When I first met my Mother in Law, Mary Helen, she was knitting a gorgeous afghan and all the chairs in her house had similar afghans tossed over the backs. I later learned why when one of their cats, Jake, demanded to sit in my Father in Law’s lap, despite the summer heat he immediately pulled down the afghan from the back of his chair and laid it over his lap. Jake jumped up and happily kneaded it before settling down and falling asleep. It turns out that neither of their cats (orange tabby siblings named Jake and Kate) would sit on a person’s lap without a knit blanket (or as the family called them, snuffies)
Mary had been knitting these blankets for friends and relatives for years, it was easy to memorize and she enjoyed mixing it up with different lacy patterns, so they were always a little different. This pattern is inspired by those original blankets.

Sizes (a rough approximate):
(s) Stroller = 30x36 in (850yds)
(m) Prayer Shawl = 24x60 in (1100yds)
(l) Crib/Lap = 40x52 in (1600yds)
(xl) Afghan = 48x60 in (2200yds)

a huge thank you to my pattern tester ddare51