The scrap cats are nearly done.

There are still twelve ears and five tails to be crocheted as well as six faces to be embroidered.

After that is done, the six cat bodies will need to be stuffed, their top seams seamed, and the ears and tails attached.

Then they will will be done, and I will have crocheted a rainbow pounce of scrap yarn cats.

But that is a look into the future, and like so many, I am constrained by the physics of time and must live in the present, and that present looks a little bit different that the future I outlined.

Today, shortly before it was time to take my dog on his late afternoon walk, I finished crocheting the body of the eighth and (what will be for me) final scrap cat:

I have loved making each and every one of these cats, but I am beginning to near one of my stated goals of this project: using most of the shorter (under 8″) yarn scraps that I have.

It has not been a quick process. The scraps had to be assembled, the ends had to be tied, and then the cats themselves needed to be crocheted.

I made many mistakes along the way. I frogged a round here and a round there, I recrocheted as needed, and while this pounce of cats has expanded to fill two months, the fact it is, it is now nearing then end.

Because when I finish these cats I will be keeping only one, I photographed the as yet unfinished scrap cats in a variety of poses.

First, I lined them up in two rows of three cats each:

Next I arranged them in one row:

Then, I put them in a circle:

And finally, I arranged them in a scrap cat pile:

I will miss the cats when they are finished, and I will miss them more when they are gone to their new homes, but the lesson I learned about using what I have and transforming what would otherwise be crafting flotsam into a truly marvelous crochet object is one that will stay with me long after the cats are gone.