Lions and Tigers, oh my!

I thought we'd never find our way out of that room!  Even at 8:00 last night, we were busy putting the kids beds back together and getting toys sorted out.  With as much as we accomplished, I've come to an executive and design decision.

Never again -- ever again! -- will I trim a blanket in fun fur!

We are a family devoid of pets.  No cats, no dogs.  No birds, no fish.  No gerbils, no lizards.  Nope, nadda one pet.

But seeing us in public, one might think we had a lion!

You see, it all started last winter with an argument over a flannel wrap I crocheted the fur onto.  My son liked the way it felt and kept taking it and using it as his blankie.  I, on the other hand, would have to go on Mission Impossible, including tip toeing (which is a physically painful for me) to get it back while he was alseep.

To solve the problem I bought a fleece panel from the local fabric store.  He loved it and swore he'd only use this as his blanket if I crocheted the fur on.  After all, it was a panel of lions and tigers, and adding fur DID seem like the logical thing to do.

But never owning a lion or tiger in my life, I had no idea how much those things shed in real life, never mind in imaginary life.

And that's the problem here.  The fur is not holding.  It's coming off -- sheding off! -- the blanket and is EVERYWHERE!  It's on clothing.  It's on furniture.  It's imbedded into the carpeting.  It's just Everywhere!  While looking at my vacuum cleaner, and in my best Scotty voice I said to my husband, "I don't think it can take the strain, Jim!"

So I threw this blanket back into the wash -- and between the washing and drying cycles more of the fur was removed.

The blanket edging doesn't look at glorious as it once did, but at least I now know that I learned a valuable lesson. Don't put fur on a blanket!

A Side Note:  Most people forget visiting the zoo during the winter.  If you click onto the tiger image here, it will lead you to the Bronx Zoo.  For my family, visiting in the winter is awesome.  There's no bugs, no crowds.  You can actually stand the heat in the reptile and bird buildings without passing out.  AND ... it's a time to see animals that love the cold really get active.  One year we went and actually got to see Snow Leapards playing in the snow!  :)