I was given 7 skeins of chenille “Fun, Mesh Scarf yarn” recently – aĀ barista at our Sunday morning Guilty Knitters Coffee shop had rescued it from the bin when a friend’s shop was shutting down.
She thought of us knitters and I wasn’t going to let the fact it wasĀ truly “Fugly” yarn make me waste a generous gift. Ā (NOTE:Ā Fugly = “Flipping Ugly” or sometimesĀ the language is stronger…)
The colours were not bad – Black, White and Grey but the yarn – Urgh! It is pure synthetic and the type of meshy yarn used to make fro-fro flouncy scarves. About as far from my taste in knitting and scarves as you can get!
This is the yarn construction…
What am I going to do with that?!
I was pondering how to best this yarn when Ziggy saw the skeins on the floor. She purred. She pummeled it. She then scrabbled it into a nest, curled up and slept on it.
So. Cat Blankie it was!
Rather than use the mesh properties of the yarn I decided to treat it as one very thick stand and knit it on my thickest needles – 20mm. Ā Knitting it was a performance piece and amused the Guilty Knitters! Ā It Ā made my arms ache to do Ā but the fabric was lovely and dense and squishy – Purr-fectĀ for lazy cats…
Not Fugly at all!
This was not the situation for clever patterns or stitch details – a garter stitch square it was!
To make sure I used all the yarn but made the biggest cat blankie possible, I used the technique I last used on my conservatory cushion’s backĀ and knit diagonally…
i.e start with one stitch – increase at the end of every row – when half the yarn is used, start decreasing at the end of every row – you end up with a perfect square š
I was cautiousĀ and had a little left over so I made some cat-toy pompoms for the corners. I’m really please I didn’t let my “yarn snobby” first impressions get in the way of my imagination.
But the real question is, did Ziggy and Kitty approve?
I’ll let you decide…
It is acceptable!
Pompoms!
So good they were prepared to “Share”
Snugly Blissful dreaming
Completed Knit Report | ||
Name: | Cat Blankie | |
Pattern: | Made up (20mm, garter stitch – inc end every row to middle then dec end of every row) | |
Yarn: | Gifted unknow acrylic novelty chenille scarf yarn | |
Pattern Problems: | A little shedding at first from the cut ends (esp the pompoms) | |
Pattern Modifications: | None | |
Washing and Wearing: | I suspect it’s synthetic qualities will make it indestructable by cat claw or washing mashine and it probably has a half life of at least 2000 years…. | |
Knit It Again???: | Yes, if I’m ever given more fugly yarn… | |
Difficulty: | 1/5 | |
Rating: | 5/5 (from Ziggy and Kitty) | |
Other Postings Relating To This One: | None |
It looks like the perfect squishy, cosy blanket for your girls. I am NOT showing it to Flo, or I know what will be on her Christmas list!!
Pure genius!
You’ve made a bad thing good!
Oh that’s brilliant! The kitties look so content.
purrfect:)
Oh my word, wow! I’ve only just gotten around to reading this post & it’s fab. My partners 98 year old grandma gave me 3 balls of purple Fugly with a pattern (gross) but I know what to do now. It will be veritable a sensation for Harvey’s paws! Thank you.