I love the pictures! My kitties would love a pi, so I'll add one to my (very lengthy) list of of future projects. The only trouble is, I have three cats, one of which has grown monstrously fat. So, do I make one great big pi, or three individual pis? Thanks for sharing!

my kitty now has a pi. she loves it!

Hey, Frankie got a new agent! See, Frankie, what did I tell you?

Oh to be a cat in the home of Purl...

Wow, the kitty pi really has shrunk, hasn't it! It used to have room to cuddle. Still cute though, and it figures that Soba is Queen of the Kitty Pi!

If you look at the pi pics from day one when I made it and felted it, it's so much bigger! I blocked the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of that thing at first!! Now I just wash it in the machine and throw it in the dryer. Then I kind of smush it in place, or put a cat in it LOL.

Bob tries to fit in it but ends up spilling over the side. Poor fella. Big boned, you know.

I have another pi on the needles somewhere... lost in my "office" (read: junk room) that I am going to declutter this weekend. It's brown to match the sofa, and if I recall correctly I used two strands of paton's (discontinued) up country held together so it should be VERY thick!

Oh -- also-- since I now do the wash/dryer thing and it has shrunk so much, it's much denser and never loses its shape. The sides never flop over at all. It's like a little knitted bowl.

Laurie, do your cats have 17 names apiece? Mine do. I would be embarrassed to tell you some of them.

Oh yeah! My cats all have a bazillion different names. Poor guys, it probably just confuses them!

Frankie looks like one happy girl! Once I get over my fear of dpns, I'll make one for our guys.

This makes me want to promptly leave the office and go home and finish up the in-process pi for my kitties!

So cute! Frankie fits perfectly.

What fun! I wonder how long it would take me to make a Labrador Pi? eeeek! I'm nuts to even consider it.

Awwww, Frankie!

I'm afraid to get anything new for my Teddy. That includes toys, beds, etc. He may or may not love something at first but whether he does or not he will abandon it after awhile and not go near it. ever. again. The only things he likes are a couple of old toy wands and anything I can hide and play peek-a-boo with him. He will then attack with gusto! He's so picky. Or spoilt. Or something.

Hey, psychomom, I copied that guacamole recipe you posted in comments the other day. Looks wonderful, thanks!

You're welcome Leeny! Avocados = yum!

The cats get bored with the pi, too, after a few weeks. Then one day I'll come home and find someone laying on it. But they LOVE it right after I freshly wash it, I guess it's like a new toy all the sudden. Weirdos.

Psychomom-- I agree the guac recipe looked awesome! made me hungry!

Cats love anything fresh. Fresh food. Fresh water. Fresh litter. (Nothing makes a cat have to use the little kitties room faster than the sound of pouring litter.) Fresh laundry.

Vader the Bad Cat has now taken to laying atop the clean clothes we drape over the top of the laundry hamper to be hung up. And she (yes, Vader's a female) loves to lay amongst the piles of clothes as we fold laundry.

Nothin' like gettin' hair on a virgin piece of clothing. Beats having to chase us around in the mornings and try to run on us before we leave, I suppose.

Love the cats, really, I do, but...do you still knit? Just curious.

How did you get the sides of your pi to stay up? My kitties like to flatten theirs out and it drives me crazy! Oh well. It is theirs to enjoy however they please. :) Thanks again for sharing the pattern - my babies still love their pi.

I love the action sequence shots! Looks like you were in just the right place at the right time. So, since the pi has shrunk and shrunk, is it time to make another?

I am SOooo inspired to make a kitty pi...but fear that that would lead to me getting a cat! Not that I don't love cats, just reluctant to replace my beloved Buggsy who crossed over the rainbow bridge this past summer. Anywho, I love starting the day with this tale of your cats and their pi :-)

Of course I still knit! I put up pictures last week of my current "creation."

Or does ugly knitting not count as knitting?

Yes, it counts but it's not ugly!

My kitty pi has shrunk as well. Unfortunately my cats have not.
(off to start knitting another, much bigger, one!)

Too bad that Target doesn't make Spanx for Cats!

Klepto just meowed at my laptop which can only mean that I must cease all knitting on my crossover scarf and begin a kitty pi immediately.

that's not a pie anymore. that's a tartelette. thanks for the retrospective.

Awwww! Makes me want a kitty. And wish I weren't allergic to them (sad, I know!)

I'm allergic too :(

You just reminded me what I want to make with all my left over 100% wool yarn in the stash! I new there was a project just waiting for it! I made a kitty pi last year for my mom, at the time she had 4 kitties... but my two princess kitties need one of their own. Just can't tell them I'm using my scraps to make it!

Too cute for words, sweetie! It's so cool that it perfectly fits just one now. The darling almost disappears completely!

I LOVE KITTY PI!!!
all the links, previous pics, and current pics are soooo cute of the kitkats!
that last pic of Roy with his paw over his face sleeping in the pi just melts my heart!
xoxo to the kitties! :o)
CLEARLy, your meowsers are superior felines since they immediately loved your handknit and their adoration is a clear reflection of their appreciation of your care for them. or something like that. :o)

Mmmm... pie.

Great pictures! Now I want to knit a pi for my tribe...probably a two-cat pi is good, as the three of mine never all snuggle together.

My new cats love to spend the day sleeping (shock) on the throw pillows for the couch, I think because they are wool needlepoint. I'm a little worried about visitors getting cat fur all over them now. I wonder if they would prefer a pi - or two - to needlepoint pillows. Any thoughts?

Also, I saw the comment about nicknames. Mine have become "Grape Ape" and "Fluffy Butt." How did that happen?

