More Catnip Bunnies

After a few issues with the mail system, these catnip bunnies have (hopefully) found their way to a new home. Are they not just the cutest things you have ever seen!? I just love them, and more importantly, the cats adore them! They are fast becoming the new favorite "go to" toy for my kitties. Hopefully, the kitties who received these will also love them.

The bunny tails are my favorite part!

Raverly Link
Pattern - Catnip Bunnies
Yarn - Red Heart Soft - scraps from a previous project
Needles - Size 4

Catnip Bunnies

At night, we put away all the cat toys. Sometimes, we forget. Around 1am, Sophie usually wakes us up crying and hauling around a toy because she wants to play. It makes for a long night. The other night, I must have missed a toy when they were put away for the night because at 2am, I got a surprise dropped right on my face. This surprise.Yes, isn't it disgusting! So very nasty. I can't bear to through it out though, because the cats love it to death -as is obvious. I really wish you could see just how gross this is, but these pictures just don't give it justice. After having this dropped on my face, yuck-O, I threw it out. No more Mr. Mousy.

Seriously, they lick this mouse, haul it around in their mouth, kick it, bite it, shred it, etc. It is so disgusting. Say your goodbyes.
Since I threw out their favorite toy, it was a requirement that I make them a replacement. I found this adorable knit bunny on Raverly, and decided to try it out. My first knit toy. I was a little confused at first, but the directions are really well written (if you read them all) and once I realized how it was going to work, so genius, I was really excited to finish. I stitched the eyes on in a contrasting color, added a nose and whiskers, and a tail. How cute are these?
After I finished the first bunny (the white one), I gave it to the cats to see if they'd like it. Sure enough - they loved it! They even kept fighting over it. Within five minutes, the poor white bunny had a shredded eye, a hole in his ear, and was slobbered all over. See the damage?So I made a second one. And everyone was happy!Later, I learned that my Aunt's cat had been in a fight and was forced to stay inside to recover. Since I already had all the supplies out and I was on a roll, I made one for her kitty too.
Seriously, they are so simple to make and really fast once you make a few. The tail is my favorite part!When I was finished, I immediately packaged it up, got it ready to go to the post office in the morning and left it on the counter so I wouldn't forget it when I left for work. That night, we put away all the new knit bunnies and went to bed. The next morning - pure mayhem.

The evidence. The cats blamed it on a hungry lion.I re-packed the bunny (who somehow manged to escape unharmed) and mailed it off. The cats were not very happy that I didn't let them have it - but still stuck with the lion story so no one would get punished. I keep finding orange paper shreds around the house, but what I'd really like to find is the so-called Lion.

Free Pattern - Catnip Bunny
Raverly Link
Yarn - scraps of worsted weight acrylic yarn
Needles - size 4

Break Time

Why is it that every time I start a quilt, get it all basted and ready to go, the cats immediately steak it as theirs? Sophie is so spoiled, I hardly ever kick her off, I just work on a different project. But I think it is time that this quilt was finished and ready to be used. Quilting will resume as soon as I can break it to Sophie that I need the quilt she is napping on.

Ask... and Ye Shall Receive.

In this case, you must ask... and then be super super patient. My sister randomly mentioned to me that she was in desperate need of some homemade dishcloths and needed to go to the store to get some yarn."Hold up! I'll make you some! Seriously, I'd love to make some for you!"

This conversation took place during my all-I-want-to-do-is-knit-this-dishcloth-pattern stage. You know... like this time, and this time, and this time. Oh and there was this time when I went crazy. It is an obsession. Slowly it has started to find it's place mixed in with other projects and is slowing becoming a slight obsession, on the verge of becoming normal.

So as I began to knit other things and start to experiment with new knitting ideas and techniques, the dishcloth extravaganza got set aside. As did my promise to make some for my sister. Bless her for her massive amounts of patience. She waited and waited, and then waited some more. Today, they finally arrived.I was able to make her eight dishcloths, seven of the grandmothers favorite pattern, and one in the waffle knit pattern. I'm guessing you can tell which is my favorite.

I also included two mini-dishcloths for my niece. She has this cute pink play kitchen that she just adores. I figured she could use a few dishcloths as well. For these, I increased until there were 25 stitches and then started the decreases. They turned out adorable and she apparently loves them. When she realized they were for her, they stopped everything, and had to go wash dishes. How cute is that?
Chardell, I'm so sorry that it took me forever to get these to you. It is a good thing you have a big supply of patience. You must have been blessed with a little extra since you were bound to be my sister. Love ya!

PS- Sophie would like you to know that she helped in the photographing of all these dishcloths. She had to get in one picture somehow and figured her white paws could add a little something special to this otherwise boring photo of a bunch of dishcloths.

A New Favorite Pattern (or a close second)

I think I might just have a new favorite dishcloth pattern. Or maybe just a second favorite. I got the pattern for free here and I must say I LOVE it! Super fast, fun, simple, and so very cute. I just love all the ridges -- super scrubby!It was nice to have a break from the grandmother's favorite dishcloths pattern that I make, but I couldn't resist making a few more, I just love that pattern.
*I think there was a total of twelve in this batch.

