Another Felted Kitty Bed

Since our "Quality Control Kitty", Sluggo seemed to approve of the kitty bed I knitted and felted for one of the grand kitties, I decided to try yet another one.

I knitted the green and gold one in Lion Brand Felting wool with two strands of yarn and was quite pleased with the way it felted. It only took one 15 minute cycle in the washer.

For the next bed, I used Plymouth Galway Chunky and used only one strand of yarn. It felted very nicely, as well, however, it did come out a bit smaller in size despite using the same number of stitches. Fortunately, Sluggo loved it too.

I love this quick project and whenever I run out of grand kitties to knit for, I have found it's a cute little basket for balls of yarn!

The first bed I knitted for Big Boy, Spike in the double stranded Bartlett Yarn did not seem to felt as easily and I put it through two cycles of the washer. It probably could have used a little more felting, but I didn't want it to get too small for Spike.

Here it is stretched over the pan and sitting by the wood stove drying.

You can still see some of the stitches, but hey, Spike won't mind a bit!

H (hubby) painted a cute sign for our gathering at Shirley's Yarn shop.


The ladies in the group all approved!

The pattern for the kitty bed is quite simple. You'll need:

10 1/2 circular needle size 36 inches
10 1/2 circular needle size 24 inches
10 1/2 inch DPN's

300 - 400 grams of chunky wool

CO 170 sts on 36 inch circular

join, being careful not to twist sts. Place marker

knit in garter stitch for about 8 inches, then start decreasing every 24 sts or so til you need to switch to to the smaller needle and then switch again when you need the DPNs. Continue decreasing til you have 6 sts left. Using a darning needle, weave in ends. Felt til you're happy with the size.

Hugs,

Knitty Giddy

Felted Kitty Bed

The Holidays are finally over and as I had knitted both boys, the DIL and Grand Kids all a sweater, I decided last week that I needed a new, quick project. While surfing the web for something to catch my attention, I noticed that little Sluggo, our tuxedo cat was comfortably ensconced in his wicker basket, but Big Boy, Spike had no such container in which to snuggle!

BINGO! Bright idea came to me. I would knit and felt a comfy bed for him. I pulled my stash out from under the bed and began to dig through to see what wools I had that might felt nicely.

I had some squishy Maine wool from Bartlett in several different coordinating colors, so I decided I would use it. I then thought I would like to make it really comfy by knitting it with a double strand of yarn. It only took two nights of knitting until I finished my experimental pattern and I meant to felt it the next day, but Spike took an immediate liking to it, so it is now his favorite napping spot on the couch.


Well, since he seems to be taken with it, and the fact that I have four grand kitties, I decided my next few projects would be pet beds. However, I really needed to make the felted ones a wee bit bigger with a taller rim and I felt I should write down the pattern for future use or in case anyone else wanted to make one of these really easy beds.

Rummaging through my stash again, I found some wool I had purchased for a song at Ocean State Job Lots, one of those "better buy it when you see it" stores. They were only $3 a skein and I only needed 4 skeins for the project. Perfect!

Another couple of busy nights in front of the TV produced this beauty destined for Grand Cat, Baby Snakes, who looks just like my Sluggo.

The next day, I felted it in the washer and then had a dilemma. How was I going to shape it while it was drying? I rummaged through the cabinets until I found just the right size aluminum pan......


and draped it over the top, gave it a good stretch all around and let it sit in front of the wood stove to dry.


Voila! I'm now just waiting for it to dry completely before I send it to Baby Snakes.

This is a really quick, fun project for some well deserving pet.

Hugs,

Knitty Giddy

Chunky Socks

I had been looking for a pattern for a pair of mukluks for my cousin in Germany for a while and after looking at a couple of really difficult patterns, I finally decided to just do my favorite sock pattern in chunky wool yarn. I added a bit of color with crochet edging on top and I think the result will keep her tootsies very toasty this winter.

If you have the time and the inclination, please check out my latest post on The Giddy Garden Gnome.

Warm, wooly hugs,

Giddy

And So It Begins

With summer finally over and autumn colors piquing my interest, it's time to turn off the gardening gene and turn to my winter knitting activity. And so, I'm starting a sister blog to The Giddy Garden Gnome to document my winter activities.

I enjoy getting together with my weekly knitting friends down at Shirley's Yarns and Crafts store in Hancock, Maine. We are an eclectic group of ladies who enjoy knitting together. Some of the ladies are beginners and some are quite experienced, but we all love sitting among the warm, colorful yarns while spinning a few "yarns" ourselves.

Our knitting gatherings are held in the store, surrounded by all those luscious yarns!


I am the only one who knits Continental so far so I'm not able to help out the newbies as much as I'd like, but I do try to give a few helpful hints now and then.


Right now, I have several projects on needles; another vest, another pair of socks and a pair of Mukluks (which are giving me fits!). All are meant to be Christmas presents so I'm fighting the clock on all of them and it doesn't leave me as much time as it sounds as I still have fall cleanup to tend to in the garden.

I've also been given the opportunity to work a few days for my friends, Shirley (yes, of Shirley's Yarns and Crafts), her husband Dick, and their daughters Kim and Kiana. They are a delightful family and working among all the fabulous yarns and other fun stuff is a nice change of pace.

Here's Ms. Shirley herself, celebrating her birthday this past summer.


Here are pictures of some of my recent projects:

This is a wine cozy which worked up quickly with some left over cotton yarn. It made a very nice hostess gift.

I knitted this vest for my Dad's 86th birthday. Unfortunately, his birthday is in early August, so he'll have to wait a bit to wear it!

Of course, I couldn't knit something for Daddy and then send nothing for Mom, so I knitted this cotton vest for her.

The pattern came from the July 2009 copy of Creative Knitting Magazine. I really like this magazine as it has lots of patterns I like to knit and wear. I'm not really in to the "modern" or "hip" stuff.

Hope everyone is having a great first week of autumn!

Hugs, Giddy (aka Sandy)