The Cat in the Hat

Recently a friend of a friend contacted me in search of a photo prop for her new baby boy. His nursery is Dr Seuss "Cat in the Hat" themed, so that's what we went with!

For this I used a combination of patterns. For the hat and bow tie (not pictured) I used "Top Hat and Bow Tie" by Beezy Mom's Creations. For the furry I cape I adapted a pattern from Calleigh's Clips. Calleigh's Clips does have a pattern for a "Kitty in a Striped Hat", I just preferred the hat pattern from Beezy Mom's Creations so I went with that instead. I do have several other patterns from Calleigh's Clips though and have always loved them, so I just used a pattern I already had from her to make up the cape. I'm happy with how it turned out, and, more importantly, so was the customer.

For the cape I started out using Yarn Bee "Haute Fur" ... but after the third of fourth attempt to unravel a part I wasn't happy with and having the yarn break off with no way to retrieve it, thanks to the texture of the yarn, I had had enough. I will admit it is probably the softest fur yarn out there ... but it just wasn't very easy to work with. I usually crochet as a means of de-stressing and relaxing ... so when I spend all of that time swearing at the yarn I know it's time to try another brand. Lion Brand "Fun Fur" was WAY easier to work with (and cheaper, and available at Walmart). Like night and day. I could unravel stitches if I made a mistake or wasn't completely happy with my work without it getting tangled up and breaking. The other noticeable improvement was the amount of shedding between yarns. "Haute Fur" ended up all over my clothing and couch, while "Fun Fur" barely shed at all (maybe one or two stray "hairs"). I'll definitely use "Fun Fur" again the next time I make something requiring furry yarn. I was not impressed with "Haute Fur" at all.

How cute is that sweet boy sleeping under his "Cat in the Hat" prop? I just love getting pictures from customers of their purchases in use. It always gives me the warm fuzzies. :-)