Background
The project has a bit of a backstory. A few years ago, I made a hollow stump cat cave for Seamus, who could never pass up exploring a hole in a log or stump (or wall, or pretty much anything!). He loved it.

Fast-forward a few years to Jacques, the not-quite-feral, unadoptable cat who came to me after Seamus died. He was a bit traumatised and was terrified of anything even remotely cage-like that might contain him. He wanted nothing to do with the cat cave.

So eventually I gave it to PhiltheCat, one of Jacques’ favourite librarians. She had adopted and/or rescued multiple hard-to-place black cats, and had a lovely black clowder, including Maya, the rescued library kitten.

And then, Jacques’ other favourite librarian started cat-sitting him whenever I needed to travel. She is one of his all-time favourite people, and he is very happy to go visit her. I asked if she would like me to pay her with money or custom-knit something of her choice. She asked if I could possibly knit a scarf version of Seamus’s cat cave.

So that is what I will attempt - to make a tree trunk scarf that is full of forest life, while still being a wearable scarf. Some yarns will be handspun, and some commercial. Most will be hand-dyed to purpose. It will be an interesting challenge.

Possible things to include:

• yellow mushrooms - Pholiota aurivella

• fly agaric mushrooms - doesn’t really grow on trees, but when I asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted on the scarf, she mentioned it

• chicken of the woods? might just look messy

• wild cucumber vines with flowers

• head of squirrel in hole (with acorn)

• luna moth

• rosy maple moth

• spring azure butterfly

• snake?

• mouse?

• blueberry bush

• adventitious twig with leaves beech sapling instead

• flowers of some sort?

• moss?

• ferns