Cats in Hats: sneak peek and giveaway

My teenager doesn’t make a habit of noticing the books I read. But the day Cats in Hats by Sara Thomas showed up on the doorstep, he was paying attention. The boy has always liked cats, and as he flipped through the pages, I could tell that he was beginning to feel some righteous indignation on their behalf.

“A birthday hat? A banana hat?”

“An Alien hat, Mom? Why would you do this to a cat?”

Well, I think the answer to that question is, “because it’s cute.” And really, the cats in the book don’t seem to mind at all. If you have any experience with cats, you know that they will not sit calmly with anything on their heads unless they darn well want to.

As with most books I review here, I wanted to try one of the projects myself.

This Bobble Hat caught my eye right away, although I didn’t feel like knitting so I made the crochet version (many of the hats have both knit and crochet patterns).

The instructions were clear, and within an hour I was finished.

I gotta say, I love the instant gratification factor, and the finished product is pretty cute, if you can forgive my slightly scraggly pompom.

Of course, that’s just a human perspective. What do my favorite cats think?

These are my brother’s cats, and he and my Mom helped me out with this silly little photo shoot. Dexter (the orange cat) slipped his head out of it almost immediately, but Zeus was more cooperative. He didn’t care for it very much when it was tied under his chin, but I set it on him later (untied) while he was chilling, and he had no complaints.

After he took it off, he chewed on it a little bit, and then took a nap on top of it. I left it with him when I went home, since he’ll probably have more fun with it than I would.

I may need to crochet another one so both cats can have a special hat. (There’s something I never thought I’d say…)

As you can see, there are plenty of designs for your (and your kitty’s) enjoyment 🙂

Also, I think a small dog could wear one of these hats. I dropped in on my aunt after photographing the cats, and her chipoo looked just the right size for the bobble cap. I was kicking myself for leaving it with Zeus!

This post is part of the blog tour for the Cats in Hats book. If you want to see some other perspectives, be sure to drop by some of the other tour stops! Also, make sure to scroll down and catch the giveaway.

All of the stops on the blog tour

• AUTHOR KICKOFF: 3/16 Scooter Knits
• 3/17 Yarning 4 A Smile
• 3/18 Wendy Knits
• 3/19 In Stitches
• 3/20 Polka Dot Cottage
• 3/21 FaveCrafts
• 3/22 Recycled Crafts
• 3/23 Lorelei’s Blog
• 3/24 CraftSanity
• 3/25 Lori Greenberg
• 3/26 Crafting a Green World
• 3/27 Gaea Handmade
• 3/28 Pretty Things Blog

Giveaway!

Running Press and Sara Thomas are giving away some nifty stuff, including copies of the book and an exclusive pattern. (If you are reading this via email or a feed, and you don’t see a Rafflecopter widget or link, please click through to view this post on the website.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The fine print from Running Press:

This contest will run from 3/16 to 3/30 @ 12 AM EST. We will give away ONE prize pack that includes a copy of the book, an EXCLUSIVE hat pattern from Sara Thomas, and the yarn necessary to complete the pattern. FIVE runners up will receive a copy of the book. Winners will be contacted by email and must notify us within 48 hours of the notification email with address and acceptance. Please note that winners can be from the US only.