Knit Octopus Squid (Octopoteuthis deletron)

So I mentioned on my American flag post that I'm in the process of working on a new series of knit and crocheted items that are distinctly American.  And finally I am posting about my very first animal!

This is the octopus squid.  And no, I'm not confusing those terms- that's it's real name.  It's also called the oceanic squid, or more technically Octopoteuthis deletron. Now ringing a bell?  Well this little marvel has even graced the Huffington Post and New York Times, so it's kind of a big deal.

These little charmers live between 400 and 800 meters down in the Pacific Ocean and has been found off the coast of the U.S. from California to Alaska.  Because of how rarely one octopus squid floats past another octopus squid they have the funny reproductive tactic of attaching sperm packets to any octopus squid they come across- male or female.

courtesy of MBARI

Octopus squids can grow up to 24 cm, or about 9 inches long.  They have 8 legs- each with a strong hook and photophores at the end.  Photophores are organs that emit light, usually in deep sea animals.  Their photophores have a shutter that opens and closes when muscles contract, making it give off a flashing light (you can watch it here). If you're interested in learning more about bioluminescence, the Field Museum in Chicago has an exhibit called Creatures of Light going on now through January 2014.  It's geared towards younger people, but fascinating for all ages, in my humble opinion. Who doesn't love fireflies?!

courtesy of MBARI

Getting back to the subject at hand, these squids are also notable for their defensive behavior called "attack autonomy".  When attacked, the sink one of those hooks I mentioned above into their attacker and shoot off in a puff of ink, leaving their leg behind.  The leg even continues to glow and twitch after it detaches, presumably to keep the attacker's attention while the squid zooms away safely.  Although you might have heard of a similar tactic employed in lizard tails, octopus squids are pretty special for being the ONLY squid that does this!  Take a look:

credit to Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

This squid leaves two legs behind on the brush- that large one on the front of the bristle, and the small one you see swimming around at the end.  The yellow-ish cloud that comes up after ti's escape is it's ink.

So now that you're totally intrigued in the fascinating O. deletron, here's the little one I created:

the full portrait

 the head shot

American Flag Blanket

This project has been underway for a little while, but Memorial Day seems a good day as any to finally post it.

In art, I sometimes would pick a theme and create pieces within it. It gave me an opportunity to explore a concept from a few different angles and experiment with new things.  After my recent post about how my work might as well be art, I figured why not pursue it like art?  I got out my sketchbook and started brainstorming some new projects.  My plan is to create a mini portfolio of projects and hopefully start selling some, so why not create a little series?

I've been wanting to make an American flag blanket for a little while now, and I had all the yarn already, so that seemed like the perfect focal piece.  From there, I started working on some ideas with sports teams that fell flat, and then ended up at stuffed animals.  As a biologist, I loved ecology best- studying animals, ecosystems, and how interrelated nature can be.  I especially love insects.  My personal faves are dung beetles and safari ants.  One of my favorite quotes is by biologist J.B.S. Haldane, who said that "if He exists, God has an inordinate fondness for beetles".  There are over 300,000 different species of beetles on Earth (in comparison, there are only 10,000 species of mammals).  So at least the big dude in the sky and I have our love of beetles in common.  

I started my stuffed animals with two very large (probably a foot and a half long and wide) dragon flies.  Green Darners, to be precise.  A male and female with as accurate coloration and proportions as can be expected with yarn and a crochet hook. I also just finished up an octopus squid (octopoteuthis deletron) that is super adorable, and will hopefully be posted on soon.  Both of these species are native to America.  I'll fill in some more information on them once they're done, but suffice it to say- they're sweet.  Next up:  giant carrion beetle. 

Before I get more distracted, here's the blanket:

I tried to make the sides as wavy as the ripples- as if it was actually blowing in the wind.  Plus it's less boring than a flat one.

I made my ripples by doing 8 stitches, increase one, 4 stitches, increase one, 8 stitches, decrease one, 4 stitches, decrease one. Every other row was sc across to keep it from bubbling up.

For the blue section I followed the ripple pattern with blue yarn, and added the stars afterwards.  I just embroidered them with a tapestry needle as if I was drawing a star.

There actually are 50 start, all in the same pattern as they are on the real thing.

And then for some pictures with my obligatory model- Oy the American Pit Bull Terrier.  He even has his matching flag collar on today!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Remember that while you're out spending time with family and friends it's important to honor those in the armed services.  

We're the real deal, baby!

So I am very very pleased to announce that I will be making my very first commissioned work!  A very sweet little bitty baby in New York City will soon be the recipient of an American flag baby blanket of my creation.

  still a work in progress!

Hopefully this is the first of many projects that can help to bring in a little bit of extra funds to our humble little household.