Finished crocheted squirrel ... also a winner
This is my favourite photo of the squirrel I designed and crocheted. As squirrels move so fast I feel the blurred focus is great. Also you can’t see the lack of subtlety in the wispy bits of wool when blurred.
Locally there’s been a project to re introduce red squirrels because they’re the native ones and the currently more common grey squirrels were introduced and are taking over. The (poor) grey squirrels get a really bad press : they’re pushy and will drive away the native ones into extinction. I call it natural selection, but I’m no ecologist so I will leave that to the professionals.
As part of the local village fair there was one competition category that also caught me eye as I could enter it, namely ‘crocheted animal’ and immediately thought of making a red squirrel. You can see the links to a couple of other posts I’ve written about its gestation process at the bottom of this post.
I have included photos of part of the creation process below. My favourite part was thinking of ways to shape the pieces just by increasing and decreasing stitches.
It was a long creative and fulfilling process. It wasn’t easy though, particularly trying to come up with ways to make and attach the arms, tail and legs while hoping it would stand unaided. It was hard also because it all looked too smooth and I wanted it to be fluffy. I appreciate I should have used ‘mohair’ wool instead and I may well investigate that when I make another one - I bought the yarn from the local yarn shop.
I will write up the pattern soon and perhaps I will make a companion grey squirrel just to show they are equal : just animals in crisis due to human intervention.
There is icing on the cake here too - just like in yesterday’s post. This time I came second in the contest - it is encouraging to have one's efforts appreciated.
Here are my other posts on the crocheted red squirrel :
- https://steemit.com/crochet/@cryptocariad/crocheted-sketches-and-forever-knitting-
- https://steemit.com/needleworkmonday/@cryptocariad/crocheting-a-head--progress
all photos and original work by @cryptocariad
Hope you get more red squirrels in your area. We have alot of grey and brown squirrels in Georgia. They can be a problem when they move into the attic and walls in the winter to stay warm. They also eat my peaches and fruits.
Thanks, @solominer. Here the grey ones have often chewed through cable (including broadband cable) so we have had a few downtimes and visits by the engineers...
Wow! Congrats! Your squirrel is Crochetastic!!!
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Thank you, @jurich60 ! It was fun to make.
I love your squirrel! They're so cute! You totally deserved a win in the contest, congrats on getting second! :)
Thank you, @phoenixwren. I did feel very happy when I saw the certificate next to it :D
Lovely to see the red squirrel finished @cryptocariad. Glad to hear you enjoyed making it so much you did a great job! 😁
Thank you, @gillianpearce :D
Again, here I am! Beautiful squirrel I might say. :)
You got a plankton sized upvote from @worksinsane because I wanted to revisit you!
During the last 64 days in the life of @worksinsane, your post appeared in the We Curate quality post search tool. Now I decided to come back and I've also included you in my latest post: https://steemit.com/wecurate/@worksinsane/we-curate-10-2-revisited
Thank you so much for your continued support, @workinsane. I appreciate it :D
I love the "action" shot of your squirrel :) in California the most common squirrels are ground squirrels. I am excited to see any tree squirrels but only the greys live in my area. I remember red squirrels growing up in the US Midwest. I am going to Google a little to see if they are declining.
Thank you, @steven-patrick. As far as I understand the red squirrel population is also declining because it's quite particular about what it eats...
Ok I googled the squirrel situation in the US haha. The grey squirrels in California are Douglas Squirrels and there are no red squirrels here. The red squirrels I remember from my youth are American Red Squirrels. Different than your red squirrels. And doing fine apparently :)
Thank you for the additional information, @steven-patrick - good to know that at least some red squirrels are doing fine :D
what a pretty little woodland friend!
Thank you, @basilmarples !
Que lindo!!! Adorei! Parabéns pelo trabalho tão lindo!
Obrigada, @cleateles - você fez algum crochê recentemente?
Your squirrel is very handsome :D The village fair sounds fun, the committee had a good time coming up with competitions. There is a red squirrel colony up near Hightown in Merseyside, one of the few I think. They live in pine trees.
That's great to hear @shanibeer. I hope they are thriving. I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild in this country.
They are very shy @gillianpearce, I've never seen one close up.
The village also organises other activities - the people are brilliant!
there's a 'corridor' for red squirrels and some have been spotted in Brechfa and higher in the mountain - if I ever see one, I will feel lucky :D
Very cute squirrel * __ * Love the progress shots, also <3
Would love to see a grey squirrel companion to this squirrel please ! o yes !
Thank you, @veryspider... It does need a friendly companion - I shall make one :D as a way of writing down the pattern.