She Knits By The Seashore

Meow! Cat Hat

Because it's never too early to start humane education!

 

Pattern: Meow! Cat Hat by Adrienne Enriquez, available as a download from knitpicks.com. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow, and a chart is provided for the embroidery. It can be knit from infant through adult sizes.

Yarn: 1 skein Comfy Sport in Whisker, small amounts of Comfy Sport in Black for ears and face. This is machine washable, so good for the mom & baby.

Needles: Size 3 circular and dpns. I knit the entire hat on the dpns because my hands were too cramped with the 12" circular needle. Crochet hook in D size to assemble ears, or you can hand stitch them with a tapestry needle.

This hat is for my friend S's new grandbaby. She and I volunteer at the cat shelter together, and her grandson will be born a few days before my birthday at the end of this month. I had a bit of a learning curve crocheting the ears together, and doing the embroidery. The whiskers shift around a bit; it was hard to keep them straight for the photos.

 

Rosie contemplates the snow and wonders what we're going to do if we get anymore!

 

I owe her big time for this photo.

 

This was only my second attempted at knitted embroidery, and I wasn't sure if there is a good/better/neater way to fasten off the knots. If you know of one, please let me know!

I have a post half-written on some books I've read recently, and I hope to share that soon. I'm making good progress on my purple sweater, too, and should know within a few rows if my latest fix is working.

What are you doing to cope with the winter (or hot summer) weather??

January Projects: Meow! Cat Hat and Guest Room

Though one of my knitting goals is to finish some long-time UFOs, and I'm working on my purple sweater again, I started a new project too:

 

The time snuck up on me, but my friend and fellow shelter volunteer's new grandbaby is due soon! Can I finish this in time for her to take it to the shower the weekend after next??

Chris and I finished a UFO of a non-knitting kind, too: painting our guest room. We bought the paint a day or two before the Great Flood of Spring 2010, and didn't finish the basement repairs from that disaster until last fall. Finally we can check this one off of the list.

 

It's been cloudy most days, and hard to take accurate photos, but this gives you some idea of the difference between the blues. We went from a medium "boys' room blue" to a lighter blue called Cool Sky, nothing too dramatic. The new blue looks white, above, but you can see it better in the photo below.

 

 As much as I like the new color, working in a blue room this time of year made me feel more cold than I usually am. So I know now that blue is definitely out for our cave of a dining room, which is the next home project. I so want the fun of a dramatic makeover, but keep coming back to a lighter tan color than what is there already. It will look warm and sunny and bright which is what that room needs. Maybe some new curtains and a change in furniture arrangement will help update things? If only I could hire a Domino magazine editor!