I made something silly!It's a mankei neko or "fortune cat", or at least my interpretation of one. This was based on the pattern from Just Jussi, although I did make mine quite a bit bigger than the pattern--I think he's just under a foot tall (I cast on double the number of stitches to start). It's made from TLC Cotton Plus yarn and I found it surprisingly nice to work with. Since this yarn doesn't felt (which is what the pattern recommends), I knit it on US size 4 needles, which is a size or two smaller than the recommended size.

Besides being black for Project Spectrum, I also tried to incorporate metallic accents in the embroidery. It's a little hard to see, but there is sparkly blue blending filament in there:I also made a cool rose that I was going to have the cat hold instead of the traditional coin, but I think I like him better without it. The rose was made using a pattern entitled "Rosa d'Amore" from the 2006 Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar (May 18th). I used Rowan 4-ply cotton, of which I am starting to gather quite a large collection of leftovers, as was the cat's collar. I love the way it turned out, but it just seemed like too much on the cat, so I guess I'll have to save it for something else.

Next up, I finally dragged the Stinky Sox out of hiding (just in time for the Sox to start going downhill again, ha ha). I figured now would be the perfect time to finish them, considering they are red and all. It took me about three tries to remember which size needle I had been using (turns out it was a US 3), but now that's sorted out I should hopefully be done with them in a jiffy!