I thought that Daniel Spaniel could use a friend, so my needles have been clicking away again and this is what I've designed....

He's very sweet and I've named him Jasper after the rogue ginger tom cat my husband brought with him when we got married! (Save that the real Jasper only had 3 legs but that's another story!)
I've knitted him in 2 colour ways - here is Jasper as a black and white tom kitten...

I can't decide which colour I prefer him in! I absolutely loved knitting with the Artesano Hummingbird DK yarn (the ginger kitten). I'm not a big fan of striping/patterned yarns - although I know many of you are - as most of the ones I've seen feel a bit too 70's. The Hummingbird Range (which they also do in a 4ply) is lovely though and the stripes didn't feel too bitty and definitely gave the right effect for a ginger tom cat. Or at least I think so...! The best thing is that the DK range comes in 150g hanks which means you have plenty left over to either knit a whole litter of kittens or rather selfishly, a pair of cuddly warm socks ready for winter. It's spun from Alpacas so is very soft! Anyway... enough goldblumming...
He's fairly quick to knit and makes a good inbetween project or even distraction from a project that's driving you crazy! You'll need slightly over half a ball of the main colour and about a quarter of a ball of the second colour so he's a good pattern for using up your odd ball of this and that which you bought on a whim and have stashed away in a cupboard!
He's 16cm tall so he's good for little (and not so little!) hands to grab hold of. Oliver loves him! He's fully suited to an advanced beginner and I'm more than happy to provide email assistance if you are struggling with anything.
If you'd like to give Jasper a good home then I've listed the pattern on Etsy ($US) and Folksy (£GB) He's also listed in my Ravelry pattern store. If you've not joined Ravelry then do have a look, it's free to join and is a really good resource.
That's it for now although I might have an announcement in a few weeks which might explain why I've been furtively toy knitting.......!
Pen x