know I wouldn’t be giving you excruciating detail unless… yeah. Being Exceedingly Clever backfired. Apparently when I was zipping along my first vest front, I blithely measured 14″ as being 12.5″. Don’t ask me. I was probably in a car at the time. The result is a front that is the same length as the back, but with itty-bitty armholes. My mother’s arms, sadly, are normal-sized all the way round, not itty-bitty in the front and normal in the back. When I was knitting the other side, I simply counted repeats instead of rows so that everything would match, because I am… well, you know. And, they do match… right down to the crazy armholes. I guess being Exceedingly Clever gets you two vest fronts to correct instead of one.

I did briefly consider what sort of exercise regime would be needed to alter my mother’s arms, but I think the easier thing would be to…

Rrrrrrrip.

* A fertile imagination and the willingness to delude oneself can lead to a happier fiber life. It can also crush you, but let’s not go there.

Remember these? I finally got around to writing up my notes into a pattern. You can click here to download the pattern for free. If you try it and have any trouble (or even if you don’t!) please let me know.

This is a sock sized for a man’s medium foot (size US 10.5 / EU 44.5) and worked with sport weight yarn. If you want to make them to fit a woman or child, they aren’t hard to alter. The foot works on a 4-stitch repeat, and the cuff on an 8-stitch repeat, so it should be relatively easy to change things up to fit almost anyone.