The world is not flat

Priest likes yarn. Which would be fine, except now I have to figure out how to protect my knitting and crocheting projects when he has free reign in the house. I confirmed this yesterday, when I brought down a skein of black yarn and he picked it up and took it to his Xpen as a toy. I had an inkling of his yarn fetish earlier, as he was inordinately fascinated by my knitting and crocheting, but this just confirmed it. Alas, it's string. He can't have string to play with and eat. I'll just have to figure out how best to keep him safe from it.

I brought down the black yarn to stitch eyes onto my turtlephant. Turtlephant, you say? What's a turtlephant?



This, my friends, is a turtlephant. It is, in fact, the first non-flat thing I've ever crafted from yarn. (Waits for the chorus of 'Oooooo's) It's supposed to look like this:



I can't for the life of me find the safety eyes the pattern calls for, and not for lack of trying, both in Calgary and Edmonton. I think the fasteners probably have a large part to do with shaping the beast. But I'll persevere. It will be finished, even if with stitched on eyes and stuffed with cotton balls...

This is also the third time I've tried to make the darn thing. I had this brilliant idea in November to make a cute little fluffy pink elephant for Karen H for Christmas (inside joke, but it would have been great!). I went out and bought yarn. Learned how to magic-circle. Did two rows. Gave up. The yarn was too fluffy, and I couldn't see the stitches. Whatever else, in crochet, you have to see the stitches. Went out and bought another skein of pink yarn, less fluffy. Magic circled. Got through three rows. Same thing. Just too fluffy. Then Christmas craziness was upon me and I shelved the idea. I'd find a knitted elephant pattern for the too-fluffy-to-crochet yarn. But now it was a battle of wills between myself and the pattern. Went and got some leftover gray from the Harry Potter scarves, and started again this week. And got a turtlephant.

Looks may improve once the ears are stitched on and it's stuffed. I did rescue my black yarn from Priest and stitched some eyes on it. Now it just looks... odd. More elephanty than turtley, but still not quite... right. Ah well. I will post a picture when it's done. Whatever else, this experience has taught me that not all threadwork needs be flat (or variations thereof), and not flat is not really that hard. A whole new world has opened. We'll see where it takes me.