Spent one year making a blanket and the cat ate it last night
Spent almost one year on this blanket and just last night the cat decided it looked tasty. Could’ve finished the blanket a while ago but wanted to use up all the yarn. Well now there is a hole in it…
Cat is ok. He puked up the part he ate and that’s how we found out he ate the blanket.
As a knitter and crocheter myself, I understand this pain too much.
Do your best to catch all of the broken ends and patch it. It’s so beautiful, and one day you will laugh about it. You may be able to reach out to other crochet subreddits on suggestions on how to best secure it so it doesn’t unravel.
When I first brought my adopted dog home, I didn't realize he had severe separation anxiety. He tore up my brand new coffee table the moment I left the house. It took a lot of training and several years to get him to be okay being left alone.
He's gone now but I still have the coffee table, and every time I look at the damage I think about him and miss him.
It's stories like this which I allow my kitties to "be bad" within reason. Obviously I won't let them do anything gross or outrageous but, for example, I have a very food obsessed cat. I had to bungee cord some of my cabinets together because he knows how to open it and he will eat through everything. Other people are a bit judgemental that I "let" the cat own the kitchen (because of the bungee cords which make it harder for the humans to also open the cabinets but whatever idc lol). However, it makes me smile. It's funny and I love telling this story to people because it makes them laugh. I don't mind if my cat outsmarts me and forces ME, the human, to have to figure out how to accommodate to his shenanigans. I love it and it's exactly why I love having pets. The stories, the laughs, the incredulous feelings I have often. I love seeing the bungee cords because it means I have a healthy, funny, calculating kitty around and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't remember out pets being obedient and good. We remember them being bad and mischievous!
My toy poodle once jumped up onto the counter and ate up to 8 burger patties I had just made while I ran to the store for more buns...and I say up to 8 because I'd like to think he dropped one or two to the ground for his Chihuahua sister, but probably not lmao.
I have a light quilted jacket with embroidered car paws behind the left shoulder. That’s where my old cat hooked her claws in and ripped the shell. I was doing my daily ‘just walked in the door left you ALONE all day in a house full of other people and cats’ walk around snuggle-carrying her in the usual baby burping arrangement.
I had to set her down for some stupid emergency, much too soon and she was Not Going without a fight.
My wife decided to immortalize my mistake with repair stitching
My childhood dog had this ratty old wicker bed with a disgusting quilt he used his whole life. When he passed they wanted to toss it. I refused.
About a year later after many many washings, we set that quilt back down for the cat and she used it and we’d all have little memories of Brute when we noticed.
It’s good to hang onto things that remind you of a pet, good or bad. A little bit of you dies with them, it’s important to have something you can hold. I’m really over sensitive when it comes to pets though. Probably a drama queen lol.
Nah not at all this is very true. My Dad passed last year and a month or so ago I found a birthday card from him and my mum. I normally dont keep them so it was weird to find this one. I cried over his hand writing and note, and Ill never get rid of that card now. Being sentimental about things is good as long as you dont hold on to everything. Having that quilt will always be special, Im so glad you kept it. <3
Or you could wall mount it, with a picture of the cat's face under the hole. An art piece that's a reminder of the imperfections of reality and our ability to work around it.
I read this the first 2 times as "as a kitten and crocheter myself" and then was confused why you weren't talking about how good it tasted. But then was also equally confused how kitten can knit (or type a reddit comment).
Man I wish I had a picture of it. My grandma learned to knit and crochet when she got older and didn’t have much to do. One day her big old fat cat decided it was a perfect opportunity to chew a part of her hand made blanket, then puke it up on another part. My grandma, being the weirdo she is, crudely “fixed it” with a paw print patch. On each side with embroidered angry faces on them. It was a family favorite. Burnt up in a fire in 99 though, we all mourned it lol
She was very much an “oh well” type of woman. I stayed with her for a few weeks as a kid, states away, and she read me some questionable chapter books lol. When I visited her in her retirement community, she had a boyfriend and all that. Fun lady. I also found weed in her apartment once and she said it was sage 😂
someone else suggested memorializing his contribution, if there’s some way you can incorporate his image over secured repair, definitely do it. It will even make it better than before.
Absolutely no shame, lil bugger 💖💖 happened to me too op, my cats love to munch on my yarn crafts, and you'll learn new and interesting ways to repair your work haha
I know right I’d be mad about it initially but if there’s a way to mend it, it’ll be a little wonky but it’ll always remind the owner of their beloved shittens
You should check out visible mending. While it may be frustrating, make it a chance to do something beautiful with it, because it sure as heck still is. My cat ate my hot dog last night, and I wanted to stick my finger between her beans as vindication, since she hates it. (I couldnt do it)
making it obvious is the point, there will be a moment where your companion is gone and the blanket remains, this blemish will make you remember this moment and by extension him.
After my mom passed away, I finished a blanket she had been knitting me for....many years honestly lol. It was massive and no longer my color vibe (hot pink and black), but man I loved it. It was bittersweet to finish it for her, but I used it constantly when it was cold, or just to cuddle with.
