The cat and I...

We've had an up and down relationship, the cat and I. Never under estimate the powers of persuasion of a seven year old is the lesson I take from the whole cat story. Ella was heartbroken one day when we took in a stray for a week or so and then of course, it disappeared back home as strays are wont to do. It hadn't been too much bother and it was heartwarming to see how gentle the children had been with him (Jake would have been four at the time).

So it came to be that we 'rescued' Mollie, the left overs of a divorce. Things went downhill fast in those early days and frequent calls were made to my Dad (who lived close by at the time) to come and remove a dead bird or mouse. Thankfully, now with food she likes (boy is she fussy!) and plenty of fields to go mousing in she seems to only bring the odd mouse indoors. This morning was one of those lucky occasions.

Some spring cleaning went on yesterday, despite the absence of Spring as we know it. All pale cream cushion covers from our basket furniture were washed and dried. I usually cover these with an assortment of tartan blankets to prevent cat hairs and cat claws ruining them. This weekend I decided that they looked nice and fresh and spring like, and tidier without the blankets. The cat usually pounces on the fresh covers within minutes of them being put back on but she is otherwise sidetracked this time... by the pile of tartan blankets! Talk about princess and the pea!

Ted ventures out...

Phew, Ted has had a giddy morning. When he opened the curtains this morning he couldn't believe his eyes. Everything was white. He thought it was quite beautiful until he felt how cold it was, and wet, and windy too.

Not owning a good pair of waterproof boots was a small problem he managed to overcome by borrowing a small boat from a tall boy. The tall boy told him to be very careful with the little red boat because it came all the way from France. Ted was very careful indeed. In fact he only sailed a foot from the patio doors because it looked quite choppy out in the big wide world.

After his brave and daring maiden voyage Ted retired to the safety of the door mat and watched the daft wet dog play in the snow. He seemed to be throwing it in the air and catching it in his mouth. Ted didn't know what to make of that.

Ted felt that was quite enough of an adventure for one day and settled down on the sofa with his blanket. A little snooze he thinks, and a marmite sandwich for elevenses.

Waiting...

Ted can hardly contain his excitement. He has heard that snow might be on the way. He's not really sure what or who snow is but he can tell from the children that it is something to be excited about. He knows he has to wear his new warm scarf when he meets 'snow' for the first time so he is ready and patiently waiting.

Ted

Ted is an unassuming little fellow. He was quite content with his cane furniture suite and a view of the television. Imagine his delight on receiving a versatile rug/blanket to match his sweater! Daytime TV is now even more cosy with a wool rug beneath his feet and afternoon naps with his feet up on the foot stool cosier still.

Ted is still pondering life outside in the big wide world whilst secretly storing useful items in his little messenger bag for when he feels brave enough to venture out there. So far he has a map of the village, a compass and a marmite sandwich.

Meet Ted!

My, how time flies when the men in your life are at home all day! I've had J moaning and groaning on the sofa under a duvet for two days and M building stud walls and making lots of mess.

J has had a terrible cold/flu type thing. He valiantly carried on last week not wanting to miss any sporting stuff and then promptly collapsed on Sunday. Such a shame his blanket wasn't finished!

J is back at school today and M is away working too. Such glorious peace. Just me, the dog and the cat. I think I will be continuing yesterday's pattern of sitting down and crocheting away, since I pulled a muscle in my lower back and it blinking hurts. Ouch! Note to self, do not move heavy sideboards on your own.

I started the second half of J's blanket but also felt the need to break from monotonous crochet and rustle up a new friend...meet Ted! All teddies in our house seem to end up being called Ted, with the exception of Mr Chubbs of course. I'm quite pleased with Ted and find him a lot less creepy than the cats. His head seemed ridiculously large until the other body parts were added and then he seemed ok. The pattern is free from Jenny and Teddy. I will try and add a link via my blog list since it is a faff to open up my old netbook and create a link that way. (Blogger on iPad is limited).

Yes, Ted has met with royal approval. The teenager spoke and was nice about him. Shock horror!

A wet weekend...

Bit of a washout weekend here in Lincolnshire. Rain, rain and more rain; heavy rain, drizzling rain, torrential rain, cold rain, icy rain. Perfect dog walking rain. (Thank you Harvey!)

I've been patiently waiting for good light to take some snaps with my iPod but alas no joy! Hence the murky offering.

The cat with no name who turned out distinctly male now has a female companion. Same brand of wool, same weight, same hook but she has turned out a little smaller. Strange. I may replace her whiskers with white ones at some stage but for now I am all crochet kittened out!

I have in mind a few tweaks and ideas for the basic cat. I've already altered the arms by a few stitches here and there to make them hang slightly better. They were a bit chunky at the top before. Not that you can tell with the chunky sweaters on. I think the ears need some work too, they look like they've been in a cat fight or two. That's the nice thing about crochet for me; I find it much easier to alter patterns than I ever did with knitting.

Meanwhile the real cat, Mollie, is not reclining on the back of a sofa for a change. No, she prefers sunshine for that. She is warm and cosy behind a sofa, in her cardboard box.

A crochet cat...

I can't quite decide if the final result is cute or evil looking! Maybe the eyes would look better in blue. I might make this cat a friend in a softer colour and see if it turns out less creepy looking. Maybe it's just me, and cats. I'm definitely on more familiar territory with dogs.

It's difficult to see his smiley face in black cotton against the charcoal wool. He could also do with a nice little crochet jumper or a scarf or something. He definitely won't be getting a round the world set of outfits as per the pattern suggestions. The pattern is from Crochet Today and the cat featured is called Coco. Coco has been to London, Russia, Holland, Japan, Venice and Spain. The London outfit made me laugh. It kind of looks like 1960s Twiggy style.

Talking of Twiggy... My Coco is definitely not stick like. In fact he is positively chubby compared to the pictures provided. I'm not sure how this has come about. I used the correct weight of wool and hook. Oh well. I am clearly not the only one to have produced a cat that looks different from the magazine photo; google 'coco the crochet cat' and you will see what I mean.