It's always nice when a crochet gift is appreciated, whether by humans or cats or both!
Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Slim and George Make A New Friend
It was my friend Jodi's birthday recently and I decided to gift her an octopus for her cats to play with. She sent me some cute pictures of Slim and George investigating their new friend, and I'm going to share them with you!
It's always nice when a crochet gift is appreciated, whether by humans or cats or both!
It's always nice when a crochet gift is appreciated, whether by humans or cats or both!
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Crochet Cat Round-up
I love cats! I'm sure that's obvious by now. I talk about little Ranna way too often :p However, I'm not alone. There are so many cat-lovers out there in crochet land. I thought I'd give us all a treat today with a quick round-up of some of my favorite cat-related crochet patterns. Meow let's get started! All photos are used with the permission of the designers.
Aren't they all so freaking cute? What are your favorite cat crochet patterns?
Aren't they all so freaking cute? What are your favorite cat crochet patterns?
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Crocheting for Cats: Important Things to Remember
Do you have a little crochet buddy? A ball of fur who keeps you company as you work? If so, you'll probably be tempted at some point to crochet them something of their very own. Here are some tips to help you out as you make a gift for kitty.
- Never leave cats unattended to play with balls of yarn. If they decide to eat it the yarn could cause problems in their intestines. Instead, supervise play and then put the yarn ball out of reach until next time.
- When making toy mice or other toys that have strings hanging, reinforce the tails and tassels so they aren't easily chewed off and swallowed.
- As with babies, eyes on stuffed animals made for cats should either be safety eyes or sewn on. Never use small beads or buttons on a project for cats.
- If you can possibly do so, choose washable materials for cat toys.
- Avoid very lacy items for cats as their paws/claws may become tangled or stuck in the holes.
- Cats love textures so choose an interesting stitch pattern.
- There is some research to suggest that cats prefer cool colors such as green, blue, and purple, so choosing those colors of yarn for your project might please kitty.
- If you're making a stuffed item for your cat you may wish to lace the stuffing with catnip.
Have you crocheted something for your cat that they enjoyed? Let us know about it in the comments.
- Never leave cats unattended to play with balls of yarn. If they decide to eat it the yarn could cause problems in their intestines. Instead, supervise play and then put the yarn ball out of reach until next time.
- When making toy mice or other toys that have strings hanging, reinforce the tails and tassels so they aren't easily chewed off and swallowed.
- As with babies, eyes on stuffed animals made for cats should either be safety eyes or sewn on. Never use small beads or buttons on a project for cats.
- If you can possibly do so, choose washable materials for cat toys.
- Avoid very lacy items for cats as their paws/claws may become tangled or stuck in the holes.
- Cats love textures so choose an interesting stitch pattern.
- There is some research to suggest that cats prefer cool colors such as green, blue, and purple, so choosing those colors of yarn for your project might please kitty.
- If you're making a stuffed item for your cat you may wish to lace the stuffing with catnip.
Have you crocheted something for your cat that they enjoyed? Let us know about it in the comments.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Remix Friday: Cheshire Cat Bookmark
TGIF! Have any fun plans for the weekend? I'll bet many of you are frantically working on holiday gifts. If you're still in need of something small and customizable for your co-workers, for stockings, etc, take a hint from today's Remix Friday project. It's small but completely creative and adorable. Think about how you could run with Rachel's idea and make your own Remix.
The Crocheter
Hello! My name is Rachel Ballew. I am known on Ravelry as yarnaddict12. Now here's the fun ones; my siblings call me Roach and Rachelina Ballerina(and no, I have never done anything with ballerina). I am 24 years old. I have been crocheting for several years now, I learned when I was a teen. I am left-handed. My favorite yarns would have to be Red Heart Super Saver and Red Heart Soft. I personally do not like the super soft yarns. I am weird about the way things feel. My favorite colors are purple, green, and turquoise. But I also love lots of color! I am happily married without children. My husband nor I want any. We have 3 wonderful dogs known as Alice, she is a 60 pound, 4 year old, bull terrier; Mia, she is a 70 pound 4 year old, wolf hybrid; and Scootie, he is a 14 year old, 25 pound mutt. I am a stay at home wife.
