Crochet A Cat!

All right, let's get back to crafting, shall we?  In honor of my sweet kitty, Ozzy, my project for last week was this cute Cat Cup Cozy.  Just click on the link and you'll get to the video which contains complete instructions.

It's been my goal for quite a while to learn different crochet techniques and to break out of my "I can only crochet things that are rectangular or square" mode.  Remember?  So seeing as how this project contains something circular, something ear-shaped, and something tail shaped, I thought it would be a good starting point.

It's pretty cute, right?  The instructions say that chaining 37 will fit around a Starbucks cup, so that's exactly what I did.  I have one of those reusable Starbucks cups, but it's in my car.  Could I have gone out to the car to get it so that I could see if 37 chains would fit around my cup?  Well, yes, I could have.  Did I?  No.  I chained my 37 and then followed the instructions using Sugar N Cream cotton yarn in an off-white color. 

When it was completed, I FINALLY retrieved my reusable Starbucks cup and found out that it was waaaaaay too big for my cup (which is a Grande, by the way).  Yeah, I just had to laugh.  You know that saying, "measure twice, cut once"?  In my case with this project, it was more like "nah, you don't have to measure at all!".  And that was not a smart crafter decision. 

It does fit on my giant Tervis tumbler though!  Which makes no sense at all because:  A) Tervis tumblers are insulated already, and B)  It hides the cute design that's already on the cup (which in this case is a bumblebee).  But it does show you how cute the cup cozy is when it's actually on a cup. 

Now, as usual, I can come away with some positives even though the cozy was a bit bigger than what I needed.  I learned some new techniques, used crochet stitches that I haven't used in the past, and it did turn out looking like what it was supposed to.  And it's pretty darn adorable.  I now have the courage to attempt more adventurous projects.  Also, the instructions are very clear in the video, and this is a quick project.  You might be able to complete it in an evening. 

Hmmmm, maybe it will fit a Starbucks Venti cup.