Month: January 2023

Snake hide basket

On By CarynIn Craft, snake

My eldest’s corn snake is a big boy, and has outgrown his favorite hide. We’ve been trying different things: he likes the large PVC tube section, but sticks out the ends, the large black plastic rectangle tub he decided was better as a bathroom than a hide, and the slabs of cork bark are fun to climb around, but not hide under. So I thought I would make him a basket. I purchased half inch polypropylene rope, which it is used for boating and is mold and mildew resistent, and sewed it together with bonded nylon thread.

Starting the basket

Sewing a coil basket was easier than I feared. I chose a method where the needle is stuck through the top of the previous row, then wrapped around the current row. To make it better for snake habitation, I built in an entrance near the base.

Basket in progress, with entrance for snake

The 50 feet of rope wasn’t quite enough to make an 11” diameter basket, so I added some red rope from my stash to the lid.

Finished snake basket with lid
Snake basket in terrarium

Now we’ll see how he likes it.

Bolder

On By CarynIn Cats
Mr Tom and his shadow

If you look closely at the shadow to the left of Mr Tom, you will see the shadow has eyes. This is Mr Tom’s buddy, and he has actually become bold enough to join Mr Tom when he comes to greet me at the chicken coop. He is still too wary to accept touching or brushing, but this is progress.

Stuff it

On By CarynIn Cats, Craft

Izzy has a new cat house (thank you Mom and Dad!) She likes to go inside and sharpen her claws, and she investigates the top, but the well is a little small and deep for her to curl up in (she is a big cat).

Cat donut

So I made a small pillow to fill the hole. The well measures 9” x 4”, so I made two 10” circles and a strip 5” wide (to accommodate 1/2” seams). To make the circles, I cut two 10” squares, folded them in fourths, then rounded one corner.

Making fabric circles

I then sewed the circles to the strip, right sides together, leaving a 1/2” free on both ends of the strip.

Sewing a circle top to the side strip

I over stuffed the pillow because I know that stuffing compresses, and hand sewed the seam on the side closed.

Sewing in the stuffing

The pillow fit it in the well, but had a slight dome.

Initial pillow fit

Domes will not do for the princess cat, so I sewed the middle to make a divot by sticking a long needle through the middle of the pillow and pulling the thread tight.

Pillow with divot

It was still a little over stuffed. Izzy the princess cat laid on it, but it was not the cozy round she was hoping for.

Izzy trying out the new pillow (blanket thrown over for the princess)

I took some stuffing out. This involved clipping the hand sewn seam, removing the stuffing around the center tack, and resewing the side seam.

Pillow with less stuffing
Happier cat

The princess approves.

Divide and conquer

On By CarynIn Craft
Flax roving unspun and spun

Pictured is 24 grams of flax roving on the left and 22 grams of flax single yarn and 2 grams of flax roving dressed on a distaff on the right. I would like to make a two-ply yarn so have divided my roving by weight in an attempt to get similar yardage. I can spin about 2 grams on a 30 minute walk, so it will be awhile until I ply.

Flax roving is an unusual preparation. Usually flax fibers can be measured in feet, but the staple length of this preparation is 1-5 inches. That is what I get for buying through a generic sales site rather than a fiber specific store, and not knowing anything about flax spinning prior to the purchase. It is a good learning experience on many fronts, however.

Snake infinity

On By CarynIn snake

My eldest and I cleaned out the snake cage, taking out all the old aspen bedding and putting down a thick new layer for Malt the corn snake to explore. This time we added a new cork bark hut next to his favorite hide. He was kind enough to explore it on his way back to his favorite spot, and in doing so made a snakey infinity symbol.

Snake exploring his cleaned cage
Snake infinity shape

His favorite hide is getting a bit small for this big boy. When he is about to shed, he likes to have a wet wash cloth in the hide with him. He and the bit of towel no longer fit together without knocking the lid off. Hm. This is the largest cast resin hide with lid that we have been able to find on the market. We did find a large rectangular hide, but he has decided it is his bathroom. So now the creative neural paths need to engage and try something new. I will post on progress.