The Original Pattern
Cat Bookmark by Justyna Kacprzak
The Story
I made the cat bookmark as part of a Crochet Along(CAL). I am obsessed with all things Alice in Wonderland. Even my craft room is decorated with Alice memorabilia! The Cheshire Cat in the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland inspired me to make it turquoise.
The Remix
I changed the shape of the tail so that it would be fatter and short to resemble the Cheshire's tail more. I also added craft felt to make the eyes, smile, ears, nose, and all his stripes.
Crochet is... Creativity, Inspiration, Imagination
Such a cute cat! Just think of all of the ways you could use felt to decorate your very own cat bookmark. Thanks for the great Remix, Rachel!
The Crocheter
Hello! My name is Rachel Ballew. I am known on Ravelry as yarnaddict12. Now here's the fun ones; my siblings call me Roach and Rachelina Ballerina(and no, I have never done anything with ballerina). I am 24 years old. I have been crocheting for several years now, I learned when I was a teen. I am left-handed. My favorite yarns would have to be Red Heart Super Saver and Red Heart Soft. I personally do not like the super soft yarns. I am weird about the way things feel. My favorite colors are purple, green, and turquoise. But I also love lots of color! I am happily married without children. My husband nor I want any. We have 3 wonderful dogs known as Alice, she is a 60 pound, 4 year old, bull terrier; Mia, she is a 70 pound 4 year old, wolf hybrid; and Scootie, he is a 14 year old, 25 pound mutt. I am a stay at home wife.
The Original Pattern
Cat Bookmark by Justyna Kacprzak
The Story
I made the cat bookmark as part of a Crochet Along(CAL). I am obsessed with all things Alice in Wonderland. Even my craft room is decorated with Alice memorabilia! The Cheshire Cat in the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland inspired me to make it turquoise.
The Remix
I changed the shape of the tail so that it would be fatter and short to resemble the Cheshire's tail more. I also added craft felt to make the eyes, smile, ears, nose, and all his stripes.
Crochet is... Creativity, Inspiration, Imagination
Such a cute cat! Just think of all of the ways you could use felt to decorate your very own cat bookmark. Thanks for the great Remix, Rachel!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Remix Friday: Amineko 2013 Temperature Cat
Hello, friends! Today is the day for the first ever Remix Friday! As I mentioned in this post, Remix Friday is a time to celebrate beyond-the-pattern projects by everyday crocheters. I am so excited to show you what talented crafters from all over the world have been up to. We're kicking things off in a big way with Karin's Amineko 2013 Temperature Cat. This project is super impressive and creative.
The Crocheter
I'm Karin, 33 years old and from the Netherlands. I'm a freelance programmer. I've been doing crafts all my life, when I was little it was one craft after another and back. My main hobby from 2005 onwards was scrap booking, which I still do too. There wasn't much in the way of fiber arts, I did do my share of making friendship bracelets when I was 14-15 but that was it on the fiber front until three years ago when I saw a book in a craft store ad about making amigurumi dogs. I went to town the next day to pick up the book and materials and got started. From there it kept going, I quickly found Ravelry and of course the Amineko pattern. I bought the book on Amazon and finished my first Amineko in February, about a month after I started crocheting. I made several more and a few months later made and gifted a couple modeled after my friend's cats. She liked them so much she also started crocheting and then ended up challenging me by making them smaller and smaller, using the original pattern but thinner yarn, up to the point where we made one with size 80 tatting cotton using a 0.6mm crochet hook. I also crocheted several shawls, cowls, a bag, and a big blanket that proudly lays on my bed every day. I also started knitting in 2012, and my Aminekos soon got company from a couple of Jacobus monkeys. Recently I've added weaving to the lineup of fiber arts.
