Moving Time with Minions!

Cat and the Wool has been super busy prepping all the travel gear and sorting out what to do with shipping boxes. Hence the slightly infrequent blog posts, sorry 😦

Not to worry – the Minions said they would help!

Both Mike, Frank, Stein and even Kitty lent a helping hand!

First – assemble the box according to instructions.

 

Minions and boxes

 

Second – test box for durability and stability. Kitty and Frank loved this part and made sure all boxes were ready for packing!

 

Stein and Kitty

Third – ensure non-helping hands refrain from disrupting activities. Stein apparently did not cooperate with the other Minions and proceeded to smash the boxes and turn them upside down. Frank then noticed a little roll of packing tape nearby…a promptly thought up an ingenious plan!

The tape roll fit perfectly around Stein, and while he wasn’t watching Frank promptly dropped the roll over his head!

 

Stein and Frank with Tape

Stein was not impressed with this! But what could he do?! His hands were stuck and he couldn’t go anywhere. The only thing left to do was to sit and watch the other Minions do the hard work, and let out a complimentary roar every so often!

 

Stein and Tape

The Minions have been great with the packing and moving, Cat and the Wool is very happy to have such helpful friends 🙂

We hope the moving process goes smoothly – stay tuned for more updates!

The Minion Documentaries – Bath Time!

The Minions like to start their day early so that there are plenty hours to explore. So, a visit to the bathroom is in order!

Clean teeth means healthy teeth, means happy teeth for chomping bananas. Mike has brushing teeth down to an art form as is evident by his big smile 🙂

 

Mike with Toothbrush

Frank has also just mastered the toothbrush, though still struggles with using the toothpaste. We haven’t shown you a photo of this because Frank doesn’t want people to know he’s still not able to put the toothpaste on the brush properly, but he was absolutely filled with pride that he could use a toothbrush for the first time!

 

Frank with Toothbrush

Next up was Stein and…oh dear. This did not start out well. Even holding the toothbrush seemed tough. As for the placement, we will need to work on that.

 

Stein with Toothbrush 1

Stein gave it a second try, with a little assistance, but he still preferred his tried and tested manner of letting out a loud roar and putting things in his hair. And then walking off, with said toothbrush still in his hair.

 

Stein with Toothbrush 2

We may have to remove the toothpaste from his vicinity until he’s capable, as toothpaste + hair = not something I want to deal with!

After all the commotion and rinsing mouths, it’s time to say good morning to our other inhabitants: the Duckies!

The Duckies have been around for quite some time and enjoyed their little home on the windowsill in the bathroom. They get beautiful warm sun on their backs in the morning and a great bath in the evening with loads of bubble bath! Great Grandma duck herself used to feature in her own Duckumentary, who knows if these duckies shall follow in her footsteps?

 

The Duckies

The Minions say hello to the duckies every morning with a big hug and spend some time with their feathered friends. Stein loves chatting to the duckies and apparently can speak the language of Quack!

 

Frank with Duckies

The big ducks are quite the crowd in the bathroom! There’s Cow duck, Pirate Duck, Rock ‘n Roll duck, Angel duck, Ninja duck and Doctor duck.

 

Big Duckies

Stein, however nice he tries to be, tends to scare the duckies away with his loud roar. But he’s known to terrorise most living creatures, so we shall have to see how this turns out.

 

Stein with Duckies

There are also quite a number of small duckies residing in the bathroom, and they tend to get lost. Nonetheless, they all have their unique personalities and tend to create a lot of drama at dress up parties!

There’s Nurse duck, Red Valentine duck, Batman duck, Black Valentine duck, Count Duckula and King duck. You can just imagine the chaos when these little duckies put on a Shakespearean play, especially with Count Duckula trying to bite everyone and Batman duck trying to be heroic!

 

Small Duckies

So now that the Minions have brushed their teeth and said hello to their feathered friends, it’s time for some exploring!

Stay tuned to find out what next Mike, Frank and Stein the Minions get up to!

Until next time!

Minion Monday Blues

All that can be heard is a grunt and a scrap of feet…dragging across the floor…into the kitchen…and a bleary-eyed purple minion making a cup of coffee.

