We jammin, and I hope you like jammin too!

As I was looking through free knitting patterns online, I found one for cat toys. This one looks like a wonton.

You use size 5 needles to get a really tight gauge so the loops are close together. Gauge is how many stitches and rows are in a 4" square. I don't remember what the number was for this, but when I saw there weren't any holes for catnip to get through I know I was good to go.

I knitted a square and then folded it in half and sewed up one side of the triangle. Then I added lots of catnip inside. As I finished the square Jay was in his "dead to the world" sleep. But once I opened the bag of catnip he was WIDE AWAKE! He was trying to eat through the bag.

Anyways, inside the toy I added some extra yarn I had left over when I made Addison's baby blanket. Then I added more catnip to the top and sewed the other side of the triangle. I then brought the two corners up and sewed it all together.

I don't think you needed a "tail" but since I had a long tail from cast on (when you put the stitches on the needle you should have a tail at the end), I decided to braid the pieces from sewing the corners. It's hard to explain. Anyways.

Jay seems to love it.

We may need to take him to rehab though...

Dish rags

So I recently started knitting a dish rag. I'm working with size 7 needles and cotton yard. My last (and only) project I used size 15 needles, so these feel so tiny! They are as long as the size 15, but the size has to do with the diameter.

I'm working with a simple pattern, which makes a rib stitch basically.

By knitting one and then purling one across the row, you get these Vs.

The V pattern is called stockinette, which tends to curl, so you knit a few stitches at the beginning and end of the row, and the first few and last few rows to create a border. This also keeps it flat.

I started one, but somehow messed it up. I decided it was a good size and went to cast off. For some reason, when I knit the last few rows it gets very tight. While I was trying to cast off and I dropped a stitch, gah!

I did read on a few sites that when casting off, you should use a needle one size larger. Not sure why, but I am going to get some size 8 needles. It wasn't really a problem with the blanket I made, but maybe because it was size 15 needles and therefore bigger loops. I dunno.