I wish my mom would knit a "Daisy-pi" for me, but she doesn't have enough yarn and she's on a yarn budget, at least that's what she says. How much yarn would it take for an 80 lb. girl like me? I don't like wool anyway, it's too itchy. When I nap with my head on her lap, she has to hold her arms up so it doesn't touch me. hee hee. I get a kick out of that.

Your new friend,
Daisy

I love your kitty pi! The cat pictures are great. Very photogenic brood you have. :)

*snort* Liz R. -- Spanx for cats!

Yay Frankie - beautiful queen of the pi.

in my next life, i want to be one of laurie's cats.

Now you're going to have to make a NEW pi, for Bob! (Also for communal cat sleeping)

May have to knit a Pi for my girls -- I think they'd like that the sides would "protect" them from drafts. Only problem is, I have one of those new front-loading, high-efficiency, low-water washers and rumor has it, things won't felt in those, so I'll have to felt it over at my parents house, I guess....

Now that yours has significantly felted and shrunk, do you still wash it in the zippered pillow case?

I wonder can you make a doggy pi?? I have a dog that LOVES to steal the blanket off the sofa and snuggle. Of course she's a Jack Russel mix so she's about 30lbs.

OH my Sister in law made a kitty pi and the cat litterally lives in the thing.

Mary, I didn't wash it in the zippered case this last time but I wish I had -- since I washed it along with one of their other sleepin' blankets, the pi was COVERED in cat hair when it came out of the washer -- it had attracted the lint and fur in the wash like a magnet! I had to lintroll it for 20 minutes to get the big fuzz chunks off it.

hah... fuzz chunks.

I started making that last night! Funny coincidence, or perhaps you planted the thought into my mind and I never noticed... and me without my tinfoil hat.

Laurie, I really enjoy your writing. I had to give up blogging personally, but I like to read what you have to say just as much as I used to like to write. Happy New Year!

Cats in Spanx! Now that's an image.

I am a cat-allergic cat owner. I just never touch Mr. FuzzyButt. I pet him with my foot and keep antihistimines on hand just in case.

You are funny girl.
So, I don't use patterns and I love to felt - one project was a purse, that was deformed so I flipped it over and made a hat. I recently had a show and I put $20.00 on it, cause I figured, what the hell, lets see if someone buys it as a novelty item and gets it out of my house. The morning of the show I was cutting off the straps!
It was the first thing to go.
Lately, I had a hat that I frogged and made into a felted hat. It all works out the way it was supposed to. The yarn looked beautiful.

Oh yes, and I made a purse, everything went according to plan except I had some unlabeled rug yarn that felt like wool - no snickering please - and after everything else felted, it stayed just as pretty as the day it knitted. Note to self, don't use unlabeled stuff in felting projects. I thought it was heavy and would make a great bottom of the purse - thick and unbending. Got that - that sucker never did bend!
And you were saying about the spin cycle by mistake - I just throw my items in the washer - no bag, no fancy work and let it run normal. If once doesn't work, twice usually does. Sometimes you have to trim a little after the felting is complete to clean it up, but I have never had any problems.
And I only block hats - cause I want them to fit. Purses get thrown in the dryer.
My greyhound won't fit in a pi, but he would love one. I am making him flashdance legwarmers instead.
Happy Felting... I will return back to my lurking.
Holly

The Incredible Shrinking Kitty Pi. I have one of those. It doesn't even fit a kitty any more!

I read you faithfully every day and think, why would she care what I think about what she said. I feel unimportant in the big world. I have issues. Anyone, I love your blog and you give me happy times.

So, why now? Why now do I speak? Because I desperately need to know how you get those thought bubbles in the pictures?

Awww...cute Frankie! I need a smile after the horrible day I had yesterday.

Love them cats. Love 'em. Your pics and how you make little stories always bring me a smile.

Everytime I see the kitties in the pi I want to make one. And I don't have any kitties. Something is wrong here.

Laurie, Can you make a Steve D pi? Something a little larger than the one for your cats. Okay, much larger. I'll forward my size in a separate e-mail.

Aw, such a happy kitty... :)

As terrific a photographer as you are, I thinkk that this series is the best I've seen you do: simple, elegant, tells the total story. Adorable!

New here. New to knitting. Love your blog. I just saw the pi earlier today in my web-meanderings-in-lieu-of-work. Roscoe has said he definitely wants one. Added to the list!

TOTOTOOOOOOOO Cute!! Cats have so much personality. I just love them!! I need to knit Earl Grey a kitty pi.

LOVE the Kitty Pi! I might have to make one of those myself for our resident fatso Joey...but will it fit 18 pounds of cat-tubby or will I have to increase even more stitches?

I love Frankie. She's a queen and should have her own Kitty Pi.

That kitty pi has seen some times! My cat would love it, too! Great blog.

Oh hell.. now I'm going to have to knit a kitty bed...... my cat is rather, um, fluffy too.. but tell me, how is it the cats actually prefer the kitty bed to that lovely, fluffy, white piece of something in the picture?

I love the kitty pi, because that's how I found my Crazy Aunt Purl. Here's sending you some NJ love (since I've been lurking so long). Eventually I hope to make a big kitty pi too - but felting scares me - your kitters are so cute.

Mia .. I think they like being all cozy in a little nook of kitty pi, it's round, too, which they love.

But Bob sometimes makes biscuits on the fluffy white blanket. He gets into a zone. He is so funny.

I love Frankie! (And I still intend to crochet a kitty pi one of these days...though I doubt my cat would go near it...)

I found your blog because of this kitty pi!! You are the funniest! I have spit sweet tea onto my computer AT LEAST 3 times while reading your posts. Just went out and spent 20 bucks on supplies for the kitty pi. Coulda bought TWO cat beds at Wal-Mart for that..... these damn cats better sleep in it..