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©Geneve Hoffman Photography
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I recently had my first knitting
pattern published! Here is Fat Kitty. Isn’t he cute?
When the editors at Storey
Publishing asked if I was interested in contributing a knitted-toy pattern to
their newest One-Skein Wonders book, I
was thrilled. I let the idea percolate for a few days, but it was pretty
quickly apparent that the project was going to be a cat. (No surprise there if
you know me or my family.)
It took a few tries to get the
right kitty. The first yarn I tried was a super-soft baby alpaca. It was nice
and fuzzy, but that kitty was a little too squishy. Then there was the face.
The first couple permutations had wide-open green eyes—nice, but not the
feeling I was after. Also, just as one tiny brush stroke on a painted portrait
can completely change the facial expression, one single embroidery stitch can
make a kitty’s face change from sweet to crazy. (Yes, I know that’s what real
kitties do, but it’s not what I wanted here.) Sleepy eyes were a nice solution,
and a lot easier to embroider.
And then I found the perfect yarn.
Well, I had discovered it a few years ago at the farmers’ market in Union
Square. I’ve been trying to buy only wool that is grown in the U.S., and
Catskill Merino Worsted is one of my favorites. Soft, squishy, but still sturdy
and a bit rustic—it’s one of those yarns you just have to keep touching. Plus
it’s hand-dyed right on the farm in the Hudson River Valley, and the colors are
wonderful. My Fat Kitty is made with Warm Gray, but I can see him in Dusty Plum
or New York Twilight #10. (Plus I just like to say the color names.)
And you can learn more about the book here:
