This evening, we realised that the mouse that Emily had spotted on our dining table a couple of days ago was hiding out under the sofa. What gave it away was its smell and movement which caught Bryan’s attention. He circled the sofa several times, poking his nose under and acting all excited. We had to move lots of furniture and odds and ends around to get at it. A lot of banging, hopping around, and wielding of broom and dustpan, squeegee and spade ensued. Finally the mouse was flushed out. It made the fatal mistake of running into the study, right under the nose of a bewildered Sunshine who was penned in the study because we didn’t think she’d be useful in the hunt. K kicked Sunshine out and he and Bryan shut themselves in there to finish the job. Before long, loud squeaks and scrabbling were heard. When the door opened, K had the injured mouse pinned by its tail with the squeegee, while Bryan was crouched before it, ready to pounce again. He’d apparently got in at least three good nips before getting a fright when the mouse tried to jump on his face.
Emily then got a wastepaper basket and trapped the mouse inside it, before scooping it up with her bare hands and dumping it unceremoniously into a plastic bag. The rest – well, let’s just say the mouse is history.
A few hours before this drama happened, I finished making a basket for the girls’ Sylvanian Families critters and whatever other small toy animals can fit inside it. I used this free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn, with off-white, beige and pink acrylic “deodorant” yarn from Daiso. Purists may scoff at using $2 yarn for crocheting, but I think it’s just perfect for small toy projects like this, which get tossed about and eventually tossed out when the kids grow out of it. Plus, if I screw up, I have no qualms about junking whatever I’ve made and starting over.
No harm in cheap yarn. Even my size 6 crochet hook is from Daiso.
This project took me perhaps 4 hours to make, over yesterday evening and this afternoon. The only thing I’m not happy about is the sloppy way I attached the handles to the basket. One side of the handle had too short a tail to sew into the basket body properly, so I had to improvise. I was also in a bit of a rush to get to ballet lessons, so I wasn’t as meticulous as I should have been. The girls couldn’t care less though – Alison brushed me off when I said I wanted to redo the handles. So I guess it’ll do. If I make another basket I’ll pay more attention to the finishing.
Alison and her Persian Cat family in the finished basket.
I’ve figured out that part of the reason I like crochet better than cross-stitching is its portability. I’ve been doing most of my crocheting on my bed, either propped up with pillows or lying down when I feel like it. I can’t do that with stitching because I can’t stitch in hand and always need good light, excellent back support, a chart holder and my K’s creations lap frame to feel comfortable. Plus, crochet lets me make things that are actually useful, whereas stitched objects are mostly decorative. That’s not to say I’ll abandon cross-stitch altogether, though. There are still projects I wanted to start and complete, and hopefully I’ll be able to do that sometime this year.