Monday Blues Coffee 2

It is Monday morning, and in Stein’s world, this is not a fun morning. He had such a busy weekend terrorising the other minions, the cats, the dogs, the birds and even the trees. No energy is left after such a fun weekend. Stein wishes Monday morning would not exist.

He drags himself to the laptop, but can barely stand, so decides to take a nap. Minions need naps. Well, purple terrorising Minions do – terrorising is hard work!

Monday Blues Head Laptop

Caffeine is slooooowly starting to kick in, so Stein makes his way to the front of the laptop so he can work and plan his next weekend of terrorisation. But alas! The coffee has not kicked in enough!

Monday Blues Lying on Laptop

Monday morning is clearly getting off to a slow start, so a second cup of coffee is in order!

Monday Blues Coffee 1 Flipped

Now the planning begins in earnest! Two cups of coffee down, eyes open, and many many many ideas to terrorize unsuspecting victims with. Stein is now happy, this is how Mondays should start. 🙂

ZigZag Purple Pillow Case

Ever since I crocheted my first pillowcase (see Blue Pillow Case) I’ve wanted to experiment with various stitches and colours and anything that will look great with crochet. This is one of the few ideas on my “to-do” list and I’m so glad it works well with my obsession with colour!

A Purple ZigZag Pillow Case!

Collage

I chose my favourite colour PURPLE and decided to use 3 shades creating a zigzag pattern. I used the colours in such a way so that from afar they blend in to each other. And they just look awesome 😛

Side note: If you’re interested in the pattern, do a google search and you’ll find hundreds of tutorials and images explaining how to create zigzags – it is really simple to learn and quick to master!

ZigZag 1

The zigzag stitch is creating peaks and troughs by increasing and decreasing stitches. You can lengthen and shorten your zigzags by adding or removing stitches in the middle straight sections of the zigzag.

The problem with the zigzag pattern is deciding how large/wide you need your item to be, and for my pillowcase I would create a tubular shape to fit around a pillow.

ZigZag Stitch

I must have pulled out my work at least 7 times (after having done many rounds) just to get the size right. The zigzags don’t translate into a similar size as you would have with a straight piece. Even worse, it’s not just a matter of decreasing slightly here or there to get the shape right – you have to change the zigzag pattern and change all of them.

Luckily after a few days of fretting about whether this project would materialize I managed to get the size just right and now it fits around my pillow. Steep learning curve that one!

ZigZag Pillow Case in progress 1

The colourful stitch markers were added to help me figure out where each zigzag needed to be and to count them.

So I’m slowly but surely adding rows of wonderful PURPLE colour and it’s turning out to be a very soft pillowcase :-). The rows also take quite a lot of wool (more than 10 meters per row! EEEK!) so I hope I have enough of all the colours to finish the project! I’ll update this post with the progress made and when it’s finished.

We shall have to crochet and see!

 

Update (14 March 2014)

After much ado, and figuring out that these zigzags are A LOT of work (almost drove me to tears!), the Purple ZigZag Pillow Case is also finished!

The zigzag take a lot of wool and it was frustrating to see how slowly each round went, which meant it took super long to get to the desired size! But I think next time I do a zigzag stitch I won’t use the same colour scheme – I used my medium purple much more than the light and dark purple. I went light/medium/dark/medium/light – the medium purple gets used twice as often. If I ever want to do another pillowcase or blanket like this I’ll have to stick to a straightforward light/medium/dark scheme so that I don’t run out of wool! I almost did!

 

ZigZag Pattern

 

To finish off the pillow case I had to crochet a straight edge, so I used a combination of stitches.

Start on the top part of the zigzag: slip stitch, single crochet, single crochet, half treble, treble, treble, half treble, single crochet, single crochet, slip stitch.

That creates your straight edge. Then do a last round of half trebles and fasten off.

Top

I then sewed a purple zip in et voila! Finito! And it looks great 🙂

 

Finished

Not only is it super soft the colour scheme with the zigzags are divine!

I’m definitely making more pillow cases in the near future with different designs and textures – such as this Ruffle pillow from Redheart or an Owl Pillow from Jo’s Crocheteria – such wonderful ideas! What do you think?!

 

Mini Minions!

Frank and Stein Intro

The madness of crocheted Minions continues! I’ve been playing around with different minion sizes and colours, et voila! Mini minions!

