Cat mats

When we first met our now-adopted second cat at a local charity, she was laying on a wonderfully colored, knitted little rug. I remembered that my yarn store had sponsored a project for animal shelters called the , so after we took our new cat home, I decided to make her a Snuggle so she would feel right at home in her new surroundings.

I chose 100% cotton so the rug would be washable. Other than that, I went for colors that I liked and yarn that was soft. My first attempt was the comfy knit snuggle. Our newly adopted cat wasn’t interested, but our other cat was a fan.

A new fan of my knitting

For my second attempt, I thought the new cat might prefer something with a tighter weave and an overall fluffier texture. So I went for the Little Devil pattern. Definitely fluffier, but I still had to convince our adopted cat that she wanted to enjoy my knitting. Cat mat, cat quilt, either one works for me.

Our adopted cat tries out the new cat mat… or cat quilt!

Now each cat has his / her own cat mat. And they even have an extra one to share — my three skeins of yarn yielded three mats. Hopefully the mats make for happy cats!

Local Eats

There’s nothing better than enjoying a delicious meal out than when it’s served by a locally owned restaurant. Such was the nature of our brunch outing this past weekend. Say hello to Liberty Market, located on Chandler, Arizona, USA. Maybe you have a similar place: a circa 1930 grocery store that has been renovated and turned into a restaurant by some local entrepreneurs. What first caught my attention was the preservation of the past in the old sign out front and some plaques telling about the history of the building.

What next caught my attention was the incredibly delicious breakfast.  Soft, fluffy pancakes with butter from a local dairy, nicely cooked eggs, and to top it all of, a smashed meatball.  I’ve never had one of those for breakfast or brunch before, but it was great!

Have you been to a yummy local restaurant lately?

Knitted napkin rings

I bet all of you have been wondering what I did with the jute string.  After knitting and un-knitting the swatch, I decided I had enough string for two napkin rings.  Because i didn’t want to deal with any seams, I opted to knit them in the round.  My first attempt resulted in “narrow”: a skinny stockinette stitch ring with a wide opening.

I was feeling braver for the second ring, so I cast on fewer stitches and knit in garter stitch, which in the round causes you to alternate between knit and purl on every round.  It was worth it to end up with “wide”.

Another fun, functional project completed.  I will have to do a little more knitting in case we have guests for dinner!

Blogging buddies

I just found out a good friend of mine also has a blog… about sewing!  We are long time schoolmates who are both in computer-related professions, so it is fun that not only do we share similar jobs but we also share similar hobbies, and now we are blogging about them.  We must have some intrinsic need to exercise both sides of the brain.

If you’re interested in a little sewing and textile fun, check out Fay’s Daughter.  Enjoy!