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You are here: Home / Kitty Wisdom / How to Make Nip Knots, With Supervision

How to Make Nip Knots, With Supervision

September 9, 2017 By: Summer Samba45 Comments

somali cat supervising and tortoiseshell cat just sitting there

No, this isn’t a new backdrop for a photo session. It’s fleece fabric, and my human is going to make some nip knots out of it. Nip knots are fun, simple cat toys. My human is going to sell her books and some cards at a small event tomorrow, and she thought she’d toss in some of these too.

Because we cats know more about catnip and cat toys than humans do, I thought it was important to supervise. Binga is just there because she thinks she’s important.

somali cat supervising nip knot making, being photo bombed by tortoiseshell cat

So do you want to learn how to make nip knots? I will give you a quick tutorial. They are inexpensive and make awesome donations for cat rescues. Or you can add them to gift wrapping when you are giving your cat a present.

Anyhow, first you need fleece and catnip — the good quality catnip, that you can smell from across the room!

somali cat sniffing catnip

In fact, it’s best to make sure the catnip meets with your cat’s approval. Don’t cheap out on the nip. You can cheap out on the fleece by getting scraps or ends from fabric stores. Fleece is good because it doesn’t fray. Cut a bunch of rectangles from the fleece — 4″ by 7″ is a good size, and gives you enough fabric to tie the knot.

how to make nip knots

Next you add about a teaspoon of the good, high quality catnip. Place it near the edge facing you, like you would if you were making a burrito. Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome to make a catnip burrito? Maybe I will do a tutorial for that next.

somali cat supervising nip knot making

Make sure your work gets approved by the resident felines.

rolling up catnip filled fleece

Next, tightly roll up the catnip-filled fleece rectangle.

Typing up a nip knot

Then you take the two ends of the fleece and tie a knot.

pulling the ends of the nip knot tight

Pull the ends of the fleece, to keep the knot tightly tied. And voila! You have a nip knot. Once you have the fleece cut to size, each one takes less than a minute to make. If you want to get fancy, you can snip the ends with pinking shears for a nice effect.

somali cat approving of nip knot

It’s important to have your cat check the nip knots for quality. You don’t want to hand out nip knots that are below standard.

ragdoll cat checking out nip knot

If you live with more than one cat, that’s great! You can have multiple quality control supervisors.

tortoiseshell cat and somali cat sniffing nip knot

Sometimes one cat needs to supervise the other supervisor, to make sure she knows what she is doing.

ragdoll cat with bag of nip knots

Put your nip knots in a sealed bag, and store them somewhere dark and cool to keep them fresh. You can also add more catnip to the bag to marinate them.

So there you have it! Now you know how to make nip knots.

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How to Make Nip Knots, With Supervision
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Comments

  1. awalker says

    May 3, 2021 at 10:24 pm

    A craft that my cats will love and is just about the limit of my crafting ability. Lol. Thanks for the idea.

    Reply
  2. Catherine Lingg says

    July 21, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    These are awesome Summer. Hopefully our rescue will be fully operational soon. I can make some for my girls for now

    Reply
  3. Catherine lin89gg says

    May 9, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    This is awesome. Can’t wait to make one Summer

    Reply
  4. LESLEY CASTLE says

    May 9, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    Great idea!

    Reply
  5. Selina says

    May 9, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    How’d you guys do at the event? Did your hooman sell lots of toys?

    Purrz!
    Selina

    Reply
    • Summer Samba says

      May 9, 2020 at 8:18 pm

      We don’t remember now, but she probably wound up selling more nip knots than books!

      Reply
  6. Lesley Castle says

    May 8, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    This is soooo cool! <3

    Reply
  7. FuzzMother says

    August 12, 2018 at 3:01 am

    Thanks for the tutorial, Summer. Even our human might be able to make these! We will have to snoopervise her efforts very closely…

    Reply
  8. Kitties Blue says

    September 13, 2017 at 9:46 am

    Thanks for the tutorial, Summer. Those look so easy to make. Mom used to make catnip pillows for our rescue/TNR group to sell, but they haven’t done any events in a long time. She loves this idea. Easy peasy! XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy

    Reply
  9. Lola says

    September 11, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    What a fab toy! Even our mom could do that!

    Reply
  10. Pipo/Angel-Minko/MrJackFreckles says

    September 10, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    That is way better than the old socks and nylon hose we used to see petcretary use to make similar items,MOL!!!

    Reply
  11. Raven says

    September 10, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    Hello Boodie, so nice to see you. Glad you all enjoyed the nip knots.

    Reply
  12. Marvelous says

    September 10, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    Ms summer, Ms Binga and Ms Boodie! I must say, you are all such beautiful lady cats! And you get along so very well I marvelous, have just discovered the heady effects of catnip. My Mommy put some on the scratcher that has the rollie ball and I must say, I was totally blissed! Your human is a jewel to makes such lovely things for you (and other cats).
    You are blessed!
    Purrs
    Marv

    Reply
  13. Maxwell, Faraday & Allie says

    September 9, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    Brill – totally BRILL! Outstanding supervision, as usual, Summer.

    Reply
  14. meowmeowmans says

    September 9, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    Those nip knots are awesome, Summer and Binga. We are glad you two were there to supervise your human!

    Reply
    • meowmeowmans says

      September 9, 2017 at 8:11 pm

      Oh, guess what? Our humans are going to see the Amazing Acro Cats in Brooklyn tomorrow!