I use Elle Natural 100% Cotton DK because it’s such wonderful cotton to crochet with.

I started out with this sweet little minion in yellow and blue, and gave him a wonderful smile.

Meet Frank!

Meet Frank

Isn’t he such a handsome chap?! And he’s tiny – barely 15 cm tall!

I managed to find an easier and faster way of putting everything together and having less ends to sew in. I crochet half of the body from the head down and include the goggles strap, and then crochet the pants bottom up. I then sew them together like two halves of an egg and just before I close and fill with stuffing. I eliminate the loose ends by crocheting directly over them with the next row, so it saves me countless hours with a needle painstakingly sewing each end in.

I’ve also decided not to sew the eyes on until the last minute – it’s very easy to put them on skew, and create a slightly odd-looking minion.

However, I just HAD to try to crochet a purple minion! It took me a loooong time to create his hair but he looks awesome and devilish!

Meet Stein!

Meet Stein

He looks just like the purple minion in Despicable Me 2! And apparently has the same attitude…but still very cute!

I created a half circle for his mouth and sewed the teeth on haphazardly as I went a long and they turned out perfect! 🙂

Stein Teeth

Stein is also about the same size as Frank, and has long droopy arms. I wanted to make one eye bigger and puffed out to give him a really crazy look, but maybe that’s another idea for the next minion.

You can also see how Stein loves his hair styles and ensure that his hair matches his emotions!

Stein Hairstyles

The introduction of the two minions was a bit troubling at first, with Stein starring Frank down and giving the evil eye. I had hoped they would get along quicker and made sure to monitor their interactions closely!

Frank and Stein Meeting

But after eyeing each other out and Frank being his usual happy self they came to an agreement to tolerate each other.

And they fit in so nicely with the whole family too, and Mike is quite pleased with extra siblings 🙂

Minion Family

So, I’m glad to have introduced you to Frank and Stein. FrankenStein. Haha! I couldn’t resist the names 🙂

 

 

The Minion Documentaries: Banana!!!

As promised, the amazingly awesome Minion Documentaries second episode!

Minions get up to a lot of naughty antics during the day, but before they start they need to fuel up with none other than their favourite food: BANANAS!

Minion Banana

You can see that Mike the Minion is first in line for bananas!

Other minions like to fill up with different types of breakfast such a French toast. Yum!

Minion Breakfast

A minion has to have enough energy for the day and what better way than with a power breakfast that includes bananas?! If you’ve ever had any doubts as to their favourite food, watch the video clip 🙂

Minion Banana Song Video

Until the next episode for more Minion antics!

Welcome!

Welcome to Cat and the Wool!

Here you will find all sorts of wonderful and creative ways that I express my love of crochet and colourful things! And cats. A really BIG love for cats. The name of my blog is a little interplay on words between my love of crochet, wool, my cat, and my nickname “Kat”. Enjoy!

Firstly: what is crochet?

Wikipedia defines it as “… a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word “crochet”, meaning hook.Aha, spot on!

I learnt to crochet about 2 years ago and since then have been trying everything under the guise of crochet ever since. Luckily my mother had crocheted as well, and I could use all of her items and tools for the first few months and inherit her wool! Yay for creative moms! My inspiration comes from lovely textures, geometric patterns, and lots of colour! And many hours searching on google 🙂

But to let you peek into my world, I have one special little guy whom I not only crocheted, but has already been winding up a storm with all his antics!

Mike the Minion!

I crocheted Mike using a great pattern created by Marissa Givens (http://thecraftycrocheter.blogspot.com/2013/07/despicable-me-minion-pattern-free.html). I’ve modified the pattern a bit and it took quite a while to put Mike together with all the sewing and stitching, but he turned out amazing!

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Over the next few weeks I’ll be making The Minion Documentaries to show you what Mike’s antics entail! I’ll also post about projects I am currently busy with or have completed. Feel free to share ideas for future posts!

Not only did Mike the Minion enjoy putting up the Christmas tree in December recently…

Xmas  Lights

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… he is quite the baker too!

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Yummy gingerbread cookies!

Stay tuned for more episodes of The Minion Documentaries and a showcase of all the crochet things I’ve been up to!

**And if you can’t get enough of the Despicable Me Minions, here’s the Banana song video link** 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCkerYMffMo