Well, I knitted a wool hat years ago, and unintentionally felted it just slightly in the wash. 
Rescued it just in time. But I think the term “felting” didn’t exist 40 years ago. Now I wash all my hats by hand.
Kitty blankets!
No complaints. The thing is, most of the cats at this shelter seem to be adults, and they don’t rip stuff up like kittens would.
The felted bed looks fabulous. I have two cats who might love those!..thanks for the pattern.
and re: the kitty shelter. I was wondering if a cat’s claws might get caught in the stitches if unfelted…and: do you knit it all garter stitch?
Well, the staff keeps telling me that they love them, so I guess it has not been a problem. I have a couple of the blankies that I saved for myself and my cats lie on them without any issues (of course, I keep my own cats’ nails trimmed).
And yes - I use straight garter stitch.
Here is a picture of some finished ones:
Thank you all for being such active participents in this! I am sending in an update, and I have finished 2 cat beds, and a bed that could fit a small dog, or a cat! I am now working on a large one,
Pattern being: cast on as many as you want, knit straight throught all rows, making it as large as you want!
I am having problems with my hands, but I am pushing through! I hope everyone is having fun!
Im a new knitter and I am wondering if this is better for new people or should I knit a scarf… and does it have to have a pattern or can it be plain??
This would be fine for a new knitter. Anything simple to practice your stitches is good. Pets don’t care if it’s perfect so don’t sweat it. 
[COLOR=“Magenta”][I]Thanks So Much!!!
You really Helped!![/I][/COLOR]
This is a very easy pattern so it shouldn’t be too hard
These blankets can be knit in all garter stitch, nothing fancy. It’s a good mindless knitting project to do while you’re watching tv. If you’ve ever done crafts when you were a kid, you probably used felt. It comes in various colors in sheets at the craft store. This is what your knitting will be like after it’s felted. You can cut it and it won’t unravel. I like to use up my tiny remnants of wool yarn this way. I’ll knit maybe a five by seven rectangle in all garter stitch and felt it so it shrinks. These make great scrubbies for washing dishes. You can disinfect them better than those foam sponges. Those always retain germs. I feel I’m helping the environment because I’m rewashing them and not using paper towels to clean up the counters.
This is a very easy pattern for beginners!
It doesn’t need any patterns at all, or you can have it have a pattern. I actually just use any stray yarn around the house, since, really, the cats won’t care if it’s not the most beautiful yarn in the world ( I hope! 
)
Also, I have 3 ragdoll cats, one looks alot like the one I found on google to show you what Ragdolls look like, and one of my cats LOVE 
my yarn, and even though I know any yarn she picks is just the one that she has found at that time, I use that in my cat blankets.
The problem with using wool for cats is that they will eat it… or try. It is an animal fiber and even after all the processing, it smells like animal fiber to them. I have 3 cats and they love the loos weave crocheted baby blankets that i do. They knead them up wonderfully before i wash and bag them to give away. Of course every bed has one so they don’t have to travel far, but if they can’t find one specific one, they will drag their favorite from wherever.