Cactus' Cactus

Hello everybody!  Certainly has been a while since I posted - sorry about that - I was sick from before Christmas until after Valentine's Day and have been making cards, I just haven't been up to photographing them, Photoshopping those photos, then uploading them here.

I also have really gotten into crocheting and knitting more lately, so some of the time I used to spend making cards is now devoted to playing with yarn, which I can do from the comfort of the sofa in the family room rather than at my craft table.

My favorite type of things to make are blankets and toys for animals in the local animal shelters.  Those of you who know me are aware of my passion for helping animals, and since I can't adopt them all, I want to do what I can to keep them happy, healthy and comfortable while they are waiting for their forever homes.  Having a soft blanket to snuggle with can help a scared pet feel calm, which can increase its chances of being adopted sooner - good things!  I have seen videos of dogs rescued from puppy mills who have only lived in wire cages being placed on soft blankets and pet beds for the first time - their reactions are heart-warming & heart-breaking at the same time.  If you are interested in donating towels (shelters ALWAYS need towels!), blankets, etc. to animal shelters in your area The Snuggles Project has a worldwide directory HERE.

I saw a video of this little pup named 'Cactus' after she had beaten parvo (WOO HOO!) and just fell in love with her!  I have wanted to adopt a sibling for Ty for some time, but after his second spine surgery, his neurosurgeon said his spine is just too fragile to risk him getting accidentally hurt playing with another dog, and he really needs to be 'an only dog'.  Since I would do ANYTHING for Ty, that means I can't adopt Cactus, which breaks my heart a little but I am SO overwhelmed with gratitude to have Ty in my life.  So instead I pray for her and the kind family who is fostering her every day, and purchased a cactus pattern I found from Flo and Dot on etsy and made Cactus a cactus toy to play with and keep her company while she waits for her forever home.

I used Lily Sugar & Cream cotton yarn in Hot Green.  I worked really hard to get my stitches TIGHT since you can see the stuffing through the previous amigurumi items I had made - I yarn under'd for the first part of the sc and then YO'd to complete the stitch - boy, what a difference that made!  Since this is a puppy toy I could not use buttons or safety eyes (don't want to risk them falling off, being swallowed and causing choking or an obstruction) so I crocheted the eyes with 6 sc into a magic ring and added some white highlights using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in black and white.  

I created a card using Lawn Fawn's 'Stuck On You' set for her foster parents to read and mailed it off this morning along with some puppy treats I purchased from smile.amazon.com so the Fredericksburg SPCA gets a little donation from my purchase courtesy of Amazon  - have you heard of Amazon Smile?  SUCH an awesome way for a charity of your choice to receive a portion of your purchases at no additional cost to you!  

Be well little Cactus!  Hope you like your goodies and find your forever home soon!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

~ Crafty Math Chick