Furballs and Butterflies :D

I knitted socks for a few years now.  First started with a very basic pattern with picking up stitches and short rows heel. It was not my favourite way of making socks. I preferred afterthought heel.  It is much easier in making the heel and in designing the general pattern as well. One of the drawbacks is the fitting around the heel area which takes a bit of getting use to.

As for Upward CAT, the heel area is still a concern for me. I have tailored the heel opening for a better fit and also a sturdier appearance with using the 1 x 1 ribbing to appeal as a gift. The infamous rolling edge of the stockinette stitch might taken some beginners knitters by surprise. My first prototype is without the ribbing on the sole section and now I have been wearing the socks for two days, I have no problem and once putting the socks on, the rolling edge seems to be tamed immediately (I did not wet or steam block the socks, oh well, I do "natural" blocking by wearing them lol).

I came up with this idea and pattern because the furballs at home is already planning for Christmas and would like to give their favourite auntie a pair of socks. The intarsia pattern is inspired by them, and featuring cat, heart and butterfly. I always like "3D knitting" (my interpretation: making bumps on the knitted surface for texture lol) and the butterfly came out better than I thought. In term of colour choice, I will suggest two contrast colours. I tried with variegated (cat / heart) and solid main colour and it did not show case the pattern that well. I think maybe solid colour for cat / heart and variegated for the main colour might work better.

 



All the specialty cast on / bind off, techniques and stitch are readily available on the internet when you google.  If you are new to button hole making, the gap mending I am talking about in the pattern might not make sense to you, but if you are a avid socker/ mitteners, you will be able to apply your experience in this case. Now that I have the pattern written out, it is time for testing.  Thank you in advance for assisting in the test :)

Stop Tickling me ..... and just Rub My Tummy Please

Finally, I have taken Rub My Tummy Please pattern to the market.  It is now on sale in my store in Ravlry.com.

I need to thanks all the testers that had participate in the pattern testing and for their valuable feedback :)

This pattern is the start of my journey in knitting the round and perfect disc. For experienced knitters, the most logical way is to knit from center out. It is easier for sizing as well, so one can stop when the size (diameter) is reached. Really no brain work in here. The drawback is that you will need to know some kind of special cast on, like Emily Osler's cast on, Judy's magic cast on. Those cast ons are not that difficult but practice does make everything perfect ;)

The challenge then presented was the untamed wavy edge. The stockinette stitch likes to curl up and in a disc shape, it becomes wavy instead of curling up at both edges as in a long rectangular scarf, for example. So I did a "mock cuff" ("real one" will involve double knitting lol) to stabilize the edge. It also gave me a chance to add in the little cutie paws too.

The head and tail are fun to make too.  Different facial expression and tail curling will certainly bring out the charm and resemblance to your feline friends at home.

And if you are an intermediate beginner or an advance knitter looking for challenge, there are two more patterns, Black Sheep (CAT) In The Family and Over CATchievers coming up that might be right down your alley. Similar cat coasters but different in construction :) Stay Tune

To find out where my inspiration for this pattern came from, visit my other page in this blog.

Happy Knitting :D

Over (C)A(T)chiever

Could your cat be an over achiever?  You ask how will I know.  The answer is simple. Did you recognize all the meows and their corresponding commands? I do. Firstly, I can differentiate the meows from my two cats. Secondly, when Oscar meows in distress, it means he needs human elevator service.  Not that he cannot find his way to ground floor, but that he is just too special and need his beloved human to climb the two step ladder and gently pick him up, tell him he is a silly cat, a kiss on the forehead and off he goes four paws on the floor. Thirdly, when I talk to him and he meow back, it means he is in total disagreement with me, and he always has the last meow. Nowadays, when he stared at me while I was knitting, it means he needs his food bowl filled. My other cat, Moo Moo, will meow loud when he needs a human goon to follow him around the place while he is patrolling for intruder. So the name of this pattern is inspired by my two cats and the difficulty of this pattern compared to the last two patterns, Rub My Tummy Please and Black Sheep (or is it Cat) of the Family.

This should be my last cat coaster pattern and to mark the end of my journey in studying the round and perfect knitted disc. I go all crazy to set out to "conquer" the pinwheel intarsia pattern. The challenge is to make a flat tummy (yes, it is for both human and coaster lol), or at least as flat as possible.

 

The small coaster will be able to hold mug / cup / glass about 3 - 3.5" in diameter; the big one can hold water bowl about 6 - 6.5" in diameter

This time I made it two ways to achieve the pinwheel pattern and both has its pros and cons.

Actually, I tried out with the Pinwheel Kitten when I developed the Rub My Tummy Please pattern. It did not go the way I wanted it, so I left it aside. I picked it up again when I had more time and here it is. Make sure you pull the body in all direction after it is done, pay more attention to the centre, to loosen up the stitches.  I am using a one direction / hand to change colour, but perhaps using two strands technique (that is, the Fair Isle technique) will be better in term of achieving a looser tension needed in this piece. I welcome a tester to try out both ways for me if anyone interested.

The Pinwheel Kitten will also need the knowledge of crochet, maybe intermediate beginner level, to do the cast on. It is not just simply magic circle cast on but need to switch colour yarns too.  So it will need someone to be quite comfortable with the cast on technique together with the know how to switch colour in crochet

The Quick Silver (Blue) Kitten is really quick to make, at least for the body, as soon as you get the hang of the pattern. So far, this is the pattern I like the most for simple cat coaster. It took me some time (counts in days please lol) to find a perfect solution for the ridge problem. If you have test knitted my other cat coasters, you will see how different it is :D

As for Happy Papa, he is a pinwheel as well but constructed differently to his kitten. There are many roads to Rome lol. I hope you can see, once you finish the project, how the kittens are related to their Papa :)

Happy Testing :)