Strider

This week Adam and I said goodbye to our foster rabbit, Strider. When we first got him two months ago he was charging, lunging, and behaving quite aggressively. With a little patience and a lot of spoiling, he turned into quite the cuddly snuggler. Every evening he hopped into bed with me during reading time for head scratches, and he slept in my bedroom near the heating vent each night.

Strider now lives with a female lionhead rabbit named Fifi and eight guinea pigs. He's going to have a happy life. I was told that twice a day he eats salad off of a giant plate with ALL the small mammals in his home. I think I need a picture of that...

First Needle Sculpting Project

I just finished my first needle sculpting project, a gray rabbit! I bought a needle felting kit from etsy seller fancytiger. She has a nice assortment of kits available to purchase in her etsy shop. I think I might pick up the strawberry or mushroom kits next... It was useful to start learning the techniques by following the directions. I opted to felt some of the hair from our foster rabbit Strider into the project. He was going through a pretty good shed when I started the project.

For those of you who do not know how needle felting or sculpting works - it's really quite simple! It consists of repeatedly stabbing roving (combed, washed wool) with an incredibly sharp needle. I stabbed myself quite a few times during the process, so I can testify to the needles' tenacity. In the photo above I am attaching two seprate balls I had felted to form the head and body of the rabbit.

I often held the project in my hands, which is probably why I ended up pricking my fingers a couple of times. The kit did come with a sponge felting pad that I used during the beginning phases of the project.

In the photo below, I am attempting to smooth out some of the bumps in the project.

And here is what my little friend looked like after I finished sculpting him!

He even had a little bushy cottontail.

I have a feeling that this is the first of many (hopefully increasingly advanced) needle felting projects I will tackle. The process was really quite relaxing. I'd like to also continue to use the hair from animals I am fostering for the shelter. It's kind of a fun way to create a project that will always remind me of them.