Hi. I’m Hannah.
I hardly know what to think. She had this cool yarn in the stash that kind of reminded her of orchids and spring. The orchids started blooming a few weeks ago and that was that… she began to ignore me and the CoalBear and started fussing over the orchids and the yarn.
Okay, it is true that the orchids are kind of cool. I like to climb into the garden where they are growing from time to time to hang out with them. The Mother of Cats gets a little cranky when I do it, however, so I don’t get to do it all the time. I lately have been sleeping right next to the Mother of Cats while she knits on this… cat… Really, it doesn’t look all that much like a cat, but she kept telling me that it was. Here’s what happened.
I was really concerned for the Mother of Cats. It seemed like she didn’t really know what a cat is supposed to look like. I can kind of see the chin, but that nose and the EYES were the stuff of knitty kitty nightmares.
Now that the Mother of Cats has finished up the orchid kitty she has gone back to knitting on my blanket. Yay!! She isn’t ignoring me so much because she keeps putting the blanket on me while she sews the pieces together. I can’t wait to get my blanket and we are working on it every evening together while the CoalBear runs wild and chases his toys downstairs.
Hannah: Because I am a little princess, and also because you don’t share the toys!!
This is Hannah, signing off.
Happy Caturday everyone!!
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
- The pattern that I used is Grey Kitten Calico Cat by Claire Garland.
- The yarn is a silk/merino/nylon blend by Noro called Tsubame. It is dk weight and I just knit the colors as they appeared in the ball as I worked. Mostly. I did throw out some green along the way.
- My project page on Ravelry is here. Yeah, I was too lazy to write in any notes on the page.
- I used the center quill of feathers to make the whiskers.
- 5 of my 7 orchid plants are now blooming and they definitely deserve a knitted cat to hang out with them!!
- Did you want to see the back of the cat? Here he is!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
WONDERFUL, Marilyn !!!!!
Your orchids are beautiful and I love your calico cat! ❤️
Thank you!
I love your orchids and the kitty is adorable. Who knew one could knit a cat?
This designer (Clair Garland) has patterns for several styles of cats. They can be made to look very realistic by using different blends of mohair yarn while knitting the cat, but I decided to go totally silly with this yarn and ignored the mohair.
You should be very proud of your mother, Hannah
Hannah: Seriously? She needs to get cracking on my BLANKET!!!!
Some children are never satisfied
I think he looks a little like a pug because the eyes you’ve used are round irises rather than cat’s narrow slit, but regardless…it’s darn cute and looks good amongst the orchids. I really must read up about looking after orchids or throw mine out…yep still hanging on to a bunch of leaves I’ve mentioned before (years ago probably 🤦‍♀️)
I do have a pair of cat eyes that I could have used, but decided to use the blue ones because this is a very silly cat, and why use up the good eyes on him? Then I saw that pug face looking up at me…
I have my orchids under a grow light with a timer. I never paid much attention to how many hours I was giving them, but this fall I moved things around in the craft room and changed the setting on the times to shorten the day. Yeah. One of the plants (which hadn’t bloomed with the others) immediately responded with new shoots to bloom. There must be some trick with the light. Also, I was advised by the nursery that the plants needed big swings in temperatures in the fall to trigger the blooms, which is easy here in Colorado as we specialize in that type of weather. I just leave the window open in that room so they get cold air at night and the room gets good morning sun and warms up each morning. You are farther north than I am, so I’m not sure if those tricks will work for you, but the grow light on a timer might be something to consider.
Yes he does look like a spring cat! How marvellous.
That’s a lovely calico! Looks like a fun knit.
It was a fun knit. I kind of want to knit Hannah, but I didn’t understand how the cat was constructed and thought that this would be one way to figure out what was going on. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’m still not sure I completely understand the shaping enough to produce a tuxedo cat.
Marilyn, this is a delightful project. You’re amazing! I must admit to sharing kitties fear of that face before the eyes appeared. Now kitty is adorable (all three of them).
I literally put the cat into time out for a few days when I got to the zombie-cat face because I couldn’t imagine how it would all work out. I finally decided to trust the designer, took him out of the bin and it all turned out.
That is great to hear. =^. . ^=
That is a really fun knitted cat! I have some plush animals I want to knit this year; hopefully they will turn out as good. And your orchids look lovely! I haven’t managed to keep any of the ones I’ve been given over the years alive…
Cool cat(s)!
Hannah – soon your blanket will be done and you can snuggle under it to your heart’s content!
Marilyn – the orchid cat is gorgeous!!
Thank you. I tied a purple ribbon in a bow around the cat’s neck (the ribbon came as a bow on an orchid!) and he looks even cuter! Hannah and I are hard at work on the blanket.
Aw! I know Hannah will be thrilled by her blanket 🙂