The Knitting Fiend

I received loads of entries for “The Sixth Carnival of Knitting: Knitting and Pets! It’s no suprise; after all, our pets enjoy, help and interact with our knitting in so many varied ways.

There are the yarn loving pets.

Some, like Erika’s Kimble and Brady, hunt stash. Hearing, any activity in the yarn stash area, they rush to the room saying “I heard yarn. I smell yarn. Is this it? It doesn’t smell like yarn. Where’s the yarn?”.

What do yarn detecting cats do with yarn once they find it? That depends. Itgirl reports her cat, “Beans likes to play with the fun yarn.” In contrast,
Kylie’s cat just steals it. Then, what does she do? Who knows?

Maybe these yarn stealing cats will escalate to yarn destroying beasts like Whit’s “Spot”. Or even more horrifying, turn into yarn-a-holics like
Tammy’s cat.

Imagine arriving home to this:

“I came home to the sight of Rosco laying on the couch, drunk on yarn! His eyes were glazed over, he was breathing long & shallow, you could HEAR the pur from across the room, I SWEAR to you all, he was smiling! There was an evil satisfied grin on that cats face!!! “

So, cat owning knitters, beware. Don’t let yarn loving cats get hooked. And dog owners, beware as well. Dog owner and knitter RubyPlaid reports:

“This is Shannon. I never knew this until I went home for Christmas, but she likes to chomp on yarn.”

Scary! Luckily, there are some “at peace with knitting and yarn” pets.

Karen’s well behaved cat graces the weaving loom by just snuggling up and sleeping. Similarly, Jen’s assorted pets all live in harmony with knitting:

The pets know that when I pull out the knitting it’s time to settle in. Jack likes to lie down nearby and enjoy my nearness. Wyatt knows it’s going to be awhile before we go for that walk. Ed knew that the string was going to start moving and making that delicious noise. They gather around. They all lie on my knitting bags from time to time.

There are also benevolent guiding hand type pets:

Eileen describes Rascal:

“He’s my supervisor, sitting next to me and watching every move I make with the needles. Never hesitating to correct my technique with a brief swat at them or a tug at the yarn. What a guy”

La’s cat also helps with knitting– when not hiding under curtains! And surely, guidance is Ashe’s goal:

“Ashe, my friends, is a prankster, a comic, an acrobat, a friend to children, and a lover of knitting, not so much the yarn (as my other cats are partial to), but the movement of the knitting needle.”

Or, maybe he is truly is one of the “interferes with knitting pets”. After all, there are other knitters who report ways pets can interfere with knitting. Knits with Cats tells us she will not be joining “The Knitting Olympics”, in part, because: “… the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show falls on 2 evenings during the Olympics, which is another chunk of time I’d lose to something else I love! “

Bood luck in the show! But, before showing your dog, check out the “hand knit wearing pets”.

Dog sweater models include Lindy, Sue,and Popcorn’s dogs and Sourire’s currently invisible dog.

If you can bear the horror of seeing a cat modeling a dog sweater, visit Elizabeth’s knitting blog. (Yes, the cat looks just as angry as the one shown in a bunting, here. Well, at least neither cat had to model this which I hope will grace a poodle or chihuahua. )

Hat modeling cats can be seen at Jeanne’s blog K3tog!

Though, we know that there are also “I covet your knitting” pets. Here Chris shows us his lust for socks by refusing to budge during a picture taking session

But, sadly, there are also, “I reject your knitting” pets. Gail, who having knit her cat a Kitty Pi bed, now laments: “I knitted it with love, out of Big Kureyon, but does she use it? Nope. “

Lucky for Dee’s her dog Biggs appreciates his hand knit “Darth Maul” blanket! Teresa shows us how her pets Dot and Sade inevitably nestle right in to the pile of sweaters she clearly knit just for them!

Because, as we know, no matter what type of pet we have, we do everything we can for them. Knitting and pets go hand in hand.

That’s the end of The Sixth Carnival of Knitting. But guess what? I’m going to make “The Sixth Carnival Of Knitting, my submission to “The Carnival Of Crafts”! With luck, her readers will read about our pets, and my readers will read about sewing, tatting and crocheting pets!