It’s been cold this week.

My hands have been suffering as a result: aching knuckles, stiff fingers and throbbing wrists are the norm for me in cold weather. The doctor has done tests, but found nothing wrong with me. I suspect the onset of arthritis.

Anyway, the cold and it’s unwelcome side effects have somewhat hampered my work efforts, along with the demands of Brian the Dachshund my new Borrow My Doggy charge, who spent three days of the week with me. I have slowed down to a snail’s pace, work wise.

It may be just the season trying to tell me that “nothing in nature blooms all year round”, but is nonetheless frustrating, as I was keen to further populate the court of the cat king, particularly after the enthusiastic response to my first courtier cat.

So I have worked in short bursts, in between bracing walks and sausage dog snuggles. I also got a bit carried away in tiny details, tweaking and refining, rather than cruising through a cluster of cats and blasting out a bucketload of stock for Handmade Nottingham.

Oh well, the best laid plans and all that.

So all I have to show for a week’s work are these two characters…Although I don’t usually name my dolls, for some reason I felt compelled to think of names for these two fine fellows. They seemed to demand them, and I was powerless to resist. And of course, they had to be titled…

So meet Lord Grimalkin (on the left), and Sir Thomas Titian (the ginger fellow on the right.)

I did a bit of research before embarking upon tailoring their outfits.

According to the great oracle of Wikipedia, “The tailcoat has its historical roots in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the early modern era. Ever since the 18th century, however, tailcoats evolved into general forms of day and evening formal wear”.

I rather like the idea of a cat riding a horse, but I have no plans to make one (I fear that would be far beyond my sewing skills!)

Horsemen or not, the tailcoat seems particularly à propos – and suitably accommodating – for these noble gentlemens’ attire. ♥