Quilting Will Resume...

after nap time is done!I am getting close though! If only I could keep the cats off it long enough to get finished.

Dimitri’s Blanket

My sweet kitty turned 5 yesterday!  We totally celebrated his birthday, because we are slowly turning into the crazy cat people of the neighborhood, and it was fun!  Anyway, for his birthday I made him a new blanket.  He absolutely loves blankets, all kinds of blankets, but really the flannel ones are his favorites.

It was a family effort to make this for him.  Dustin picked out the fabric and I did the sewing.  Then Sophie kept it warm for him (or in other words, kicked him off of it so she could lay on it.  Looks like I need to make a second one). 

I figured Dimitri wouldn't care if it had a crochet edging or a decorative stitch so I went with the fastest one.  I tried out a few new stitches (and even one that I might try for quilting next time) and finally settled on this one. 

He really likes it and I think Sophie is jealous.  I really think I will be making a second one of these in the near future for her.

PS- Double yay to the Jazz for beating the Lakers last night!   Even with all the injured players, they still were able to win!  What a game!

Double Take Quilt

Phew, I made a quilt and a cat! That was hard work! :-) Well, okay, maybe not the cat, but I did make the quilt. Dimitri sure does love it already and has left cat hair all over it. I think he would like me to give it to him.

This is my second finished quilt for the year. So far, I’m feeling pretty good about my projects for 2009. I got this quilt pattern for Christmas and immediately put it together. And by immediately I mean… 2 hours later I had the top finished. I think I was a little excited to get it.

The patten is called Double Take and it is designed by Pieces From My Heart. All of the fabric is Moda. It is brown and orange, although these pictures make it seem more black and orange. The finished size is 50 X 50.

For the backing, I used the remaining scraps I had from the top and then I purchased some Kona Cotton in Brown for the rest. I also used the brown for the binding.

Here it is, all folded up and ready to be used. I just washed it and I love how it crinkled so well. I just did an all over stippling for the quilting (I’m finally getting better at it). Overall, I love it. Now I just need to decided what to do with it.

Baby Kittens

The baby kittens have grown (today they are six weeks old) and we finally got them all adopted to good homes. It was insane how fast they grew. One day they didn't even have their eyes open, the next they were escaping from their closet every day. It was a lot of work trying to keep up with kittens. They are just full of energy and want to explore everything. We did our best to take good care of them and hold them every day. They loved to be held! We'd take them out on the grass and let them run, unless the neighborhood kids were around and then they'd just get mauled. Dustin would walk away from them and they'd follow, jumping through the grass. It was so cute, I had to make a quick video of it.

The black kitten went to a girl that lives in the same complex as us. She had her eye on this one since he was born. Her dad is allergic to cats so her grandma took it in for her. At first he was all black but as he grew he started to get this white patch on his chest. So cute!The two tabbys went to a home with twins. One for each! They have a lot of land so the kittens will have lots of places to run and catch mice. I'm glad that were adopted together but I was surprisingly sad to see them go. I guess I was more attached to them then I thought I was. How can you not look at this face and get attached?

We still have Roxy that needs a home, a really good one. If you know of anyone (in Utah) that would like to adopt her, send them my way.

Now that the kittens are gone, I might have a bit more free time to spend crafting! Yay!

Baby Kittens Are Here... (and other crafty stuff that is not as cool as baby kittens)

And they are as cute as I knew they would be. Roxy had three ... yep, three.. baby kittens last night. We are not quite sure what time (This would be another great excuse for quitting my job so I could stay home and wait for the stray cat to have her kittens... alas, I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon). When I went home for lunch she was still packing them around in her little oven, but when Dustin went home at 5:00 she had already had them and cleaned them up nicely. Did I mention how adorable they are? So tiny! There are two that are going to be tabby like she is and one that is jet black.

If this was any test as to what kind of a father Dustin will be, I'd say he passed with flying colors. He went out to check on Roxy and the kittens every hour (he would have done it more if I would have let him). He kept her food and water dish full to the brim and even treated her with whole milk that he bought special for her. He made sure to give plenty of loves to Roxy and tell her what a good mama she is. Trust me, it was adorable. Plus, he had spent so much time and energy getting the perfect spot ready for her to have the babies in. You already saw the box he made. But the neighborhood kids wouldn't stay out of it so he devised a new plan. We have an outside storage closet that we don't use. So he screwed in two screws with loops on the heads, one in the frame and the other in the door, and locked them together. It makes it so the door stays open and can't be accidentally closed and it is open just enough that Roxy can go in and out as she pleases but neighborhood kids can't. It worked perfect and Roxy loves her little house where it is safe from kids and other cats.

We tried to switch out the bloody towel with a clean one, but that caused great panic with Roxy. She wasn't having it since it didn't smell like her kittens. We just left it the way it was and figured we swap it out later. I just love the cute little kitty cries the babies make! Oh, they are so cute!

