cats and knitting

Nel83 · 08-11-2007, 03:21 PM

I am going to get a kitten sometime soon & was wondering if anyone has any tips as far as cats and knitting go. Don't cats consider yarn and anything yarn-related to be toys? My stash would be safe enough, but there's always the current project and the occasional blocked item that needs to remain undisturbed for a few days... I'd also appreciate any general advice for a knitter's coexistence with a kitty.

GiddyKnitter · 08-11-2007, 03:46 PM

I have a little cat called Ruby and although she has never attacked my yarn when I have been knitting I wouldn't chance leaving it lying around! IOn the other hand my little dog has taken full skeins of yarn behind the sofa and done a really good job of unravelling it...So beware!!

stacyo415 · 08-11-2007, 03:51 PM

especially kittens, who will pounce on anything they see moving.

but you _can_ knit with cats around, you just have to be a little sly. keep the working yarn in a ziploc bag, and always try to use a center pull to keep the ball from wiggling around too much.

keep in mind, tho, that while cats love yarn, it doesn't love them. if they eat it, it could get stuck in their insides and do some major damage. make sure that all working projects and stash yarn are out of site and reach from kitty.

my cat LOVES to play with an old ball of yarn (now a big wod of yarn, thanks to him), but it's only "supervised play." when i'm not in the room, the yarn wod goes back in the drawer.

the other thing to note -- they do like to chew on needle tips. so those need to be out of site, out of mind, as well. I can't say i don't have a few bite marks in some of my nice wooden needles!

good luck to you. IMHO the benefits and fun of having a cat far outweigh the slight inconveniences you need to put up with when you knit!

KnittingNat · 08-11-2007, 04:05 PM

I definitely agree with everything said above, you do have to use precautions while knitting when a kitty is around. But, the pleasure of having them... My youngest cat (5.5 months old) won't let me knit and always wants to play with the yarn, but only needs a little distraction (lucky me - i have a dog also

) and he lets it be. I keep my WIP in bags and as long as they're not open - he doesn't care. Besides, kitties do grow up eventually and many of them learn to enjoy the art of watching their owners knit without the urge to jump on the knitting. Have fun with your new kitty, i'm sure you going to love him/her!

Mulderknitter · 08-11-2007, 04:30 PM

I have a 2 year old cat that still acts as if he is a wild kitten demon, and he LOVES everything associated with knitting. Yarn, bags, needles, cable needles, stitch markers, etc. but he also loves to dig in the printer after the moving paper, stick his paws in the non working shredder after the paper, get the handles of paper bags stuck on his head and run around, attack my 12 year old cat like a sumo wrestler, etc. He is exhausting just to watch

I keep everything put away. Everything. Otherwise it is my fault that I lost my favorite size 6 circs to somewhere in the house

HollyP · 08-11-2007, 04:37 PM

I guess I am lucky! My cats ( I have two) will ocassionally swat at the yarn while I am knitting but as soon as I say no they leave it alone. But an unsupervised ball is fair game. I always have to make sure I put my yarn in something before I go to bed. For some reason I can leave it out during the day.

Rhea · 08-11-2007, 04:42 PM

My Mini Dauschund is WAY more interested in messing with my knitting than my cats. I think ifyou get the kitten more of it's own toys, it won't bother with your knitting as much, maybe.

It works for my dog. If he gets a hold of a skein of yarn, i'll just throw a tennis ball inthe other direction and he goes after it instead.

IBAmyB · 08-12-2007, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by Mulderknitter

I have a 2 year old cat that still acts as if he is a wild kitten demon, and he LOVES everything associated with knitting. Yarn, bags, needles, cable needles, stitch markers, etc. but he also loves to dig in the printer after the moving paper, stick his paws in the non working shredder after the paper, get the handles of paper bags stuck on his head and run around, attack my 12 year old cat like a sumo wrestler, etc. He is exhausting just to watch

I keep everything put away. Everything. Otherwise it is my fault that I lost my favorite size 6 circs to somewhere in the house

I think our cats are long lost twins (though mine is 3). Your cat sounds exactly like mine! He steals yarn, needles, row counters, stitch holders, etc. Just his morning he "opened" my new box from Knit Picks and pulled out a ball of Swish SK Asparagus and unravelled it in the 2 minutes was in the other room! He also loves plastic bags, so storing anything in them is worthless. He is fascinated with the printer, etc. He wrestles with our smallest dog - she's 15 pounds, he's 20! We call him Psycho Kitty!

spasmo · 08-12-2007, 06:00 PM

We have always been dog people... until a stray adpoted us. Before we could get her into the vet she went "studying abroad" and got knocked up. So in six months time we went from no cats to six cats. My kittens are very talented and like to help me knit. They have definate opinions about knitting and they really try to get me to do things there way. I just keep as little yarn out as possible and I dont let them play with my Addis. Silly kittens.