There comes a time in every long-haired cat owner's life when one must bust a very different kind of stash:
 |
| With a AA battery for comparison. |
See, two Christmases ago, my brother gave me this book on using cat hair to do needle felting. Excited (and slightly skeptical), I started collecting Walnut's hair, and over a year later I finally got myself a felting tool. Since it's a stashbusting kind of year, well, you may think this is an April Fools' Day joke (and it is a bit tongue-in-cheek), but this is a totally real cat that I felted!
I didn't take any pictures of the process, since I wasn't sure how it would work out. To be honest, it didn't really look like much until I added in the front legs and the head. I started out with a peanut shape for the body (at which point Mr. Cation thought it looked like a turd...and he was right), then added little rounds for the hindquarters, three little "logs" for the tail and front legs, and finally the head. The finishing touch was stitching on the facial features, so I guess it still counts as sewing?
 |
| Look at that adorable face! |
The whole process took about an hour and change, and was pretty relaxing. Stabbing a needle into a ball of fur over and over again is quite cathartic, even if I occasionally stabbed my thumb. The good news is, I've still got plenty of fur left!
 |
| Yup, barely busted this stash. |
When Walnut came over for a snack, he met his tiny doppelganger:
Okay, but in all seriousness, there is real fabric stashbusting going on over here in the month of April! The challenge this month is Vibrant Color, so I'm going to sew up one of the two orange fabrics in my stash. And since it's a challenge, it means you have a chance to win more bragging rights! The rules for challenge submissions are:
- At least 75% of the item must be made from your stash supplies.
- Item must be made within the month of April.
- To enter, link your submission photo to the link party before the last day of the month. I'll put up the link party in the last week of April.
So if you're not totally turned off by the exorbitant amount of cat hair featured in this post, and if you haven't unsubscribed from my blog in disgust, I'll look forward to turning down the brightness settings on my screen at the end of the month!
 |
| Just a couple of cats, hanging out by the window... |
LOVE THIS! Well, I love the results. Pretty sure you would have my house in allergic tears with all that cat hair. (Our cats are outside cause of my Mom and Brother) I'm very impressed that you were able to do that with cat hair though! Super cool. Love the pic with the two cats looking at each other!
ReplyDeleteHahaha I thought about whether pictures could set off allergies :)
DeleteI actually really like the idea of felting fur! I've seen books for knitting with spun dog fur but shaded sable doesn't make a very flattering color- and there's the wet dog smell. Maybe after my dog goes through her spring blow I'll have enough to try this instead.
ReplyDeleteI know there are companies where you can send in your pet's fur and they make into yarn for knitting, but yeah, brownish sweaters are not the most appealing color. I flatter myself that Walnut smells pretty good, but I wouldn't know about dogs!
DeleteOhhhhh NOOOOOOOO! I got my brother-in-law that book for Christmas as a joke a year or so ago, but I can't imagine actually making anything out of it. I'm a weirdo, but I'm totally grossed out by hair or fur the second it's unattached from the being it came from! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're weird at all...in fact, I think most people would think cat hair crafting is the abnormal behavior ;)
DeleteI laughed SO HARD at this post... Thank you (& Walnut) for making my day!!
ReplyDeleteGlad we could brighten it!
DeleteI loved this post! Your felted cat is adorable! And I love the photos of Walnut and his doppleganger together. :) What a fun stashbusting project.
ReplyDeleteNot the normal stashbusting project, but definitely fun to do! I couldn't believe that Walnut cooperated with the photo shoot.
DeleteThat last cat butt picture is so incredibly cute! haha! Also, I really need to get off my butt and do some stashbusting x
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to get Walnut in the exact same position as the felted cat, but this was as close as it got.
DeleteThat is awesome! Love the pics too
ReplyDeleteYay, I'm glad!
DeleteOh my word, that is so adorable! I've often wondered if there's something I could be doing with all the cat hair that rolls like tumbleweeds around the house.
ReplyDeleteTumbleweeds! That is the best description of it. I don't think it would've occurred to me if it wasn't for the book, and the fact that Walnut's hair will start felting on its own, it's that soft and tangly.
DeleteThat is awesome! Your little (and big) cat is adorable, I can't believe how quick it was to make. I have thought about doing felting, but can't find the supplies locally. Maybe I should look to my fluffy dog for a donation!
ReplyDeleteTry it! I got my needle tool at Joann's, but I know Amazon has it too. As crafts go, the supplies are pretty cheap ;)
DeleteYep, super awesome! I got my MIL that book for Christmas but I don't think she took it seriously enough to want to use it, I'm so sad she's not local so I can't borrow it to read the directions for this!
ReplyDeleteMy mom didn't think the book was serious either when she saw it! As for the directions, it's not really any different for felting with the more normal wool roving, so just check out online tutorials...it's all pretty much just stabbing til you get the shape right.
DeleteThe tiny Walnut is so cute! That's also a great way to be able to keep a part of your pet forever. =)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, bright color stashbusting. I might be able to join the fun this month!
~ Brooke
Heh, I don't like thinking about Walnut not being a part of our lives forever, but you're right. And yay for you joining in!
DeleteHehe! My cat Spot would probably try to lick that apart, but she licks everything. Very cute!
ReplyDeleteWalnut did try to lick it, but I wouldn't let him :)
Deleteadmittedly, seeing a giant hairball kinda grosses me out, but the tiny kitten you made is freaking adorable!!! that last pic is priceless. love it!
