Knitty kitties

Chickpea and I love cats. Actually, Chickpea adores cats and has pestered me constantly over the years to get one. However, we're often out of the house 12 hours a day so, even though cats are very independent creatures, it never seemed fair to get one. We came close a few years ago when a neighbour's cat, Moggy, adopted us as her second home. I'd see her owners leaving the house and say to Chickpea, 'Moggy will be round in a minute' and, sure enough, a few seconds later she'd be strolling into the living room. I'd often find the pair of them curled up asleep together on each end of the couch. We were heartbroken when she moved away.

So, when I saw this book, Knitted Cats and Kittens by Sue Stratford, how could I resist? If we can't have a real one, I can knit one!

Of course, I had to make it hard on myself and choose the most difficult pattern to start with! I had been trying to knit a chick using double-pointed needles but the pattern defeated me. It's not like I hadn't used them before as I'd made these socks a few years ago. The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit 'Fantasy' (shade 4833, though this colour is discontinued now). If any of you have Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Domesticity, you'll see the identical socks in there as that's where I got the idea.

When I saw a pattern in the book which used self-striping sock wool, I thought I'd give it another go.

Meet Tiny! As you can see, he's a rather unusual colour for a cat - obviously the result of a liaison with a ginger tom and an exotic breed. He's a very cheery, cheeky little chap and, although a mere 2 inches tall, makes his presence felt.

I thought he was getting a bit lonely though so decided to make him a companion.

Meet Scout. Alert and inquisitive, he's into everything.

The yarn I used is Rico Essentials alpaca (shades 001 and 004). The pattern was easy to follow but the making up instructions left a lot of detail to be desired. I also made an error with the eyes. Not having made toys before, I hadn't realised that eyes come with a post and need to be put in place BEFORE you sew up the toy - doh! Button type eyes were impossible to find around here so I had to compromise with some bright blue normal buttons. The pupils are food labels coloured in black with a felt pen. The eyes look a bit odd but it gives him character!

Tiny and Scout are already the best of friends!

Of course, I'm not going to stop there and bought some yarn the other day to make a Moggy-coloured cat. I've got another knitting project to finish off first but I hope to introduce you to her fairly soon.

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I can already hear the chorus of 'you must get a real cat'. We are NOT GETTING A CAT!