WWW: Knitting for animals; another great knitting Kickstarter

The Guardian newspaper has published a pattern for a most excellent catnip-stuffed cat toy. The pattern was developed especially for The Battersea Cats & Dogs Home, and they are hoping that knitters around the UK will make a mouse or two and send them in to help entertain the 200+ feline residents of the home, as they await adoption. More details on the donation program, including additional patterns, and the address to send them to can be found at the Battersea Home website.

At Knitty we’re big supporters of animal shelters and rescue organizations. Even if you’re not in the UK, consider knitting a mousie or two to donate to your local animal shelter – or indeed, adopting an animal. We’ve done our fair share of animal rescuing, and it’s a great way to expand your family and save a life.

The Snuggles Project, started by a cat lover in Portland, Oregon in 1996, has published a collection of free patterns for animal blankets. The Snuggles Project encourages crafters to knit, crochet or sew blankets to donate to animal shelters, to provide some comfort to the animals as they wait to be adopted.

If you do wish to knit for animals, a few things to keep in mind:

• Check your local newspaper or the internet to find animal rescue organizations in your area.
• Always check with an organization before sending anything to them.
• Do consider using washable natural fibers – a lot of cats don’t like the smell of man-made fibers.
• Even if you’ve not got time to knit, many animal shelters also appreciate donations of old blankets and towels.

Not only is this a great cause, it’s an ideal way to use up some of the leftovers in your stash!

The Ladies of Mischief, a collective of talented designers, knitters, writers, illustrators and other wonderful creative minds, have launched a Kickstarter campaignfor their upcoming book project.

The book, Needles and Artifice: A Victorian Knitting Primer, will feature the work of numerous knitwear designers, costume designers, writers, photographers, illustrators, and independent yarn and fiber artisans. The book will be plot driven, focusing on the Steampunk theme and a group of fictional characters called The Ladies of Mischief living during the 1890s. In addition to being the featured characters in the story, the Ladies also model and explain the knitting patterns. The patterns will all be designed by local, independent designers within the project and will feature yarns from independent yarn and fiber artisans, most of whom are not widely known to the knitting community.

Even if you’re not a supporter, the blog is a repository of cleverness, great writing, and patterns, all in the voice of the fictional Ladies. And there’s a great video about the project on the Kickstarter page.