crafts & knitting

more kitties

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)

Thanks so much for all of the sweet and kind comments about the new patterns. Since writing them up I've found myself a little feline-fixated and have been knitting cats in all kinds of yarns. With all of the work involved in pattern compiling I miss being mostly a maker, so it's nice to be spending more of my time actually knitting rather than writing about it :) 

 

Fuzy

 

These kittens are made from mohair yarns (one strand of Rowan Kidsilk haze and one of Rowan kid classic). Mohair is a lovely fibre to work with if you want fluffiness, especially if you brush the knitted surface afterwards. Because the fibres are long and strong (it is often referred to as the diamond fibre and has a higher tensile strength than steel of the same diameter) they can be teased out from the knitted surface using an ordinary hairbrush to give a very fuzzy finish.

Mohair often comes in a very thin yarn, so for the purpose of knitting toys is best used in combination with a strand of another yarn in DK weight. These are the yarns I've used previously: Drops Kid-silk, Austerman Kid silk, Lana Grossa silkhair, Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Debbie Bliss Angel (all are thin mohair/silk mix yarns, so do need to be knitted with another strand of DK weight yarn for any of my patterns).

 

Fuzzycats

 

Anyway, I'm having fun making a little collection of cats that I hope to have for sale later in the year. In fact I've decided to give myself the summer off in terms of working on patterns and instead will be spending my Toby-free time knitting lots of different animals. I have a big basket of unfinished ones (mostly heads) so I've already made a start and I'll keep you posted when they are ready.

It's lovely to see photos appearing in the pattern project pages for the cats. I always enjoy seeing what people are making from the patterns, so if you give any of them a go please consider uploading a picture on the ravelry cat Knit-along for us to admire (we also have Knit-alongs for the other patterns too).

In other news from here we are back to having 3 eggs a day as Hattie has come out of her broodiness. The chickens are all doing well and are still a source of daily amusement with their struttings, scratchings and chicken-ish antics. Talking of the chickens, I better go and give them their second breakfast – they eat a lot and have probably already finished their mash from 7am!

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PS: With all of the extra emails I've been receiving about the new patterns I've fallen a bit behind with my plans for responding to comments on the blog (clearly my best attempts were not quite up to scratch!). I won't now reply to each comment on the previous post about the patterns but I will attempt to reply to comments here from now on. Thanks in advance if you take the time to leave one x

 

93 thoughts on “more kitties”

  1. Fuzzy little kitties! omg… your works are just amazing. Would love to get 1 for my daughter one day ❤

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  5. Awe your fluffy kittens are gorgeous Julie and that little orange dress is soooo pretty!
    Enjoy your summer making your little animals, fingers crossed for lots of sunny weather so you can do it in the garden, that means you can watch your lovely chickens too!!
    V x

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  7. It’s just so lovely to see your blog posts! You’ve got golden fingers and a wonderful talent to knit those little animals!

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  8. Hi
    These cats are lovely.
    Today I bought “the smallgmouse”. Let’s see if I can do it.
    You are a great artist.
    Kisses from Portugal.
    Helena

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  9. Cats and mohair – I call it “kitty crack”! My girl cat never bothers my yarn, and sleeps on my lap when I knit…unless I use mohair. My first lace scarf had mohair content. When I wore it, she exclaimed “Wow!”, and snagged a quarter-sized hole in my new scarf! 😦 Now I find alternative yarns.

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  11. I just adore these fuzzy kitties! These are on my to do list 🙂
    I have also just noticed you have Jolie Home as a lovely shop link on your blog. I just adore that store and try to get to a knit and chat when I have time off work. Linda and Danny are such lovely ladies.

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  14. Just amazing! What is your process… heads first, then bodies and clothes? Your baskets full of animal heads always astounds me! Christie

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  16. I love these little kittens!! These are next on my ‘to-knit’ list 🙂 I have a question, what colorways did you use for the grey kitty? I want mine to look just like it!

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  17. What a great idea to use mohair as it makes the kittens look even cuter and more cuddly, if that’s possible! Am off to source some mohair here in Australia. We are going to get a really cold few days from Sunday (incredibly cold for us) so good knitting weather! I will be hoping that I might get lucky and be able to buy one of your animals later on in the year. I have entered every time so fingers crossed! Happy knitting!

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  18. I absolutely adore these kitties in mohair!! Makes me REALLY want to buy your kitty pattern and make one (I have your bunny and mouse patterns already-amazing!). Enjoy knitting this summer…I look forward to seeing pictures of what you create. You always create such lovely things.

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  29. Oh Barbara, that would be funny but for the quarter-sized hole in your new scarf – not a happy outcome and I’m not surprised that you’re not knitting with mohair anymore! Hope your lovely cat behaves herself with the rest of your creations x

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  31. Jolie is such a treat to visit isn’t it? And you’re right about the ladies, they’re always so welcoming and knowledgeable. I don’t visit very often but never leave without lots of goodies in one of their lovely bags. Perhaps I’ll bump into you there sometime Caroline x

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  34. Hi Christie. My process is chaos usually! Sometimes I start with heads, sometimes clothes and sometimes it all comes about shoes first! I go with whatever I feel like at the time but often it’s all prompted by a new ball of yarn. I can never resist casting on from a new yarn – which is probably why I have so many unfinished bits! x

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  41. Julie, you are a creative genius! All of your knitted creatures are perfection and SO cute! Love the kitties in the mohair yarn as well as all the others. I’m always VERY interested in reading about all your Toby time. We would love to know more about the rest of your lovely family as well. No need to respond. You have enough to do!
    Hugs, Kimmy

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  42. Dear Julie,
    I have been following you and your patterns for years – I have all of them except the kittens and Monkey…..I will remedy that soon. You do wonderful work!! Keep it up! and your patterns are easy to read. Love it and thanks. I would like to get into your draw when you have it, please.

