I’m sure I can’t be the only person who holds a somewhat idealised picture of knitting with cats. The cosy fur… the rhythmic purring… clicking needles… soft yarn… what could be better than this combo of fluffy, cuddly goodness?
The reality is often somewhat different. Quietly settled with your knitting, the beloved feline deigns to join you and settles in your lap. You adjust your pose so that kitty can get comfy… which generally means knitting awkwardly, arms floating out somewhere in space. You resume knitting and the Dreaded happens: the ears prick forward, the eyes dilate, and suddenly your weeks-worth project is kitty’s new prey.
Knitting with cats is often not the most relaxing of experiences.
However, in my determination to fulfil my dreams of fluffy, cuddly goodness, I have come up with the following tips for those masochists among us who insist on knitting in the company of our feline buddies…
1. Keep the working yarn out of sight. This is really a lot easier than it sounds: just keep the working yarn dropped in front of the piece of knitting. Your cat probably isn’t going to attack a piece of fabric. But s/he will be very interested in that quivering strand of yarn. If you’re purling, your yarn will already be “hidden” from kitty’s eyeline. If you’re knitting, thread the yarn through the inside of your hand so that only the bare minimum is visible to kitty.
2. Be patient. Shouting at cats and making loud noises generally does not tell them very much. If kitty is persistent in attacking your work, just tell them no, and put them on the floor, and ignore them. Cats hate being ignored and this will teach them that attacking your work means no attention.
3. Reward good behaviour. In this case, that means reward them for sitting quietly and purring lots. The easiest way to do this is to talk to them and tell them how good they are as you are knitting, then give them lots of petting at the end of each row. This reinforces the idea that being good means they get to keep being cuddled.
4. Don’t leave your projects where your cat(s) can get them. Put them away in a cupboard when you’re not working on them. Otherwise it’s very possible that kitty will learn it’s okay to play with as long as no one is watching!
5. When your cat strikes, very gently squeeze the sides of their paws. This retracts the claws safely and also, your cat will most likely withdraw their paw, as generally cats don’t like having them touched.
6. Distraction. When all else fails, offer kitty a superior thing to play with. You’ll know yourself what your cats will prefer. Mojo likes a scrunched up ball of paper.
That’s it! By using these rules I have managed to teach Mojo, a five-month-old kitten, that knitting is not a plaything, and we have happy mornings and evenings of fluffy, cuddly goodness together. ^_^
as he is knitted in 4-ply sock yarn! I don’t usually have much 4-ply on the go because whenever I have it I knit it up straight away. I love knitting finely! this yarn is from a mini-ball made by Opal, I think they are made so you can test the colourways or something.
and here’s another shot from the back because he has a couple of cute little stripes! he is actually a lot brighter than this in real life, my phone’s camera really washes out colour sometimes. :c
hope you like him bro! 🙂 xx
bezzie boo 