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An elderly Hispanic woman in a floral apron knits while a fluffy orange cat lies tangled in loops of cream yarn beside her. 27 / 33

Abuela Carmen Was Making Great Progress on Her Knitting. Then She Looked to Her Left.

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Abuela Carmen's knitting project is coming along nicely; her yarn supply, less so. She sits in her armchair in a gray cardigan and floral apron, needles clicking as a cream-colored piece grows in her hands, smiling with patient amusement. Draped across the cushion beside her, Mango has managed to wrap himself in loops and loops of yarn, strands crisscrossing his fluffy orange chest and tangled around his paws. His amber eyes look up with complete innocence, as if he has no idea how any of this happened. A yarn spool sits in her lap, a basket of balls waits on the floor, and a mug rests on the table nearby.

Cats and yarn are a classic pairing in pictures, but in real life, yarn needs careful supervision. If a cat swallows yarn, string, or thread, it can cause a serious problem called a linear foreign body, where the string bunches up the intestines and often requires emergency surgery. Never pull on a string you see coming from a cat's mouth or rear; call your vet right away. When knitting, keep yarn in a lidded basket or a yarn bowl, put projects away when you're done, and give your cat safer toys, like wand toys used only under supervision.

Mango may think he's helping, but Carmen will have some untangling to do. Luckily, she seems to have endless patience for her fluffy orange assistant. Every great knitting project needs a little chaos, after all.

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