Lynnette Knapp

Hello dears, I hope you all are doing well. I wanted to add a book review to my adventure because I am always reading (or making) something from books. Since this is a review on crochet I am tossing it in the “Getting Crafty” section of my series, for now, but I will be setting up a separate book review section shortly in another series. Why do I keep making more work for myself? Oh, wait! That cooking and cleaning thing...

Anyway, I want to take a moment to tell you all about one of my more recent projects. I worked on this one through July. Earlier this year my mother and I had made a trip to Hobby Lobby and we found a fantastic little crochet book called “Dumpling Cats” by Sarah Sloyer. The problem was that the book had a habit of getting itself lost. In all fairness, it had quite a bit of help with this pastime since my children loved the little cats as well as the little stories that went with the patterns for each cat. They are very cute stories and patterns. All of the pictures are full color and a step by step for each pattern is illustrated. There are kitties with ladybug costumes, and fat cats, and little cats. The book also includes a box for the cats, a pattern for a bed, a water dish, and a bowl of food. From there the imagination can kick in.

Three of the Dumpling Kitties, my cat is unimpressed.

I spent July making 6 sets of these little guys, and they were so cute! I had a little struggle with patterns because it was written slightly differently from what I am used to, but once I figured it out, it was fast work. The yarn I used was from Hobby Lobby as well (since I tend to be a regular there) but you can use whatever brand you like. I used Yarn Bee Soft Secret yarn, but you can also use Caron Super Soft. I loved how they worked up so fast once you had the pattern figured out. I used a size down from the recommended hook in the book but that is because of how I work in crochet.

The other problem I had was that the kids all wanted to play with them. Even the 17-year-old boy thought they were cute. I would say that if you were going to make these as a gift for a cat lover, the small pieces like the water dishes need to be taken into account if it’s for a child that still puts things in their mouth or has a younger sibling. They are cute and small enough to sit on a desk somewhere to keep even the grouchiest adult in good spirits.

They do not eat much either and they don’t need to be cleaned up after. These are just too cute to pass up. I haven’t seen the book at Hobby Lobby again, but I did look and it is available on their website. I’m sure that it is available elsewhere. After all, it really is a fun project book and leads to lots of cute little projects which keep you busy all winter long if you live where it is cold and you’ve crocheted so many mittens that you’re looking for a caterpillar to give them to. Of course, then you might run into the problem of not stopping when you get started. Eventually, they start to take over like those little Tribbles from Star Trek. Worth it!

I’m also thinking of trying them in different yarns like the furry-type yarns. You know, to see if I can create long-haired kitties. I have even seen some people taking cat brushes and brushing similar crocheted projects with them to make fluffy stuffed animals. I haven’t tried it yet on one of these kitties but may soon. Look for a future article where I let all of you know how it went. I hope you step out and give this a try. If you aren’t a crocheter, but you know someone who is, then this would also make a great gift in my opinion.

I must say that this is now one of my favorite crochet books and I thought I would share my review of it and the finished products with all of you. Of course, in all fairness, I have not yet found a crochet book I do not like, but you never know.

Remember to craft on and be Flamazing!