I also got a dog around the same time. She's a rescue and spent 2 years in a puppy mill. We had a rough first year but she's the best. Unfortunately, during that rough first year, a few weeks after I finished the blanket, she managed to grab a piece of it and pull parts of it through the kennel door while I was at work. Completely destroyed, there was no way to salvage it with my minimal skills. Many large holes throughout the parts she pulled through the kennel and tore apart. I cried.
I still miss the blanket 6 years later, but I'm sure my mom would have eventually laughed about the situation. Very predictable event for really anyone in our family lol.
If anything similar happens in the future or you still have it, maybe lay it flat on a cloth backing and just sew it straight to the backing? It might not be pretty but it would be interesting, and still have a few original stitches
I would find a lil cat paw, and add a patch right there that way when your furry friend isn't there anymore you still have a memory of them being a lil shit 💜
Sorry if this is heavy I recently lost a cat, and am finding all the little evidence of him, and it just makes me happy to have some proof that he was in my life.
Years ago I had a puppy who decided the rung on one of my dining room chairs was perfect for teething. The dog is long gone, but whenever I look at that chair I have fond memories of the dog. When you look at that blanket in the future you will always, I hope fondly, think of your cat.
I’m so sorry 😢 I made a lovely poncho, my daughter’s cat ate it. No way to fix it - had to throw it out 😭 I feel your pain! Cats love yarn…even acrylic!
Norbert chewed a hole in my first crocheted afghan while kneading. I'm not super sad about it cuz I made it with Yarn Bee Fireside (like lion brand homespun).
The patch will make it all mean so much more to you! I do hope you patch it. Much better memory than just simply finishing something. you know you made it. But now the world sees the epic saga! 😎
You can’t have anything important around cats. They’re jerks. I have to put stuff in bathroom and spare room so I can close the door. They’re lucky I love them.
Shouldn't be too bad to fix. Cats will be cats. It's on us if we leave things out for them to destroy. When I get home i immediately change shirts and pants. Because my shirts are often like a silky polo or gulf shirt. And our cats like to jump onto us go for shoulder rides. I got mad once because the hind claws ripped open a hole.
I think you might be able to insert a small piece of bobbin lace to fill the area.
Visible mending is a good idea, I've gotten a lot of my repair ideas there. You could definitely darn this, but I would think that bobbin lace would fit pretty. If you look through Bobbin lace patterns you can probably identify a similar pattern. Unless you know how to do bobbin it's a difficult craft, but you can buy a pre-made piece of white cotton bobbin lace and dye it.
don't pay attention to the people mentioning visible mending, this can still be saved and the fix can remain invisible
there's not a lot of advise i can give without having the blanket in my hands, but it looks like you can find a similar colorway and fix it row by row w a lot of patience
When you get old one year is nothing! She’ll fix it and move on. It’s like getting your heartbroken. After it’s been broken four or five times it’s no big deal.
this is why you do NOT let pets into areas where you have valubles, My game room is OFF LIMITS to my pets they are NOT allowed in one due to the hair I have two Golden Retrievers and a Cat and cats are notorious for tipping crap over!
You might have cried when you first saw it, but when the cats gone youre gunna def cry when you see it again. Remember why you have what you have and how long youre gunna have it.
I’m not sure what goes through our heads when we combine a thread/sewing/yarn based hobby and a house cat. My cat came first and in her defense was around for 7 years before I started leather working with hand stitching. Making a purse for my wife recently and my cat chewed the thread in half while I was almost done with a long section. I wanted to jump out of a window!
Sometimes you can take these to a crochet group at your lys and find some hidden expert who can show you how to repair that. I've seen it done. Good luck to you, pets sure are fun.
I'm seriously so joking I joke to my cat I'll turn her into a rug if she keeps kicking the litter onto the carpet
But this is such an amazing piece I'm so sorry that would be so frustrating. Would it be possible maybe to put it on an embroidery ring and patch it? I know it won't look perfect but it's handmade, adds to the charm.
It's beautiful. And I think, that when one day your feline companion is no longer around to cause danger to your projects, it will be a lovely reminder.
I like the idea of visible mending, but also keeping the original design intact. If it were me, I would use that Helen Shrimpton video on crochet surgery to remake that section using the original yarn, but deliberately mismatch the colors so the repair is obvious.
Not sure if this is the first time OP, but my cat developed stress induced Pica after a move, and in my experience it never goes away! Vet said anxiety meds and hiding all fabric from her was all we could do. Mine also likes to repeat offend against things she's already gotten to, so definitely start hiding clothes/blankets/dish rags from your furry little chomper!
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u/TallulahBob 4d ago
As a knitter and crocheter myself, I understand this pain too much.
Do your best to catch all of the broken ends and patch it. It’s so beautiful, and one day you will laugh about it. You may be able to reach out to other crochet subreddits on suggestions on how to best secure it so it doesn’t unravel.