Mice, what next Birds?

Today I switch from my winter wardrobe to my summer one. It’s a project I dread and it eats up the better part of a day hauling everything out, sorting it and arranging the next season’s stuff nicely. Listening to Dracula, man, that’s a great book. It’s a classic. It could’ve been written yesterday for how interesting it is and how modern the language is. I’m also trudging through A Tale of Two Cities which is a lovely book it in its own right but the language can drive a girl a bit batty. It requires a certain level of concentration that I don’t often posses.

Anyway, while listening to Dracula…oh the poor sailors…and clearing out the closet, I happened upon a Halcyon yarn catalog with needle-felted birds on the back cover. Way back when, The Boyfriend had seen the cover and requested such a bird for the ficus tree in our living room. He reasoned that he and the boys would enjoy looking at the bird camouflaged amongst the foliage like the birds outside the windows they chitter at. By they I mean the cats, not The Boyfriend. I looked at the pattern and the price and informed him that I was not interested in any other fiber crafts besides knitting and since this wasn’t a knitting kit, no birds for you.

Today amid packing away of woolies and corduroy something possessed me. Something like procrastination, as I felt compelled to create a bird for my boys. Compelled to create a three dimensional pattern of my own. Compelled to do anything but fold and box up clothing. I rushed downstairs away from the closet and reviewed cardinal photos online. Gripping my needles and reviewing the principles of mice and sock construction I struck out to make a bird. It will of course be felted. The body and tail feathers are complete. I wonder if the neck is too long, or the body too fat. Hot water will tell. I think the wings should be something like leaves in felted flowers.