The Original Pattern
Amineko Crocheted Cat by Nekoyama
The Story
I was chatting along in the Crochet Small Talkers group on Ravelry where I learned about the year in temperatures scarf idea. This 'pattern' by Kristen Cooper is a concept where you take a pattern with rows to make up a total of 365 rows where each row represents the temperature for a day in that year. I loved the idea, and then I thought I could take it a step further by altering the Amineko pattern. I wanted to do this for 2013 for a few reasons. First of all I'd had a few rough years before and I had the feeling this was going to be 'my year', when things would get better. A year worth remembering. Secondly, even though I'm not superstitious I often found myself avoiding the number 13. If I was on a project and I was about to call it a day but I found myself on row 13 I would continue and finish row 14 before stopping. I figured this would be the ultimate way of stopping that, doing a project all about 2013. As it turned out it was an interesting year temperature wise too, which was a nice bonus.
The Remix
For the Temperature Amineko I carefully looked at the differences between the original and bigger Amineko patterns from the book. Basically you'll see that for the big pattern the number of rows and stitches is multiplied by two. So for the head, for example, you'd normally start with 6 and increase by 6 for 8 rows giving you 48, now you increase for another 8 rows giving you 96 stitches at the widest point. I wanted to recalculate this pattern in such a way that you'd have 365 rows from the coloured part of the legs up to the tips of the ears. This meant multiplying the big pattern by about 2.4. This made the widest part of the head 228 stitches long! I picked 26 colours for the different temperatures from my sport cotton stash. I did a lot of the calculations and charts for which color to use for which rows in Excel (actually, libreoffice calc, which is like Excel).
Crochet is... de-stressing, challenging, cuddly
Wow, what a cat! All of the vibrant colors make it so special. I've heard of temperature projects before, but this is the first time I've seen it done as a stuffed animal. Neat! If you'd like to see more of Karin's ongoing craft adventures you can visit her blog. Thanks for sharing your cat with us, Karin!
The Crocheter
I'm Karin, 33 years old and from the Netherlands. I'm a freelance programmer. I've been doing crafts all my life, when I was little it was one craft after another and back. My main hobby from 2005 onwards was scrap booking, which I still do too. There wasn't much in the way of fiber arts, I did do my share of making friendship bracelets when I was 14-15 but that was it on the fiber front until three years ago when I saw a book in a craft store ad about making amigurumi dogs. I went to town the next day to pick up the book and materials and got started. From there it kept going, I quickly found Ravelry and of course the Amineko pattern. I bought the book on Amazon and finished my first Amineko in February, about a month after I started crocheting. I made several more and a few months later made and gifted a couple modeled after my friend's cats. She liked them so much she also started crocheting and then ended up challenging me by making them smaller and smaller, using the original pattern but thinner yarn, up to the point where we made one with size 80 tatting cotton using a 0.6mm crochet hook. I also crocheted several shawls, cowls, a bag, and a big blanket that proudly lays on my bed every day. I also started knitting in 2012, and my Aminekos soon got company from a couple of Jacobus monkeys. Recently I've added weaving to the lineup of fiber arts.
I
mainly use acrylics and sport cotton, for budgetary reasons mostly. I
crochet because I like doing it so I don't mind using cheaper materials,
I find it a challenge to make something beautiful out of something
cheap. Color wise I often lean torwards pink but mostly I like to find
color combinations that really work.
The Original Pattern
Amineko Crocheted Cat by Nekoyama
The Story
I was chatting along in the Crochet Small Talkers group on Ravelry where I learned about the year in temperatures scarf idea. This 'pattern' by Kristen Cooper is a concept where you take a pattern with rows to make up a total of 365 rows where each row represents the temperature for a day in that year. I loved the idea, and then I thought I could take it a step further by altering the Amineko pattern. I wanted to do this for 2013 for a few reasons. First of all I'd had a few rough years before and I had the feeling this was going to be 'my year', when things would get better. A year worth remembering. Secondly, even though I'm not superstitious I often found myself avoiding the number 13. If I was on a project and I was about to call it a day but I found myself on row 13 I would continue and finish row 14 before stopping. I figured this would be the ultimate way of stopping that, doing a project all about 2013. As it turned out it was an interesting year temperature wise too, which was a nice bonus.
