Book Review: Knits for Kitties

The image of a cat playing with a ball of yarn is cute, but it’s not actually safe for cats to play with yarn because they could eat some of it. Better to use that yarn to make toys that are a little harder to tear apart than a single strand of yarn (though it’s still probably a good idea to supervise play with knit cat toys, just in case).

Sara Elizabeth Kellner has made a fun collection of cat toys (or tiny toys for humans) in her book Knits for Kitties: 25 Knit Patterns for Making Cat Toys.

Many of the patterns are inspired by creatures her cat likes to chase, including mice, birds, snakes and grasshoppers. There are also more whimsical designs, such as doughnuts, mittens and petit fours stuffed with catnip for special occasions.

There are ladybugs, lizards, shrimp, flowers and more. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry. A roundup of finishing and embroidery techniques at the back of the book will help make your projects a success.

These projects are really cute and fun to knit, whether you’re new to knitting toys or love this whimsical genre. And the adorable photography, featuring cats interacting with the toys, is sure to delight any cat lover.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback with interior flaps, 25 patterns (7 rated for beginners, 10 intermediate and 8 advanced). Published by Baron’s Educational Series, August 2016, retail price $16.99.

Next Pattern:

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough.

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern.

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed.

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do.

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces.

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls.

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry.

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Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

Next Pattern:

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