Month: January 2017

Knitted Cat Pillow

January 24, 2017 kimberlee

This knitted cat pillow is a project I recently finished. The pattern is from Knit Picks and is available on their site here: Mini Kitty Pouf Pillow, The pillow – pouf pattern can be purchased alone as a download or in a kit with the yarn needed to make the actual pillow.

I had a lot of fun knitting this little cat pillow. It is knit using large needles – size US 15 so it knits up very fast. I think it only took me a few days to complete it and this was just knitting an hour or so here and there each day.

The yarn recommended for this knitted cat pillow is from Knit Picks called Big Cozy. Click here: The Big Cozy Yarn to view the yarn.

I just used some yarn I had in my stash since I am trying to use things up lately and not buy more. I used some chunky baby yarn for the cream part and for the gray I used some Alpaca Grande yarn. I think any super bulky or chunky yarn that recommends a size US 15 or even a 13 needle would work for this pattern, in my opinion.

You will also need some fiber fill to stuff the pillow and a small amount of black chunky yarn to embroider the face of the cat. The pillow is knit in the round with circular needles so there is only a minimal amount of sewing, or seaming, to do to create this cat pillow.

cat with cat pillow

Our cat is not too impressed with the new cat pillow I created. My kids think it scares him but I took this photo of him with my phone to prove to them that he will sit by it. The pillow is not really for him it is just a decorative accent. It could also be knitted as a gift for a small child.

For now my knitted cat pillow hangs out in front of our fireplace near my yoga meditation cushion. The meditation cushion is a crochet pattern I designed myself and is available in my etsy shop or on ravelry.

I plan to make another one of these fun knitted cat pillows after I finished a couple of other projects I am currently working on. What are you currently knitting or crocheting?

-Kimberlee

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Categories: Knitting

Tags: knit picks cat pillow, knitted cat pillow, knitting, knitting projects, mini kitty pouf pillow

New Cookbooks for the New Year

January 14, 2017 kimberlee

I want to share a couple of new cookbooks I recently received. They were both gifts from my oldest son this past Christmas. He usually asks me what books I would like, especially after last Mother’s Day when he bought me two juicing – smoothie books I already owned. I have learned it is best to give him a list of a few and just tell him to pick one or two. This past Christmas he bought me Meat Free Monday and Inspiralize Everything.

I really like both of the cookbooks a lot. I have already tried many of the recipes from the Meat Free Monday book. The idea of this book is to go meat free for one day each week, specifically Monday – even if you are not a vegetarian. This campaign was launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009.

There is a whole menu for each of the different seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter with 13 weeks of meat free recipes for each season. The recipes are fairly easy to follow and the book has a lot of really nice photos of the recipes. There is a recipe for breakfast, lunch, sides, snacks, dinner-main course, and a dessert for each week.

So far I have tried these recipes:

Winter Fruit Salad
Lentil, Chickpea, Cheddar and Onion Burgers
Black Eyed Bean Casserole
Apple Cake
Roasted Vegetables and Miso Dressing with Sesame Seeds
Bircher Muesli with Apple

I have only tried one recipe from the Inspiralize Everything book. I have intentions to try a lot more I just haven’t put them in to my weekly menu plans yet. Also, it seems like my husband likes everything I make with the spiralizer but getting my 3 teenage sons to try it is another thing. They are not big on trying “new” things. They like the spiral potatoes – fries that I have made a few times and baked in the oven.

The Inspiralize Everything book is nice to have if you own a spiralizer of some sort. It gives an A to Z list of different fruits and vegetables you can spiralize and at least 2 to 4 recipes for that particular fruit or vegetable. I purchased the Kitchen Aid Spiral attachment for my mixer a few months ago. You can look in my blog archive for a post I did about the Spiral attachment.

In my opinion both of these books are a great addition to my library of cookbooks. If you are looking for some good vegetarian recipes that are healthy and taste good I would definitely recommend getting the Meat Free Monday book.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Books Cooking

Tags: cookbook review, spiralize cookbook, vegetarian cookbook review, vegetarian cooking

Free Rib Knit Hat Pattern

January 10, 2017 kimberlee

This free knitting pattern is for a rib knit hat I recently designed for my son. He was going on a skiing trip back in December and needed a warm hat. I had some WoolSpun yarn from Lion brand yarn in my stash and decided it would be perfect for a ribbed beanie style hat for him. He had requested black and this yarn had black in it.

The hat is knit in the round using size US 10.5 circular knitting needles that are 16 inches long in length. Double point needles can also be used if you prefer them for knitting hats. The pattern can be knitted in a size small, medium or large.

The yarn I used for the hat above was the Lion brand Woolspun. You only need 1 skein of it to complete this rib knit hat pattern. The yarn is 80 % acrylic and 20 % wool. My son said it kept his head warm on his skiing trip last month. He has also been wearing it lately as we have had some rather cold weather the past week in Texas.

The hat in the above photo was knit with Nashua Paradise yarn. This is some yarn I bought years ago and had in my stash. I only had 1 skein and figured it would be good for a hat since there was only 87 yards on the skein. It took the whole skein to make this one hat. The yarn is a boucle type of yarn that is very soft. It recommended a size 8 to 10 needle but it worked out with the 10 1/2 size needle just fine in my opinion.

Click here: Free Rib Knit Hat Pattern to download the pattern. It is an easy knit hat pattern and can be completed in a day.

I hope you enjoy the free rib knit hat pattern. To see other patterns I have designed please visit my etsy shop. I also have patterns on craftsy and ravelry.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee
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Categories: Knitting

Tags: free knitting pattern, free rib knit hat pattern, knit hat patterns, knitted hat pattern, knitting, ribbed beanie pattern