What Every Cat Needs.

Last night I was once again sucked into the depths of Ravelry, browsing the latest and greatest creations of my fellow crocheters, and I stumbled upon Kitty Couches!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Each one is about 12" long, just the right size for a cat-nap.  The miniature afghans and cushions make them all the more realistic. Awwww.   Given that my Duck (who is actually a cat, not a duck) thinks that All The Things made from yarn are for him personally, then this would make the best Christmas present ever!

So I showed my husband.

He said, and I quote, "That's the stupidest thing ever."  And I said, "No way, this is totally awesome!  I'm soooo going to make one for Duck.  But ours will be in colors that match our living room so it'll look like a big-person couch but super tiny!"  He responded with that unique look of his, where one eyebrow is up and the other is down, and I know in his head he is asking himself if it's time to medicate me yet.

Each one is a separate pattern and I don't want to buy all three, so I have to make a decision.  I think #1 the cutest, because I like the separate cushions and the tiny granny square afghan.   But I could still be swayed.

In other news, the cardigan I'm designing is coming right along.  It's going to be longer, and belted, with a large rolled collar, based on the old smoking jackets men used to wear.   But since nobody really smokes anymore I'm calling it the Non-Smoking Jacket.  Plus it's gray.

Front

Back

I finished the sleeves last night, figuring out how to modify the stitch pattern to taper them.  Fits really well! It's very rumply now, but once it's done and washed and blocked, it should look fabulous.

I really, really wanted to write this pattern down in a way that others could understand it and make one for their own, but I've learned in this design process that writing crochet patterns is like writing a book for toddlers.  You have to write each and every step, even the ones that are glaringly obvious to anyone who knows crochet basics.  Oh-my-bob talk about tedious!  My respect for crochet designers who actually write this stuff down has reached epic proportions.

I'm just not that diligent, so I gave up and I'm writing the pattern MY way, graphically. To heck with crochet shorthand.  Plus, since charts are universal, anybody around the world could make this without knowing a lick of English.

Charts rock.

Once the jacket is finished, I'll clean up these charts and post them as pdf files.