It Seemed A Good Idea At The Time...

I've been working on this blanket for weeks now - I bought some gorgeous cheap yarn cakes and thought I'd try something different from the usual granny square throws that I've been making.  This is a very simple stitch to do, but as it is in dc (sc for the US) it takes forever!  It also eats yarn, so I have had to buy some more yarn cakes in order for this to be a blanket of a decent size.  It might be finished round about 2022...
 

Otis...

 I have painted many trinket boxes with a picture of Otis in his 'office' but have used the same reference photo every time.  This year I decided to update it a little, although the pose is pretty much the same because...well, that's what Otis is best known for!  This year he showed up a month later than usual and incredibly thin - as he is an old bear, most people thought he had gone to the great fishing ground in the sky, but no, he was just waiting for the late salmon run to begin.  Since then he has eaten goodness knows how many fish and put on weight paw over fist and now looks fat and ready for hibernation.  So I used a snap I took on the Explore.org web cams of him this year, fishing in his favourite spot and looking nice and fat.

I'm very pleased with how this one has turned out - I have spent the weekend putting on lots of layers off varnish and now the box just needs lining with some fishy fabric.  This box is spoken for already - it will be one of the prizes in the Travel Guide summer competition, but I will be painting another one fairly soon.