Hi folks.
I'm not sure if you remember, but there was a news story a few months back about 'Vampyroteuthis infernalis' - I think biologists had managed to video one in the wild for the first time, but I'm not sure. It's name means literally "Vampire squid from hell", which is quite a name to live up to.
I found a video of this on YouTube(I'm not sure if this is the footage everyone was excited about?):
Squid video
But I for one think this is an awesome, awesome creature. It has a funky oxygen-gathering 'cloak', it does nifty bioluminescence tricks to confuse predators, and when threatened it can even turn itself inside out.
Then last night a friend was asking about ways to knit purses. Or course you can sew in zips and other fasteners to make good safe seals, but I was wondering about the little bags banks give you for putting coins in - they manage to seal quite securely without any extra pieces. And they do it by turning inside out(sort of).
So that's the idea for this project - to make a small knitted purse in the shape of a vampire squid, which you secure by turning inside out. I made some preliminary sketches of this and it seems quite plausible - the body will be a pouch with an opening towards the bottom, then the cloak will fold over to cover the body and fasten with a drawstring.
One of the things that really appeals to me about this(other than being able to tell people I'm knitting a vampire squid from hell, of course) is that most of the time the squid would be in it's inside out form, so you won't be able to see what it is. I kind of like how that reverses the ideas of 'right' and 'wrong' sides.
Then I'll just need to find someone who would like a vampire squid purse...
Happy knitting!
Hugh.
5 comments:
You are fast becoming my fount of knowledge for all creatures weird and wonderful. First the miniature deer and now these...
Wouldn't it be easier to knit a miniature deer? :p
Heh, I'm sure I showed you this one already? I think that was when I decided I wanted to knit one too.
Speaking of which, did you come across the story about the Hypnotoad?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1203381667/html/1.stm
He's so cute :o)
Oh yes, the giant toad! I think you may have shown me the vampire squid already, yes, but it was still you who drew my attention to the existence of these creatures in the first place ;)
I dare you to knit a giant toad by the way....it could become a footrest or something :p
vampyromorpha! my favorite! is it possible to get your pattern? I promise to send you a picture of the finished cephalopurse.
Oh, I'd love to!
The main reason I didn't post a pattern of this was because I wasn't entirely happy with how the cloak came out - I used a hugely over-complicated system of cables to make the tentacles, and decided with hindsight it would've been better to just use reverse stocking stitch for these bits. I was intending to knit another version that way and then write up a pattern, but lost track of it.
So, options - if you remind me I'll knit up the revised version and send you the finished pattern. Or you could test knit the revised version for me, or I if you like it the way it is I could send you the current pattern and see if you can cope with my reckless misuse of cables?
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