knit Archives - Hope for Liver Shunt Cats

Boring is Good!

Never thought I’d be so grateful for boring as I have been today.

A nice, quiet, normal, boring day with Newt. No drool, no ataxia, no lethargy, no panic, no inappetance, no pukes, no diarrhea, no calls or emails to the vet.

Just another boring day in paradise.

::sighs deeply and calmly::

Had a bit of false hope this AM on the job front. My most recent client called for an emergency, short term edit, and I was on standby waiting for it to arrive from the other coast. Next call was an apologetic, project’s been canceled. Ah rats. Would have been nice to have had a few hours of fill time while (still) waiting for major corporation to launch their pending project, plus I really enjoyed working with the client previously. But it was nice to know I’m still at the top of their list, right?

Not to mention, it gave me time to play some more with my experiment in converting the knitted kitty to a faux knitted kitty (as in, making up a pseudo crochet pattern for it).

Am maybe 75% done with it. Body is done, tail is (sort of) done, and head is almost done.

If it turns out halfway decent, will add it to the basket of toys to donate to the rescue group. If not, am sure my little beasts will ravage it in no time.

Especially if I lace it with nip and valerian!

Woohoo Warmer Weather

Enigmatic Newt is still on his merry go round. Seems to be upswinging since midnight last night. No drool, decent appetite, but … you knew there was a “but,” didn’t you? He’s half crouchy, not attacking his snackies with his typical gusto, and still quiet.

So, not a “bad day” but not a great day for him either. Going on ten days now for him, being “half in, half out.” (Any Constantine fans out there? LOVED that quote about cats LOL) And so goes another cycle in the life of a liver shunt cat.

Am being naughty today. Very close to finishing tax prep, and was not going to start crocheting the cat bed for WARL to celebrate Petey’s adoption until finished. But, had to get a tire repaired, and no sense waiting there doing nothing, when I could create something, right? So I bundled together four skeins of various black and white yarns – Lion Incredible ribbon, Fun Fur (I think) some fuzzy thing with no label, and some leftover homespun. Grabbed my bigass speed hook and went to town. Already have about six inches completed from this pattern. Cool! Now I think I’ll take the dogs to the park so I can crochet in peace. Will finish the tax crap later today, I promise!

Am really enjoying Ravelry (maybe why the taxes aren’t done?!?!?) and was excited to find several knit / crochet – alongs for animal charity. Combine that with meeting Petey, and I’ve been itching to create a snuggle, a bed, something more challenging than a toy to donate. Am hesitant to do the snuggles, because my edges are always crooked. So, working in the round seems to be the answer, at least until I learn how to do this correctly. But, the fun fur is very forgiving, and the cats won’t care if I have crooked edges and dropped stitches, right?

Oops, gotta go, Newt is demanding snuggles.

Hairless Cat Sweater, Part Drei

Almost finished the third version of the Cat Sweater / Cape. Am hopeful this one will be the right one. Earlier version was a wee bit snug at the arms, and a bit short in the neck. So, I knitted really loosely behind the arms (the belly band) and extended the neck as well as the arm area. My goal is easy on/off, lightweight but warm, and sturdy.

Having too much fun with this. Love a challenge. Am determined to loom knit a perfectly tailored nifty, knifty knitted sweater for a fellow shunt cat. Just need to weave the ends, launder and mail.

Newt was more cooperative with this version. Am taking that as a good sign of a better fit!

Sweater Cape for the Hairless Cat

Had More fun working on this. Absolutely delightful. A puzzle, much fun, lots of comments from random strangers watching me work on the loom. A typical conversation went something like this:

“Whatcha doin’?”

“Knitting a sweater for a hairless cat in Scotland – he’s a friend of my Newt.”

“You aren’t knitting, you don’t have needles. And why would a cat have no hair? And your newt has a cat friend? Why would anyone have a pet newt anyway? I’m so confused.”

Hey, you gets your giggles where you can!

So it was an experiment. No actual pattern, I’ve never seen the cat in person, converting measurements from metric, flying blind. It was great. The first attempt was waaay too small. The second effort more reasonable. More of a cat cape than a cat sweater, but a good starting point. Can’t wait to try the next one and hoping that third time’s the charm!

Me: Pookie, when did you get so FAT?!?!
Newt: I am soooooooooooooo going to pee in your shoes for this indignity!
Cat Daddy: My wife is weird. Really, really weird.

2nd version a better fit. Prefer the copper colour, though. Newt prefers to be sans sweater, period.

Rib band a bit snug, but worked okay as a pullover style capelet. S’okay, he’s a supercat, so he should have a super hero cape.