Jutey Jutey Jutey

It's been a while since I've posted about a crochet project. I've been busy at work, and racing around getting ready for the move, so I haven't been crocheting as much as I like. My current project, though, isn't a cute baby sweater or a chemo cap. It's not cute - it's Jute!

My current project isn't at all fun, but I hope it will be a practical solution to a problem.

I have cats. I love them! Bogey, Scooter and Tater are our three boys, and we adore them, but their litter-box habits leave something to be desired.

Bogey is a digger. He gets in there and digs, digs, digs. Then he carefully covers his handy work. But when it's time to leave the box, he races out at the speed of light, often kicking litter out of the box as he goes.

Scooter is not better. He doesn't cover up when he's done, so his box is rather stinky. He also tends to kick a bit out.

Then there is Tater. Tater is a digger and a coverer. He can dig and dig and cover and cover and then dig some more. He doesn't race out of the box, he walks out and leaves what we call "Tater Tracks". He gets litter between his cute toes and proceeds to leave it wherever he goes. I love my Tater, but I just hate Tater tracks.

So..... my solution is jute! My kitties just love scratching and rolling on all sorts of scratchy textures. I thought that if I made a mat for under and in front of the litter box that would catch the litter that they kick of drag out, it might contain the problem and keep it from spreading through the house.

I'm working with a giant ball of jute twine and a big-old crochet hook, and crocheting a "rug". When I'm done I can lay down plastic, and then lay the jute rug on top of it in front of the litter boxes. I'm hoping that as the cats jump or walk out, the texture of the rug will catch the stray litter and keep it contained.

I'll let you know how it works, but it might take a while. This jute is really hard to work with, and because its not a "cute" project, it's easy to put it down. If it works, I'll need to make two more so that all the litter boxes have one.