Lucy's Kitty Bed -- a Felted Cat Bed for the Kitty Who Has
Everything! by Wendy Johnson
 I think of this as a Kitty Pi,
because the shaping is based on the increases used in Elizabeth
Zimmerman's Pi Shawl. Think of it as a pie shell with your kitty as
the filling! You can use any bulky weight 100% wool
yarn that will felt. Materials
Noro Big Kureyon (bulky weight wool, 176 yards/skein) -- 2 skeins (I
used less than half of the second skein
Eyelash yarn (optional, for trim)
US size 11 (or larger!) dpns and 24" circular needle
Directions With Kureyon, cast on 9
stitches on dpns Knit 1 round Knit 1
round, increasing by knitting into the front and back of each stitch
-- 18 stitches And here's what it looks like at this
point:
Knit 3 rounds
Knit 1 round, increasing by knitting into the front and back of
each stitch -- 36 stitches
Knit 6 rounds
Knit 1 round, increasing by knitting
into the front and back of each stitch -- 72 stitches
Knit 12 rounds Knit 1 round, increasing by knitting
into the front and back of each stitch -- 144 stitches
You can switch to your circular needle at this point.
Knit 30 rounds (or enough to get the prefelted diameter you want)
Next round: (Knit 10, knit 2 together) 12 times
Knit 9 rounds straight.
Next round: (Knit 9, knit 2 together) 12 times
Knit five additional rounds holding one strand of eyelash yarn
together with the bulky wool, and cast off on the 5th round
Here it is after knitting -- it's about 28" in diameter, not
including the sides.
At right, you can see the side view:
Weave in all yarn ends.
  Felt the bed by placing it in a zippered
pillowcase cover and washing it in the washing machine on a hot
wash/cold rinse cycle with a bath towel in the washer for added
friction, until it reaches the finished size you want. I ran mine
through two cycles, then I stretched it over a Tupperware pie
carrier with a bath towel folded up and taped around it (photo at left).
And put it on top of a box (see photo at right) and left it to dry. The finished size is approximately 17" in diameter. Note: I was a bit over-zealous in my blocking the first time
around. But that's the beauty of felting -- after going through
another cycle in the washer, it's at the size I want now -- about
15" in diameter.
© 2003-2007 Wendy D. Johnson - Permission to redistribute for non-commercial use is granted provided that this copyright notice is included.
You may view Wendy's knitting blog at: WendyKnits.net
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