A Tale of Two Kitties

It was the best of times and the worst of times...

Christmas has come and gone. I find myself wondering how it happens so fast. I began my gifts in October, budgeting time to each item, and finished in the early part of December. Of course, the gift plans changed along the way. One idea for a gift gave way to something much more than expected and others, more complicated, disappeared into simpler ones.

These sweet kitties were on the simpler end and I loved making them. I used Red Heart Yarn's new softer acrylic yarn. It's great for amigurumi's! It crochets tightly and the stitches seem to puff up around each other. When completed the piece has good structure and strength because of the tightness of the stitches. I actually used an E-3 hook for these kitties and hardly ever found it hard to catch this yarn. It rarely split either. Nice turnout for the craft store price.

The pattern I used was for the Sherbet Kitties. You cannot find it online for free anymore, but I believe you can purchase it through Etsy. Just Google Sherbet Kitties and you'll find it. I tweaked my kitties a little bit, but the overall design is true to the pattern.

The scarves are knitted in garter stitch on size 3 double pointed needles with worsted weight yarn. I just love how they fluff around their necks! Each one is about 10 inches long by 4 stitches across. That was my addition!

The yellow kitty went to my niece in Hawaii. Perfect colors don't you think? She made me smile as I made her. Thinking of the sunny skies, beaches, and sun. The scarf was to remind them (my Hawaiian family) that others had winter going on somewhere in this wide world. Maybe she could use it to tie herself to her surfboard? (shrug) I decided to use larger eyes on her as well. I like the big "kawaii" eyes and wanted to see how she'd turn out. I believe I used the 12 mm craft eyes. The purple cat has size 9mm. You can't really see it, but she has the cutest orange eyelashes too. Just like the purple cat. She is also sporting the ornament I created for my side of the family this year. It's made from felt and inspired by vintage ornaments.

The purple kitty went to my niece in Arizona. She turned out so "glam" that I knew exactly who to send it too. I chose the purple because it was such a rich, lovely color. I wanted to start with it, first! As I finished, I knew she'd have to go somewhere where purple was part of the world. Those Arizona sunsets get a dash of purple sometimes...

So, a little more happiness sent out. It's the best of times among the worst of times. Keep your chin up! Someone out there loves you!


~ Amimommy