Monday, April 30, 2007

Who put the octopus in Octopus Knits?

I did, I did!

You may have been wondering why in the world my blog is called "Octopus Knits." Behold, the octopus -- he is finished:

o2

OCTOPUS (my own design)
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock "Seaside" (215 yds per skein) less than 1 skein
Knitpicks Bare Superwash/Nylon Fingering Weight (462 yds per skein) less than 1/4 of a skein
US 2 double pointed needles (Susan Bates, Quicksilver)

You see, it all started with a frog:

froggy

This little guy comes with magnets in his feet, making him a great cat toy/torture device. My ever creative husband suggested I knit a similarly outfitted octopus. His thought was more legs = more feline fun, no? Additionally, this would be a blue ringed octopus because, well, because we thought it would be neat.

o1

The octopus's limp legs sat on stitch holders for, oh, a month or two, while I considered how to make his body. Then there were the issues with the magnets I ordered. They were so tiny and strong that they just slipped right between the stitches when I tried to stick two feet together. I ended up doing a bunch of additional stitching around the magnets, which holds them in nicely but significantly diminishes their power (the cats probably prefer this anyway). Here are some shots of the octopus in action.

Taking a break from reading the Yarn Harlot's latest book:
o3

Stalking Bug:
o4

Attack!
o-bug2 o-bug

Accosting Moana:
o-moana2 o-moana

As you can see, we are easily entertained here at chez octopus.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Those pictures are hilarious...what a great design!!

Stephanie said...

those kitty's expressions just make me laugh, what a cute thing to knit!

your yarn for the clapotis is a great choice, too!

Octopus Knits said...

Thanks, Stephanie!

alligator said...

Haha, that is awesome! Your cats look like they really appreciate it too.

Anonymous said...

I came to your blog from a comment you left on Grumperina's, and I LOVE the octopus! I just love it. That's maybe the coolest thing I've seen all day!

mjm knitting said...

I love the octopus, but the frog is fantastic.