knit up a roadkill 'possum for a furry friend
Last year I knitted a Mouse Mat for Cat from the book Pet Heaven: the Animal Accessory Bible by Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir. It was a fun quick knit with chunky yarn. I used Lion Brand Thick and Quick, which was a pleasure to work with. I gave the mouse mat to my dear Mother-in-law, who has 20 or so cats. The only thing I changed about the book's pattern was to make 'x's for eyes, instead of using buttons. It was so much fun, I decided to make one for my cats. I needed it to be bigger to fit extra large Sasha. I also wanted to make it look more like a rat. I started off with the tail, casting on 2 stitches and knitting until it was about 4 inches long, then increased in one or two stitch increments until it was 16 inches. I didn't keep notes, so I can't tell you exactly how many rows, but this pattern is so easy you can just eyeball it and knit until it looks right to you. I made the body a bit longer, maybe by 12 row...