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  45. Hi Julie, Love these Kitties, and the mohair would make great bunnies too! I so admire your talent especially how you’ve designed your blog and the pictures you post. I am also a graphic designer, but I would love to find something I am passionate about as well. I knit, but not nearly as well as you do. I think I am a little hesitant to try a bunny, but I am inspired by your art. Thanks for sharing! Lydia

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  48. Can you say what you do to brush the mohair afterwards? I love the fuzziness and I have tons of mohair to use up! Also, any chance of a little puppy toy/pattern?

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  49. I have always apreciated your work and the day I saw the boy cat on the previous post I just knew I needed to try one. After reading this post I decided to buy you the boy cat pattern, not to start now but maybe at the end of summer, getting ready for my 2 son’s birthday, or maybe christmas. Will try to find the colour of the orange cat that is the one I just felt in love since he reminds me my beloved cat Cocas (in english aka KERMIT, the frog from Muppets), he passed away in the end of March of this year and would also want to do a doll cat similar to Tuxa, my other cat, but female. Thank you so much for doing this cuties and sharing your knowledge. best regards
    Susana, from Portugal

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  51. I really love the fluffiness of your mohair kitties! I’ve just started on my first one using alpaca. Can’t wait to see how it looks as I progress, I’m a huge fan of your patterns!

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  52. oh my gosh, these mohair blend kitties are too cute for words! i didn’t think the kitties from this pattern could get any cuter, but then there you go, making them even more fantastic! I absolutely must knit this.

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  54. Hi, loved the rabbit but the cats are just as adorable the way you make each one individual your a very talented lady. Their gorgeous.
    Thank you Jackie

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  55. Your little animals are gorgeous, and theses kitties are no exception. You are so inventive, Julie, and the patterned clothes are delightful. Happy summer knitting!
    Cathy x

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  57. Hi Julie!
    Your mohair kitties are your most adorable little animals yet! =^..^=
    (..)(..)
    Thanks for sharing your amazing talents (and life with your family, garden and chickens!) You are such an
    inspiration and I always look forward to reading your blog posts. I have most of your patterns and hope
    someday to knit an animal when I have time. I have been working on a shawl for over two years and I’m finally on
    the last row! lol
    xo, Susan

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  66. Thanks so much Lydia. I feel so luck to have my knitting. I used to mostly paint and draw, sometimes working through the night and at all hours to get a piece done but once I had children that wasn’t practical and knitting is so much more forgiving when you have to pick it up and put it down again many times a day! Hope you find your ‘thing’ that gives you as much pleasure as my knitting gives me x

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  69. Hi Amanda, I just used a small handbag sized pure bristle hairbrush that I keep specifically for the purpose. I brush lightly in all different directions across the knitted fabric and that frees the fibres to create a lovely ‘halo’. Maybe a puppy one day 🙂

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  78. I hope you finish off your shawl soon Susan and that the last row isn’t 600 stitches long – sometimes shawls are so hard to finish! Thanks so much for your kind words, if you do give one of the animal patterns a go be sure to share it with us on the Ravelry group x

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  82. Hi Laurraine. She’ll hopefully be for sale in the autumn along with a bunch of other animals that I’m working on. To be fair to everyone I don’t take orders or reservations but sell half of my finished items through Etsy (where it’s first-come-first-served)
    https://www.etsy.com/shop/lcrknitted
    and the other half through my blog shop where I use a random number selector to pick from comments.
    http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/shop
    I send an email to my mailing list in advance of any sales and if you’d like me to add you please send me a private email so I have your email address. Thanks x

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  83. Such sweet little kitties, Julie! I love the idea of using the soft fluffy mohair, it really adds to the kittenish character, and the little faces are just perfect.
    Helen xox

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  85. I love the cats – am going to buy that pattern as well to add to my winter knitting list, am having a break at the moment as have a poorly wrist so on light sewing only! Good luck with your summer knitting.

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  87. My dear Julie,
    I absolute LOVE all of your animals!! I already bought some patterns and made rabbits, elephant and foxes! With your patterns I’ve learned to knit better than before, so, thank you!
    I would like to ask if you have the intention to sell your pattern in other Language, that’s why some of my italian friends (I’m italian too) would like to buy your pattern but they can’t read very well in english. Thank you in advance for your reply. I’m going to upload some picture of my rabbits!
    Ilaria

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  90. I have made several of your darling anImals. Can’t say enough good things about them. They are adorable and always make me smile. Thank you.

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  91. I just purchase your cat pattern from esty. May I know what size of needle did you use for the grey cat in the photos above?

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  93. Please add me to your news list.
    I hope it is possible to buy 2bunnies with dresses. They are adorable.
    What is your prizes?

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