The Tale of the RAGT Afghan

For the past four years I have attended the Annual Reader & Author Get Together in Ohio. One of the fun things about the event is the raffle baskets the attendees put together. The proceeds of the raffle go to www.OneWayFarm.org, an organization that helps neglected, abandoned and abused children. This year my raffle basket will contain a nice lap afghan that I crocheted out of a washable wool/acrylic yarn. But there is a story behind this afghan.

My newest kitty is named Dixie. She was rescued a couple of years ago from a hoarding house along with many, many other kitties. CATS Cradle Shelter in Fargo, ND does great work saving cats and finding them homes. You might have heard of them from my author bio. They are the shelter I donate a portion of my royalties to. They do amazing things to save kitties, and that takes money. You can learn more about them at www.catscradleshelter.org.

From the first I wanted Dixie. She is exactly the kind of cat I am drawn to: needy, frightened of people, and sweet-natured. However, I already had three cats when she first came to the shelter, and that is my personal limit. My landlord readily agreed that I could have four, but I have to look at the cost of food, litter and vet visits realistically. If I can’t afford to take care of four cats, I wouldn’t be doing me or them any good. Three was the most I could comfortably support.

Fast forward almost two years. I was down to two cats after Magic had to be put to sleep after her stroke. In a happy set of circumstances, I was able to bring Dixie home with me back in December. I was so excited! I had to control myself so I didn’t scare her. She came out of her shy shell slowly but surely. She sits in my lap about once a week. She loves  demands to be petted.  She’s not a cuddly kitty most of the time–when she’s in a mood, she tends to sit as far from me as she can get– but she’s happy and healthy, and I adore her. I think she’s coming to love me too, as more than just a set of hands that will stroke her on demand.

What, you ask, does that have to do with the afghan? Well, I’m always careful about yarn and cats. If they eat it, it could cause serious trouble, so I keep it shut up in project bags to be sure it’s out of reach. But Dixie has never shown much interest in my yarn until I began putting the blocks together.  Then she seemed to become fixated on the afghan. When I was sitting in my chair working on it, she would sit inches away and carefully watch me.

If I had to get up for a minute, Dixie
would be curled up on the afghan when I came back.

When I’d put the afghan away in its bag, Dixie would drag it out and lay on a corner of it.

Dixie LOOOOOOVES this afghan! I was afraid it would break her heart when I’d have to pack it up to send for the raffle. So I began a new mini Dixie-ghan, just for her, hoping she would tranfer her attachment to it. And look! She likes it. Now I just need to get it away from her long enough to make it bigger. 🙂