ReplyDeletesecond to last pic, i mean. but the last one is cute too! :)
DeleteHahaha, I was worried about if people would get grossed out, but figured that it's my blog, and I can show whatever pictures I want ;)
DeleteWow, that is adorable! Although I can't see myself being committed enough to amass such a giant hairball.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty easy to collect the hair, since we brush Walnut every other day, but I imagine that if one had a shorthair, it would take much longer! Still, the tiny cat didn't take too much fur.
DeleteThis is the funniest thing ever! And to think of all the cat hair I've just been throwing away! If only I'd saved it! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe first year that we had Walnut, that's how I felt...like, there's so much of it, it ought to be good for something! I don't know that felted cats is the best use, but it's better than just throwing it all away after Walnut went to such trouble to grow it ;)
DeleteThat's awesome! I just started saving my cats' hair to do similar things with. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so excited that other people are going to do this too!
DeleteI have a felted cat made by a friend of mine with that book! It's more of a 2D cat, but I have it hanging on my cork board next to my sewing machine. I love your little 3D cat! And, any excuse to see more Walnut is always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteGood to know other people have utilized this book :) I bet your Siberian's fur would make a great felted cat too!
DeleteWhat are you going to do with the rest of the cat hair?!?
ReplyDeleteFelt more tiny cats, of course!
DeleteHaa haa, this is totally ace! My other half was always freaked out by the fact that I saved our cat Dollys' dropped whiskers when she was still alive. Am really not sure what I could make from whiskers though. I always love seeing your pics of Walnut and these are particularly classic!
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I both save dropped cat whiskers! She used some in her painting of Walnut, but other than that I'm not really sure what one could do.
DeleteHahahah so good! That really is amazing for a first attempt! Not sure I'd make anything vaguely looking like a real cat if I tried! What a great use of cat hair too. Can't wait to see what else you make with it!
ReplyDeleteI was pretty impressed with myself too, especially when you consider what it started out looking like ;) I'm just glad I can do something kind of productive with Walnut's hair!
DeleteWhat a hoot! Anyone who will make something out of their animal's hair is a true animal lover. I thought about making a sweater with dog hair, but then dismissed that idea.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, or just a crazy cat lady :)
DeleteI love the picture of Walnut nose to nose with his miniature. Adorable!
ReplyDeleteIt's like he knew what pose I wanted and just went ahead and did it...gosh, my cat is brilliant!
DeleteSo adorable! The photos are incredibly cute. I know someone who got her Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning by spinning up lots of cat hair and using the yarn for both knitting and embroidery. She cross-stitched a portrait of her cat with her actual cat's hair!
ReplyDeleteSorry. I don't understand those who think this is gross. What about wool? It's the hair of a sheep. Alpaca? Cashmere? Mohair? Angora? What's the difference just because it's from a cat? The animals are still running around too so it's not like they had to give their lives or anything.
My goodness, I might want to take up spinning now! That sounds like an awesome portrait.
DeleteCan you imagine raising a herd of cats for their fur, and harvesting every year? What a ridiculous idea, and yet it totally tickles my fancy :)
a-dooooo-ra-ble! I love needle felting and I always joked I should felt a doppelganger of my bunny...now i just might!
ReplyDeleteConsidering that angora is made from rabbit hair, why not give it a try? I imagine the process is fairly similar!
DeleteOh goodness, you actually used that book! It doesn't actually weird me out at all. Wool, cat hair, it's all the same! Your mini-Walnut turned out so cute. The pictures of the two cats together are perfect!
ReplyDeleteThanks for not thinking I'm weird! I mean, Walnut cleans himself pretty thoroughly...
DeleteOh my word! That wee felted cat is amazing!! And to think I was idly vacuuming up all the cat hair in my house!! I absolutely love the photo of Walnut and felted cat nose to nose. :)
ReplyDeleteI was pretty excited to be able to use up all that discarded fur, and to make such a teeny adorable thing too. When something is miniature, it's always cuter, especially when you can see it next to the life-size thing!
DeleteVibrant colour? I'm sure I don't have such a thing in my stash. Wait, maybe there is. Uh oh, what to do with vibrant colour? I guess you've made this one a challenge for a reason. (Cute cat too, who knew you could do such things with cat fur?)
ReplyDeleteThanks to you and Walnut for the biggest smile of the day! :D Love love love the pics of Walnut + doppelganger.
ReplyDeleteI'm miserably allergic to cat hair, but I'm in love with your little creation! I think you need to create an entire litter of kittens in different poses with all the fur you have leftover.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have all the challenges all lined up yet but I think a "too nice to cut" challenge would be cool. You know, that silk or wool or whatever it is that we are afraid to cut into.
ReplyDeleteThe tiny cat is adorable!
ReplyDeleteOh my freakin cuteness!! I love it!! The pictures are so great!! Question is what are you going to make with the pound of remaining cat hair? Lol!
ReplyDeleteLOVE! I want to do it with my cats' hairs. Eeeeek, so exciting!
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious and genius and adorable. And Walnut is the perfect little cat model!
ReplyDeleteYour cats, both little and large, are sooooo cute! I have a very similar cat so maybe I should try it. I'm sure she'd be willing to part with some fluff!
ReplyDelete