For the Temperature Amineko I carefully looked at the differences between the original and bigger Amineko patterns from the book. Basically you'll see that for the big pattern the number of rows and stitches is multiplied by two. So for the head, for example, you'd normally start with 6 and increase by 6 for 8 rows giving you 48, now you increase for another 8 rows giving you 96 stitches at the widest point. I wanted to recalculate this pattern in such a way that you'd have 365 rows from the coloured part of the legs up to the tips of the ears. This meant multiplying the big pattern by about 2.4. This made the widest part of the head 228 stitches long! I picked 26 colours for the different temperatures from my sport cotton stash. I did a lot of the calculations and charts for which color to use for which rows in Excel (actually, libreoffice calc, which is like Excel).
Crochet is... de-stressing, challenging, cuddly
Wow, what a cat! All of the vibrant colors make it so special. I've heard of temperature projects before, but this is the first time I've seen it done as a stuffed animal. Neat! If you'd like to see more of Karin's ongoing craft adventures you can visit her blog. Thanks for sharing your cat with us, Karin!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Cats Love Crochet (and Crochet Loves Them, Too!)
Something that I've noticed in my crochet adventures is how many cat lovers there are amongst my fellow crocheters. I'm not quite sure why the two are so closely related, but I do know how much I love having my cat around while I crochet. Cats love the soft, squishy, textured goodness of our FOs as much as we do. It's nice to be appreciated! There's nothing like quietly hooking away while your sweet little kitty purrs by your side, all warmth and closeness. Today I want to honor all of the lovely fur-balls out there who brighten their owners' days. Many thanks to the wonderful crocheters who collaborated with me to make this post possible. Here are their cats and their creations!
Pookie is having a sweet snooze on Leila M's One Skein Throw. She belongs to Leila's son, Chris M.
Here you see Westley testing out Mandi C's Granny Stripe Blanket. He approves!
Selena S's Richmond Lace Infinity Scarf is so beautiful that Dewey just has to rub his face all over it.
Milou is basking next to Eleonora G's Elise Shawl.
Miscellaneous, aka Miscie, is making herself comfortable on Amanda C's Ariel's Baby Blankie.
Olivia has hitched a ride on Emily H's Sea Turtle Rug.
Evgenia G's Autumn Throw is perfect for Tima to stretch out on.
Daru is enjoying some friendly snuggle time with Carolin B's Amineko Cat.
Have a purrfectly wonderful and crochet-filled day!
Of course, today's post wouldn't be complete without my own little cat, Ranna. Ranna is a daily delight to my husband and I. Our home wouldn't feel right without her!
Have a purrfectly wonderful and crochet-filled day!
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Cat Catastrophe
You can't win 'em all. There will be some things in crochet that come more naturally to you than others, and you will have to work extra hard to overcome the difficult parts. My mountain to climb is sewing on amigurumi limbs. I butchered this delightful cat pattern because I sewed it together all screwy-like. Poor Lavender (that's her name). Well, at least Ranna found her irresistible. Notice the flash of little kitty in the second picture. She is such a little photo-bomber!
I spent a lot of time on Lavender and put a lot of love in her, so I was really happy when my good friend adopted her as a toy for her baby and her cats. There is room in this world for a slightly off-kilter cat amigurumi after all! In the meantime, I need to work on my sewing skills.
I spent a lot of time on Lavender and put a lot of love in her, so I was really happy when my good friend adopted her as a toy for her baby and her cats. There is room in this world for a slightly off-kilter cat amigurumi after all! In the meantime, I need to work on my sewing skills.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)