Knitting cat blankets

Does anybody knit blankets for their cats? I do.  What patterns do you like? Somehow the cats seem to know it's homemade for them. As soon as it's done they hop right on.

Sometimes I make them little quilts too.

I have crocheted two hammocks for the kitties, which they absolutely love.  

Maybe I could do that and hang it from the cat tree. I do remember your picture now. It was adorable!

Actual blankets for my cats?  No.  Afghans I've already made - heck yes!  Our three cats love curling up on or under them!  Especially now that winter has arrived.

I like to make them just because I love to knit and sew, but they are useful because it helps with all the shedding hair. I put them where the cats like to lay and wash them once a week.

There are a billion things I'd like to make on ravelry.com.  So many cute kitty beds and blankies!    They sure like to sleep on woolly surfaces.  And here's one that you can make out of t-shirt yarn, and I have a LOT of old t-shirts.  

smitten4kittens said:

Maybe I could do that and hang it from the cat tree. I do remember your picture now. It was adorable!

Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing that, actually.  I don't have the crate set up for them anymore, so the little hammock is in my dog's crate (the dog that played kitten mommy, Bestimus likes to sleep near him), but I have a cat tree with three equally-spaced pillars that I could hang one up with.  

That pink kitty condo is adorable! I never knew ravelry had patterns for cats. Thanks.

Here are some I have made.

Wow, smitten4kittens and socksy, you both do beautiful work!!! Very nice!

Those are lovely knitted beds and quilts! I love the blue knitted one, it looks so snuggly!

I make self warming cat beds with fleece and reflective blanket material. My cats love them, as do the other cats I ahve gifted them to over the years. I've attempted two other forms of bed but they were very difficult with my arthritis, I probably won't try them again.

Queen Eva wanted this one for herself, but I made it for a friend's cat, special order.

finished product

Here's Mazy in the other sided one, while it is not quite finished.

finished (they all love it)
.. .. ..
The Ootay Memorial Bed

.. ..
Sometimes when I make a bed for a specific cat friend, one of my cats will claim it and I'll have to make another. :lol3:


There are plenty of the self warming beds around the house that get heavy use, but here's a pic that just shows a pile of them.

Winchester said:

Wow, smitten4kittens and socksy, you both do beautiful work!!! Very nice!

Click to expand...

Thank you. The cats always think whatever I'm working on is for them, so now they have some of their own. Sometimes they try to lay on the blanket while it's still attatched to the knitting needles. So cute.

Thank you Otto. I love your beds too. They look very cozy. Where do you get the reflective material? One of my cats likes to lay next to the radiator so he might like a bed like that. The blue knit blanket is made with alpaca yarn so it gets hunted as well as slept on.

The cats love getting on my lap when I am sewing a new bed! (they are all hand sewn, I don't own a machine)

I use these in the self warming beds:


They are pretty large, so even though I double so both sides are self-warming, they make three or four beds per blanket.


Here is a bed Tolly tried to claim once but I didn't let him keep it because it was custom made and I had no other material of the colors requested:
..
Here is a bed Queen Eva and Mazy claimed,
..


that I was making for a special cat, because I thought the green would show off his lovely blue coat but then I decided it would be too small for the intended cat anyway so I let them keep it, much to their delight!
Here (once it was finished) they are getting a double dose of warmth, the self warming bed underneath, and the sun on top It is still in that spot and they use it all the time
.. ..



Instead I made the other cat a larger one in dark blue, which maybe was a better color for him I don't know (I made the toy too):

..
Guess I kind of hogged your thread with my own pics, sorry about that. :lol3:

I use the silvery car windshield sun shades. The foil is attached to a thin layer of foam. Easy to cut with scissors, non-fraying. Available at auto parts stores and - in summer - places like Wal-Mart's auto department.

Cut to desired size and then make a "pillow case" from fleece or (old) towels, flannel, whatever. Place sun shade in cover with silver side up. My cats really like them.

Catapault said:

I use the silvery car windshield sun shades. The foil is attached to a thin layer of foam. Easy to cut with scissors, non-fraying. Available at auto parts stores and - in summer - places like Wal-Mart's auto department.

Cut to desired size and then make a "pillow case" from fleece or (old) towels, flannel, whatever. Place sun shade in cover with silver side up. My cats really like them.

Click to expand...

Great idea! Then you can remove the foam piece for washing the cover? Excellent!

I often recommend people get the blankets (linked to above) and just cut pieces to put under any bed where they want a cat to have a warm bed. They can be used to line shelters, too. They also have no fraying, and they don't tear, either.

I love making my beds though, it is a fun winter hobby. They are washable, though need special gentle cycle washing and must be hung dry. Because of the liner it does take them a couple days, hung up, to dry completely. I always include laundering instructions when I give one to someone.

The knitted blanket and quilts are absolutely adorable!  Good work!  

Very cool ideas with the space blankets and the car shade.  These materials seem like they'd be good for a feral cat shelter as well to keep extra cozy.  

I couldn't resist making them some out of cutesy fabric too.

Adorable!