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

Knit Hexagons

I have this thing where I don't buy knitting or crocheting patterns.  I don't understand why I should pay for one when there are so many amazing patterns for free on the internet.  I get really irritated when I find an adorable picture, click on it, and find out they want me to pay $5 for it on Etsy or Ravelry.  It usually ends up in a little bit of cursing like a sailor as I attempt to peruse the World Wide Web for a comparable version that's free. And 9 times out of 10 I find one.  Or at least one I can alter enough to make it work.

It's not just that I'm cheap.  And for Pete's sake I'm in graduate school and am living off of loan money so I seriously need to be cheap. It's also that I don't understand why a PDF should cost that much money.

Those 1 out of 10 times when there is no better alternative I get super disappointed.  But I haven't given in yet and I am damn stubborn, so I'm thinking I'll hold out until my pattern-making skills catch up to my desires.  My inner biologist is obsessed with realistic animal stuffed animals (like this iguana) on PlanetJune and by jove one day I will make my own.

Just this week I was riding home from school and sat next to a lady knitting something itty bitty, so I asked what she was making.  She told me all about these little stuffed hexagons (or "hexipuffs") she was making from scraps and how they very neatly get put together to make a puffy little quilt.  I have tons of scraps! and I love projects I can do in class or on the train! Perfect!


But then I came home and found it on Ravelry and realized that the very cute Beekeeper's Quilt pattern costs $5.50.  I got very grumpy and spent two days mulling over whether it was worth buying it.  Was this pattern really worth caving in for?  And seriously, over $5?!  It's very small and simple.  Plus from what I read on the few blog posts I read (there are hundreds) many people ended up modifying the cast on, the increase/decrease, or the bind off.  I'm definitely not paying it if I'm going to have to change it anyways.

So my decision was made- I was going to make it up.  And if I'm  making it up then I can change it!  So I made mine a little bigger so that I can make fewer of them. Because 450 of those little buggers for just a lap blanket is insanity.  It should be easily changeable for those who want to make it smaller or bigger.