Spring is Springing Here

Enough said.

For The Love of Fiber

I have about a million more pictures of the Rose Cottage project, but since this blog is supposedly about fiber arts and travel, I though maybe a little shot of a few things I have been working on lately might be fun.  Not to mention easier than the next 75 steps of the cottage project!

For the love of Bumbles

  I "unvented" a new way to make catnip toys: a needle-felted, scarily realistic, cat-nip rat.

Take a little fiber (washed, but still a little sheep-y seems to intrigue Bumbles better than scoured within an inch of its life fleece) and needle it to make a little mat.

 I forgot to take a picture of the next step where you put some catnip on it and fold the fiber around it.

Then needle it into a basic mousey shape.

Make some whiskers and a tail by braiding yarn scraps together.

Attach the whiskers and tail by needle felting a little more fiber over them.  Detail pointy nose shape.

Add some eyes with little bits of a darker color, and Viola! A pet rat for your beloved cat.

I keep getting a little scare every time I see it on the floor!

For the love of Byron

I love my cat, but I love my brother-in-law, at least as much.  A few years ago I made him a cotton throw, but it was always just a little small for him (though he loves it dearly!). I knew he would appreciate this:

It's based on the Modern Miters Afghan free pattern from LionBrand, and is made with super easy care Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn.  I started it at the end of December managed to finish it in time for it to arrive right on his birthday the day after Valentine's Day. He called me to thank me even before he called his own mother!

For the love of Myself

I dumped all of my knitting notions out, sorted them by type into a gazillion saucers and then reorganized them into various pouches, and even managed to clean up after myself!

Love is all you need!