News in the crafting department is consisting of cards. Lots of them. Talk about mass production! If you are in my family, you will be receiving one of these shortly so I didn't want to show all of the card. I tried to leave a little bit to the imagination. Hope everyone enjoys them. I still have 3 more to make and then I will be sending these out in the mail. This is the card that I made Dustin for our anniversary. He said that it was "my best card yet!" but I think he was only saying that because it was very manly and not pink! He is really good at telling me everything I make is fantastic!

Winner Announced Tomorrow!

Okay, my first blog giveaway is officially closed! Thanks to all you who commented. It was really fun for me to read all your great comments. I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning. Dustin will be choosing the name, so if your name isn't chosen, you can blame him. I will have to exclude the Alexanders (since she asked me to), but I totally understand that mail tends to gets stolen when traveling to Latin America. When I was in Ecuador, one of my friends sent me a package with Lucky Charms, cause that was the thing I missed the most, and it never made it. "Someone stole my Lucky Charms!" How rude is that!?

Look what else Dustin has been up to besides choosing a winner for my giveaway. He has made a little home for Roxy to have her kittens in. She is super pregnant and looks like it will be any day now. Just look at that belly!

Just for fun, look what me and my friends did for our lunch break today. Yep, we totally pampered ourselves today and went and got a pedicure.

Hi!

I really wanted to get the complaints off the front page. Sorry for that. I guess I just needed to vent a little (or a lot). Yes, mom, I will be a careful pedestrian and not do stupid stuff just to prove a point.

On a better note, look at what we have adopted.

Yep, it is the neighborhood stray kitten. She is super cute. Dustin really has a soft spot in his heart for stray cats and at every where we live he finds one to adopt. This one we have named Roxy. I like it cause she is like Foxy Roxy, and everyone wants to be her! She just had kittens, which, I am told, the owners sold.

Okay, that is a contradiction I realize but let me explain. Her so called owners don't feed her or take care of her at all. They just ignore her. I don't think people should have pets if they can't take care of them. Roxy is almost to the point of starvation, she is so skinny. She can eat more than our two cats put together. Yesterday she had four meals, and was still begging for more. She waits on our doorstep for us to come home. She loves attention and is really quite pleasant so I don't really mind having her around. But Sophie and Dimitri do! Talk about jealousy.

I think it is funny in the picture is says on her makeshift food dish "Lose 6 lbs in 2 weeks!" We are actually trying to do the opposite of that. Dustin was so proud of his bowls that he made for her. He used a cereal box to make a dish for the food and a milk carton to put water in. Very inventive but if we would have had paper bowls, that is what I would have used. Note to self - buy paper bowls.

Also, look what else I have been up to.

My sister helped (Thanks!) me make these blankets for a humanitarian project my church is doing. They are going to tie these quilts and wanted them sewn together first. I guess it is easier that way, but I think I would disagree. I volunteered to help, and then passed the buck to my sister. They are all crib size with the same blue flower print for the front but different backs. So my sister made two and I made one! Yep, I'm the slacker but it is really hard to make them when YOUR SEWING MACHINE IS BROKEN!!!!! Yep, (sniff, sniff) you heard me correctly. It is so sad and I'm about ready to cry. I can't fix it . I've spent three days and exhausted all my resources. This is where I praise Costco profusely. I love Costco! Yes, I LOVE COSTCO! Seriously, I think this store is the greatest thing ever. I bought my sewing machine from them online. But the best part is, they will return anything. So, I am going to return my broken sewing machine (I've only had it for a few months) and get a replacement. Thank you Costco and 25 year warranty! This means that I will be without a sewing machine for a while until a replacement comes. Hopefully soon. I'm sure I have a lot of other projects I can work on to keep me occupied.

Basted and Ready to Go!

I am finally ready to quilt. Okay, so I already started last night, and I hope to get more done tonight. This quilt is going to my friend who just had a baby (I'm a tad late, but better than never), so I really need to get it done.

I had plenty of help (I mean A LOT of help) basting this, but I'd really like to quilt this without any help, if you know what I mean.

Dear Grandma...

I love my bench in the window. I lay in the sun everyday, if mom remembers to pull up the blinds. I just wanted to remind you of how cute I am. Also, Sophie is cute too, I guess. At least mom says she is. But Sophie picks on me and makes me sad. I would feel better if you sent treats.

XOXO
Mitri

Dear Grandma...

Don't listen to Dimitri. He is a baby and a mama's boy. I am the princess and rule the house. I am the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Send me the treats.

Praise to me,

Sophie

Sophie's New Mouse

Sophie has totally destroyed her toy mouse that I made her awhile ago (the green one made from acrylic yarn). She literally loved it to shreds! So, I decided it was time for a new one ~ a sturdy one, one that would last longer. So I made this cutie! I made it from cotton yarn hoping that it might last a little longer, but only time will tell. It is filled with Catnip, so it drives her crazy. Cats on catnip is one of the funniest things ever. I'm not sure if she really likes it, but she has worn in it already so I think she is warming up to it.

And I just wanted to show you all how super spoiled I am. The other day when I got home from work (from a long day mind you) this was waiting for me on the kitchen table, the house was cleaned, and dinner was ready to go. What a super guy I have! Those are new Shade shirts (my favorite clothing store E.V.E.R!).

Can you smell the goodness?!