It's That Time of Year Again...

Getting ready for fall ...

Cat mats!

This batch is for my stray kitties, to line their porch boxes with. Last years' collection will go underneath the new mats for this year, for extra cozy cushioning.

I've mentioned these before -- the mats use up a LOT of yarn, so if you have large amounts of inexpensive (acrylic) yarn to use up, cat mats are a great way to go.

I wind four strands of yarn into giant balls, and then crochet mats out of them.

When I first started knitting, I bought a lot of yarn I wouldn't dream of knitting with now. That, plus odds-n-ends such as a quarter-skein of baby yarn and a ball of truly hideous knobby acrylic, and some cheapy yarn that was given to me by someone whose mother quit knitting due to arthritis ... it all makes very vivid, warm, and much-appreciated cat mats. If you don't have cats, shelters love to receive these. Cats love to dig their claws in to them, and doggies love to lay on comfy yarny beds.

I'm still working on the skirt. Not very quickly, because I'm also preparing for two races next month (5 miles and 8 miles) and I'm still enough of a running newb to think those are great distances. But rest assured the skirt is plodding along!

So don't forget to pop by Tamis Amis for Work-in-Progress Wednesday, and I leave you with this really weird bug I saw in my front yard:

Happy Trails!