Knitted Lab Rat!
Oh, the ratmanity! Yep. This knitted, dissected rat is now up for sale in my shop with a pattern to follow. Please to enjoy:
Check out the whiskers!
And the pink paw pads.
I Bet I’m Delicious!
Alright, alright…I know it’s been over a month since I posted anything, and I’m really only surfacing to share this awesome link, and I do apologize. I’ve got a couple of actual posts lurking around in my (delicious and nutritious) head, and I’ll get to them soon, I swear. But right now, my (savory) mind is too mushy to formulate anything worthwhile. In the meantime, why not discover how many poor, hungry cannibals you could feed!
Created by OnePlusYou
Tricot Machine
This animated music video from Montreal based band, Tricot Machine, has left me almost speechless. Wow. Over 700 individual knitted scenes — that is some serious commitment to the craft!
Via Craft
Dead Frogs are Taking Over the World!
Bwa ha ha ha! My knitterly plans for world domination are coming to fruition! Here is a photo sent to me by Xtreme-Lee Originals of her recently completed frog — awesome!
Look What teh Interwebs Gave to Me!
The internet washed up two wonderful items today; neither one has anything to do with the other, but I’m presenting them in the same post…Don’t ask me why.
First — Will Chuck Norris blend? (On a related note, go to Google’s homepage, type in the phrase “Find Chuck Norris” and then hit “I feel lucky.”)
The second piece of greatness from the internets is a goose-bump-inducing, eyes-welling-up-with-tears music video that is currently making the internet rounds like mad — and I couldn’t be happier about it. It is Barack Obama’s New Hampshire victory speech set to music by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, and it is stunningly peotic and powerful. Sure, it doesn’t explain his stance on policy, but if you want to find that out his website is a great place to start. This is something else. It is a reminder, to me anyway, of why this country is a great place to live, and how horribly arwy it has all gone in the last seven years. I am desperate to get back to a feeling of hope and pride. Given that I believe that the two Democratic contenders for the nomination are both competent and intelligent, I’m going to have to vote for the one who makes me feel something that I’ve been missing for a loooong time — optimism.
Here is a link to the original which looks and sounds great, but if you’re in a rush, you can watch the YouTube version below:
This incredible poster was created by the genius behind the “Obey Giant” phenomenon. Sadly, it was a limited edition print that sold out within minutes of its release, with no plans to print more, BUT — he has made the image available or free download here. You obviously can’t use it for commercial purposes, but if you can afford the printer ink or the Kinko’s tab, you should print some out and plaster your neighborhood with them over the weekend (do it before Feb. 5th if you’re in a Super Tuesday state, or March 4th if you’re in Vermont!). And just in case all of that has been too subtle, I thought I’d let you know that I quite like Barack Obama.
I’ve Got Some Knitting To Do…
I can’t even believe what a surprising day this has been. Remember my knit art dissected frog? Well, it got picked up yesterday by neatorama, and today by Boing Boing and Make! I have a growing waiting list for these babies, and somehow I need to read 57 pages on the history of the English language, study for a German quiz on Friday, do tonight’s crossword puzzle with my husband, and work full-time. The extreme happiness I’m currently feeling is being tempered with a large dose of panic.
Update: It also just got picked up by Craft!
HAPPY!
Holy Crap — I made it onto Etsy’s front page twice today! Here’s proof:
That’s my Strippey Blobby Bunny in the top right corner!
That’s my Froschkönig in the top center! Hooray!
My First Handspun!
For Christmas my sister got me a beautiful top whorl spindle with a pound of the softest wool roving, plus some extra wool for practice. I’ve tried spinning once before with a bottom whorl spindle and the results were pretty dismal. This was easier, and I’m really happy with the results! I need a lot more practice before I’ll feel confident enough to try spinning my really nice wool, but I feel like I’ve kind of got the gist of it — thanks, Jen!
**UPDATE**
I couldn’t go to bed without knitting up my new handspun!
Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor
Therem also showed me this at our Christmas party, but I couldn’t just lump it in with the previous post — it deserves nothing less than a post of its own. (Also gleaned from the comments of Making Light). P.S. If you don’t feel like reading through the Anglo Saxon, skip to the end and read the re-translation from AS back into modern English — who knew that Rudolph could sound so epic?
Incipiunt gesta Rudolphi rangiferi tarandi
by Philip C. Chapman-Bell
Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor –
Næfde þæt nieten unsciende næsðyrlas!
Glitenode and gladode godlice nosgrisele.
Ða hofberendas mid huscwordum hine gehefigodon;
Nolden þa geneatas Hrodulf næftig
To gomene hraniscum geador ætsomne.
Þa in Cristesmæsseæfne stormigum clommum,
Halga Claus þæt gemunde to him maðelode:
“Neahfreond nihteage nosubeorhtende!
Min hroden hrædwæn gelæd ðu, Hrodulf!
“Ða gelufodon hira laddeor þa lyftflogan –
Wæs glædnes and gliwdream; hornede sum gegieddode”
Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor,
Brad springð þin blæd: breme eart þu!”
In modern English:
Hrodulf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer –
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
The goodly nose-cartilage glittered and glowed.
The hoof-bearers taunted him with proud words;
The comrades wouldn’t allow wretched Hrodulf
To join the reindeer games.
Then, on Christmas Eve, bound in storms
Santa Claus remembered that, spoke formally to him:
“Dear night-sighted friend, nose-bright one!
You, Hrodulf, shall lead my adorned rapid-wagon!”
Then the sky-flyers praised their lead-deer –
There was gladness and music; one of the horned ones sang”
Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer,
Your fame spreads broadly, you are renowned!”
Knitting. Reading. School. Work. 