      Reply
  15. THe Island Cats says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    The mom tried to make these one time and somehow screwed it up. There was catnip everywhere. We didn’t mind though. 🙂

    Reply
  16. Mark's Mews says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    Neat toys! Do you run a stitch through the ends or do the knots just stay tight on their own?

    Reply
    • Summer Samba says

      September 9, 2017 at 11:29 pm

      They just stay on their own. Of course, I don’t know any kitties capable of EXTRA rough handling.

      Reply
  17. Ratty says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    I wish I could have cats around right now just so I could make these for them.

    Reply
  18. CRAIG S. C. OKAJIMA says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    Pretty Cats!!

    Pretty colored toys, too!!

    Pretty cats are pretty cats!!

    Reply
  19. Purrjamm Cats says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    What a pawsome idea! Love the colors of the fabric too. Now mom can start making some for us and kitties boarding at the hospital she works for. Thanks for the fabulous idea. Purrs

    Reply
  20. Melissa, Mudpie & Angel Truffles says

    September 9, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Those are SO cute…and totally something I could do too!

    Reply
  21. Valentine says

    September 9, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    What a neat thing! So simple, yet so effective! Those would make great birthday & holiday favors for furry furr-iends and shelter kitties! I need to get Mom on that project right away, too! Hugs!

    Reply
  22. MaggieTKaTT says

    September 9, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Wonderful idea! Will shar with our. Rescue.

    Could you list a couple of your favorite nip? Mom is going to do catnip mats for the rescue charity. She is terrible at sniffing out good stuff.

    Reply
  23. Tara Taylor says

    September 9, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    Thanks this is an awesome idea. I will have to make these for my furrbabies.

    Reply
  24. Madi and Mom says

    September 9, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh a trio of quality control experts!! We love it and the nip knots are fantastic. We know the event will be a big success and the knots are a great extra touch
    Hugs madi your bfff

    Reply
  25. The Swiss Cats says

    September 9, 2017 at 11:25 am

    Those are wonderful easy-to-do cat toys ! Purrs

    Reply
  26. Jean and icat says

    September 9, 2017 at 10:58 am

    Those nip-knots are a great idea. iCat gives them two paws up!

    Reply
  27. Random felines says

    September 9, 2017 at 9:22 am

    Cute & easy….great idea!

    Reply
  28. Memories of Eric and Flynn says

    September 9, 2017 at 9:10 am

    Such an easy but effective toy. I think I will have to make some for the local shelter.
    BTW, I love how good you are for having a bath, Summer. I never bathed Eric or Flynn, but I think Eric would have enjoyed it as he loved anything to do with water.

    Reply
  29. Ellen Pilch says

    September 9, 2017 at 9:01 am

    That is a great idea! And you always say your human can’t do crafty things- she showed you 🙂 Nice to see Binga and Boodie too.

    Reply
  30. Catatopia says

    September 9, 2017 at 7:10 am

    That seems simple enough. Maybe I’ll whip up a few this weekend.

    Reply
  31. Andrea and the Celestial Kitties says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:57 am

    Awesome nip knots! I agree with the good quality nip! I am fussy about what nip I put in my kitty toys and buy it in quantity when I get it!
    Love seeing Boodie! And Binga of course! Summer, you know you’re the star but we love seeing your girlfriends too! Smooches to all of you!

    Reply
  32. Grace says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:50 am

    ok, nip-knots, yadda, yadda, yadda BOODIE!

    Reply
  33. Toby and Leia says

    September 9, 2017 at 5:56 am

    Those are pawsome. And really, someone has to be boss… we have to admit, Binga has that stern thing going on.

    Reply
  34. Brian frum says

    September 9, 2017 at 5:46 am

    We are going to have to get the peeps to do some for us! Thanks for the tutorial pretty Summer!

    Reply
  35. Laila and Minchie says

    September 9, 2017 at 5:39 am

    So that’s how they are made! We bet our human could even make these! Good to see this great project even brought Booda out!

    Reply
  36. Teddy says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:05 am

    TOTALLY COOL!!!!!! Mom is gonna make me some!

    Love, Teddy

    Reply
  37. Erin the cat (Princess) says

    September 9, 2017 at 3:01 am

    Now this has to be the BEST nip toy I’ll see this side of Christmas, and so easy to make too!
    Toodle pip and purrs
    ERin

    Reply
  38. The kitties of purring pines says

    September 9, 2017 at 3:00 am

    Thanks, Summer. Those are great gifts. Happy Caturday!

    Reply
  39. When the Cat is Away says

    September 9, 2017 at 2:45 am

    We were very surprised when we started reading this post. From comments you leave on other blogs, we figured that your human isn’t the very handy type. So that she was actually doing something herself that she intends to give away was very confusing.

    But now we see. Good advice! Our silly human grew about 30 catnip plants for us, but turned out that neither of us gets effected av catnip. Now she’s a lot of dried catnip plants and she doesn’t know what to do with them – so this would actually be a nice gift to other kitties!

    Reply
  40. TyBee says

    September 9, 2017 at 2:28 am

    I will have to get my human to make some up. The other ones I had got ‘lost’.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chapter 141: COVID Chronicles | Cats Working says:
    December 21, 2020 at 11:28 am

    […] Summer’s human posted simple instructions a few years ago on how to make Nip Knots and Karen decided to make us some because we already have just about every toy ever made. She made […]

    Reply
  2. Another Bookish Selfie | SparkleCat says:
    September 10, 2017 at 12:22 am

    […] table my human set up. It wasn’t a great day for sales — she actually sold more nip knots than books. But she is glad she went anyhow, because she met lots of nice people, including someone […]

    Reply

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