Three Knit Mice

See how they look.
Meant to be filled with catnip as a toy for a cat.
Unlike most knit bloggers, I do not have a cat. These are a gift for Mountain Sister's cats. She also happens to be growing catnip in her garden.
I never realized how many patterns were out there for catnip mice. These are just two examples. The beige and tan mice are knit from the same pattern. I used another pattern for the navy ( I thought it was black when I knit it) mouse, which was easier to knit. I tried a pattern by a famous knit author that was much too complicated for such a small project and ended up ripping it out. And another pattern by a famous knit blogger, that had a cable stitch down the back, just didn't look right.
I'm sure these mice will be appreciated.
Didn't use up much yarn, though.

Purse & Possum

Yes, I have been compulsively knitting. Just nothing to show for it. I've knit and ripped two projects. I have a mindless afghan I work on when it's not too hot. Here is a felted purse I completed recently from leftover yarn, using the Striped Felted Tote pattern from the Oneskein book. It's about 9"x12", large enough for a notebook. I liked it so much, I started another one. I have the base done already.


Perhaps you were pondering the plight of the possum? Well, we thought he couldn't get out by himself, so we rigged up an exit route with 2x4's. Voila! Possum was gone the next day. That'll teach me to leave the lid off the compost bin.

So you think I should knit a possum with my possum yarn? I'll look for a pattern.

I Didn't Knit This

Possum in the Compost Bin

A real live animal, not knitted and stuffed like my hedgehog. I found this critter in my compost bin yesterday. His mother left him there all day, and judging from all the noise, came back late last night. He's still there today. Looks like it's his new home. Not for long, I hope. We have not had very good luck with possums around here. I won't go into detail, but they are better seen alive than dead.



But if I did want to knit a possum, I would use this yarn (a gift from b & a, when they went to New Zealand). Not sure what I'll knit with it, a scarf, a hat, mittens maybe? Any ideas?

Update

I'm finally rested up after the holiday weekend. Three days activity, Five days recovery. Before house guests arrived last weekend, I had to clear out the yarn, I mean guest room. Rearranging and finding new places to put things was a challenge, but I was up to it. Comments were: Gee! Your house is so clean! A success. Saturday was a birthday celebration spent at Knott's Berry Farm, billed as Orange County's first theme park. There wasn't much left of the original park, Walter would turn over in his grave. Chicken dinner was good. Sunday was shopping for clothes with sister: we worked hard. Monday, visiting and goodbye to guests. Tuesday, walking to the park to view fireworks. Did you notice? No knitting! All was good, though.

Exer-knitter or Knitter-cycle?

Call it either one, but I can knit and exercise at the same time! This is the newest addition to our house in an effort to get me exercising. It just might work. And no, the arms are not far enough apart to wind a skein of yarn.

Look who got into the picture. My hedgehog is so darn cute, I had to show her off one more time

Pink Baby Sweater

O K, I've left the picture of the knitted hedgehog up long enough for friends and relatives to see. Not that any of them did. It's time to show a new project. This is a baby sweater that was finished and all I had to do was put on the buttons. You can't tell very well, but the buttons are kittens. Knit in washable wool from the neck down using a free pattern on the web. Do I have a baby in mind to wear this? No, but I'll save it until I do.

It's a Blond Hedgehog!

It turned out to be a blond instead of an albino hedgehog. And yes, those are eyelashes you see. The leaf is strategically placed, because this hedgehog has boobs!

This was going to be a practice piece, and it turned out rather cute, except for the puckering of the tummy after it was felted. I'll pay more attention to the tummy increases on the next one I knit. At first, I embroidered the eyes and nose, but I didn't like how they turned out. The pattern says they could be needle felted on, something I didn't have any idea how to do. But, after a google search, I figured out what I needed to know. I had to have a special needle. Of course, I went out to buy one right away. All for the eyes and nose. And eyelashes

Rare Hedgehog Sighting

The rare sighting of a knitted hedgehog has been in the road in front of OC knitters house. This unstuffed, unfelted creature could be either a blond or an albino hedgehog. The difference could not be determined as it is missing it's eyes and nose (the only way to tell). It was probably trying to cross the road. Will the stuffing get put in? Will it get eyes and nose? Stay tuned.

What Have I Done Lately

OK OK, so I'm not blogging very often. I never said I was going to be very good at this. I've been resting. It's been too hot. etc., etc. I did finish one project, though. It was about 98% completed, so I got it out & finished it. A felted purse called Blue Hawaii from the Pursenalities book, made with stash yarn. Felting is a great way to reduce the size of your stash. Before felting this was 26" wide by 15" high. Now it's about 14" wide by 10" high. It came out quite nicely, if I do say so.

Busy Weekend

raccoon on the porch

The OC Knitter has been very busy. What, you say? Doing something other than knitting? Well, the weekend started out with a lecture at the meeting of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancectral Research (SHHAR). The subject was early California. I have an interest in genealogy and spend a lot of time looking up family and friends. After the meeting, a drive up to the mountains for a family get together, (with a visit from the above raccoon) a Pancake Breakfast put on by the Rotary Club & shopping at yard sales. And no knitting. All this with sciatica pain. I'm resting now.