FO: Zoey's Mice

I found an adorable pattern for catnip mice on Ravelry. I wanted to make some for the boyfriend’s cat, as well as a bunch for shelter kitties. I started with two for Zoey (his cat), to make sure that cats do indeed like them before I put all that work into making a ton of them.

They were so easy to make, although purling so many stitches together to make the ears was a big of a pain. Other than that though, they were incredibly easy. We stuffed them with alternating layers of stuffing and catnip.

Zoey loves her new toys. She wrestles with them, lies on top of them, chases them around, and even dunks them in her water bowl (an honor reserved for only her very favorite toys).

I plan on casting on for several more to donate to the shelter she came from!

Pattern: Knit Felted Catnip Mice

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes

Colorway: Onyx Heather

Needles: US4, US8

FO: Squatty Sidekick Purse

First of all, I don't know that this is the best name for the pattern- it makes it sound really unattractive, when it's actually pretty cute! I made it for the Monthly Color Swap group on Ravelry- the color was red, as you can probably tell. Felting is a lot of fun, so I thought I'd make a nice felted bag for my swap partner.

It was fairly easy to make; there wasn't really anything difficult about the pattern. The worst part was lining it- it was easy enough to sew the lining on the machine, but I hate hand-sewing it into the bag- it's so hard to make the stitches look nice and neat! The bag actually sat around for awhile because I couldn't bring myself to finish sewing in the lining- it's a good thing that there was a deadline, because it forced me to finish it!

Pattern: Amanda' Squatty Sidekick

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool

Colorway: Bright Red

Made for: Montly Color Swap (June: Red)

The Verdict: The purse turned out really nicely, and I'm quite pleased with the result. I probably wouldn't make one for me, just because I generally like larger purses to lug around all of my stuff, but I'd definitely make more as a gift.

I felted!

I just finished the felting my first felted project, a small purse that I am going to give my mother for Christmas. She complains that she doesn't have any small, dressy purses, so I wanted to make her one. I used the pattern Suzanne's Purse. After it came out of the washer (and man, that thing did NOT take long to felt), I patted it with towels and stuffed it with grocery bags to maintain its shape while drying.

Right now, it doesn't look like much- just a plain black bag. But I plan on buying beads and sewing them on to the bag. For a first felting project, not bad!