Cat Crazy!

I love cats.  Lately, I would even say that I am a little...cat crazy!  I've been missing our two Siamese kitties who are with my mom in Washington.  Aren't they beautiful?

One night while I was falling asleep I had this vision of an idea for a sweater I wanted to design!

Since Fitchy-Bruu (behind) is kind of the leader of the two, I decided to make one for him first.  Here is a drawing of my original idea.

I called and got Fitch's measurements and I've been working on the sweater for a few weeks on and off.  Here is what I have so far:

I have just finished the armhole openings, which I will have to go back to with the darker yarn to pick up stitches and do a few rows of seed stitch (a staggered 1x1 rib) like you see at the bottom, where I started.  So I am close to being done, but there is a lot of shaping to do from here up to the neck, which is the most intimidating part for me since it's my first time designing a fitted sweater pattern.  I hope it ends up fitting and most of all that he likes it!  meow!

While I was working on this I happened to be spending some free time fantasizing about adopting a cat (don't worry, there's no way I could any time soon) from the Siamese Cat Rescue Center.  I just go through and look at all their cute pictures, and read all their sweet stories, and hope the best for all of these poor kitties who have found themselves in need of a foreber hoem.  So I thought to myself...if no one is yet buying any of my lovingly knit items...maybe a good start would be to just give some things away!  So I contacted the wonderful people at Siamese Rescue and applied as a crafter.  I just had my phone interview Monday night and have been approved!  I will be donating items to be sold in their online store as well as at cat shows in various states.  All proceeds will go to veterinary and other expenses for these needy cats.  In the process I hope to also get my name "out there" in the cat-crazy community and sell some things for my own profit too!

Of course full-size sweaters like the one I'm making for Fitch are a pretty big undertaking.  But I thought of one thing I can make in large quantities.  It's a cat toy.  I call it the "mini-mese".

note: these can be made to look
like any cat.  However, toys for
other breeds will simply be called
"mini me"

These are just the first rudimentary prototypes I did yesterday, so yes I do realize that the head is too small on the white one... among other imperfections.  But aren't their little tails cute?

I used a new (to me) technique to make these little pocket shapes.  In addition to Judy, I found another girl on YouTube who I really like.  Her channel is called PleasantSeas.  Here is the video I watched for knitting in the round on straight needles.

The amazing thing about this girl is that she sounds much younger than me, yet she is a very knowledgeable, proficient and quick knitter.  I know this video is seven minutes long but if you skip to about 4:30 you see that she notices a mistake, addresses it and fixes it without even stopping the recording!