Spine envy

Now, back to our regular programming...


May I introduce Spinosaurus.


This is yet another dinosaur from Patons Dinosaur book. Again I took liberties with the pattern where I could (mostly converting flat pieces to round ones).

Observations:
-This is likely the most complex of the dinosaurs I've knitted thus far. Maybe that's why it took me so long.
-Making him incorporated many of the skills learned from the other dinos. Like what? Well, the fin is felted, this guy needed claws and I had to make teeth.
-The spine? Let me tell you about the spine. I actually knit 3 of them?! The first was a prototype to see if it could be done, then another that should have fit the dino (but it was way too small), and then finally a third much larger one. I did not want spino to have a wimpy small fin and have his dino friends mock him.
Specs:
yarn: acrylic of various colors and Patons merino for spine
needles: US3 for everything except for the fin. US9 for spine
started: September, 2007
finished October 26, 2007
fiddly pieces sewn together: 23


fin: The fin was knitted flat to achieve an oval shape. CO12 stitches, changed color every 2 rows, increased every row 1st and last stitch w/ M1 until 4 rows, then increase every 2 rows until 11th row, then no increase for 8 rows, then decrease (to match increase). The piece was folded over, seamed and then felted.


Okay, one final shot. Yes, Spino's a carnivore, but this cedar tree looks pretty good...

Why don't we just patent genes...oh, we do that already.

This post is in response to the post I deleted.

***

I was asked by the lawyers of Giant Microbes to remove all indications of knitted toys (microorganisms) because I called them Macro Microbes. The lawyers of Giant Microbes hunted me down and sent me an email telling me that this infringed on their rights and asked that I cease and desist.

I did not make the toys to sell, nor did I design the pattern to sell. Furthermore, as a scientist with small children, it's not a stretch of the imagination that I would knit microorganisms. I did get inspiration from their product, and I credited them with that, but they wanted me to remove it, so I did.

Anyway, it's not worth it. I did not hotlink their pictures, and the microscopy pictures I used to identify the beasties were from the intarweb.

I'm still a bit confused tho'. I can see that Macro Microbes might appear too close to Giant Microbes, but does that mean that their company cornered the market on any microorganisms made into toys!? The knitted items are my patterns, can I share them so long as I don't use the Macro Microbe term?

Mr. Lawyer, I know you've come back to my site to check that I've deleted the post. Could you leave a comment here and let me know? Thanks.

Others should feel free to leave a comment here too.

Frosted Fern Finished

This is also known as 'Oakey Dokey' on the Niebling yahoo group. After much knitting, especially the alternate border,I finally finished. Here's the specs on this doily.Start date: Sept 30, 2007
Finish date: Oct 20, 1007
yarn: Cebelia #30 in Ecru T
needles: 2mm dpns and 2mm Inox circs

Observations:
Many thanks goes to Priscilla on the Niebling Yahoo group. Without her charting it, I would not have knitted this beauty. That sea of words was way too daunting.

*This is the not yet completely blocked shot. See the edging. It's actually very beautiful. But it started drying out before I was done, so I pulled it to take a picture of it.

I love Niebling patterns.

I will cast on for another one after I finish Campanile and Spino. Actually, I promised Z that I sould make him his dino first, so that's what I'll try to do (at least while he's awake).

Oregon

I just got back from our (now yearly) week long vacation up to Oregon.

Why Oregon? Well, it's a lovely place to visit --I hated living there, but that had more to do with the miserable life of a grad student, and not so much to do with the state itself. It's a beautiful place to visit.

I must say that it's gotten a little more diverse since I lived there. When I first moved there in 1990, I couldn't figure out what was weird about the place, something was just a bit off --being from SoCal didn't help. Then one of my friends pointed out to me that there were no 'people of color'...and you might think I'm exaggerating, but seriously, it was the land of Caucasian. Hippy Caucasian, true, with all the rainbow colors only to be found on tattoos and tied dyed clothes.

Anyway, it's gotten much better there now. A little. What other changes? Well lots. There's several malls and even a PF Chang in Tracktown. We drove by the house my friend owned when she was a grad student. She sold it before she left town, but the funniest thing was that she bought the house (with a rentable detached room) for a mere $20K. Even back then, that was the cost of a midsized car. A car. She bought a house for the price of a car. I'm afraid how much the house is worth now.

Yarn shops? I was only able to break away for a little bit to go visit the famed Ben Franklin in Springfield. But that was fun. A Ben Franklin, you say?! Well, this one had Noro, Addi lace turbos, and even cashmere. I got a couple of hanks of yarn (it's a pink color for A), the Knitted Babes book, and several balls of Cebelia only because there's no sales tax.

Once in Portland, I wasn't able to get to any shops. Oh, well. Next time.

So, knitting. I worked on Oakey Dokey, got stuck on the end part, put that away, and worked on a top down cardi (boring but good on windy roads).I also started on Sarcelle. This is with red cashmere that I got in a destash sale. It's a pretty color. The pattern? Well, I'm not a big fan of purling e-cast on stitches. That's a pain. But it's turning out nicely, easy to remember, so I'll keep working on that one.

I also brought Forest Path, but unfortunately, that did not get worked on.

Oh, the weather? It was supposed to be raining the whole time we were traveling, but we were super lucky. We had a bit of sprinkling for a little bit one day. But on our way home, this is what it looked like (picture from moving car in pouring rain).

Oakey Dokey progress

What am I doing? My list of WIPs just keep getting longer and longer. Anyway, I've joined the yahoo Niebling group KAL for Frosted Ferns --which they've renamed Okey Dokey since it's supposed to be like Oak, except that something might have happened during translation and so...

Started September 30, 2007
needles: Inox 2mm
yarn: Cebelia #30

I started it Anyway, here's my progress. I had to stop to work on the present this week, but this was great to pick up after knitting a lot of stockinette.

L is for Library

Took A to the library this last weekend and met fellow knitter Renaissance Woman for a bit of knitting. I was hoping that A would decide to fall asleep on the way there, or at least while there, but no go. I did manage to get in about an hour of knitting (mostly untangling) on my take-around project (top down cardi).

It was very pleasant to sit and knit and chat a bit. I hope to be able to make it on a more regular basis. Not that I need more knit nights...On our island, there is now Monday night at Julie's (I go to), Tuesday night at Xtown, Thursday night Alameda Yarn Co., Friday night craft night at Julies, and now Sunday afternoons at the library. I only go to one knitting group a week, but I might make that 2 a week if Sundays continues.

Oh, the group is set up by Renaissance Woman on Ravelry.