A Very Tall Order...

This giraffe knitted from a pattern in the book Knit Your Own Zoo is finally finished.  I am not happy.  I have quite a beef with these 'Best in Show' books.  Whilst most of the creatures look pretty good and I can appreciate the work that has gone into writing the patterns - some of the shaping is excellent - the making up instructions are incomprehensible.  It did say at the start of the giraffe pattern that it was complicated and indeed, the knitting part took a fair bit of concentration, but that's OK, I am willing to put the work in for a spectacular result.  However, I do not expect the sewing up and stuffing to take FOUR evenings!  Not because I am a slow worker, but because I just could not make head nor tail (literally!!) of the written instructions.

When it comes to something like a giraffe, a diagram would have been helpful.  I'm writing as a knitting designer myself - over the past three years I have designed and knitted many assorted creatures, from a slug to a caterpillar, bluetit to a thrush, cats, dogs, pigs, hedgehogs, squirrels, plus various animal heads for mascot scarves.  So I know my way around a pattern!  When I write a pattern, I try and make it 'idiot proof' - which translates as possible for even an inexperienced knitter to follow.

This isn't the first time I have had issues with these patterns - in the Knit Your Own Dog book, I found the sewing instructions for the bulldog totally incomprehensible and resorted to making it up as I went along.  I even had a couple of people email me asking for help as they couldn't make it work either.

I don't know if these patterns are given to knitters to try out before they are asembled into a book - if not, they really should be in order to iron out any kinks.  I feel for the poor person who thinks they would like to knit themselves an animal but cannot complete it and gets thoroughly disappointed.

Let's not go into the whole leg issue on the giraffe - poor thing not only has a pair of pipe cleaners down there, but souvlaki sticks as well to prevent the onset of woolly rickets.

I also felt that a few of the animals in the Zoo book were rushed in design - they did not look as good as they could have done - if you check out the chimpanzee you'll see what I mean.  I don't enjoy being harsh about someone else's work when they have obviously put a lot of time and effort into it, but I always feel if you do something, do it well.

Rant over....now how the hell do I make wings for a thrush that fold naturlly and don't look like he's wearing a greatcoat?

When's The Best Time To Go To The Zoo?

The weather forecast for this weekend was abysmal - rain and more rain.  Despite this, we decided last night that we would chance a day at the zoo today. It was clear skies at home, but as we drove to Marwell Zoo, the heavens opened and everywhere was flooded.  However, as we pulled into the carpark, the rain eased off to a light drizzle and we picked our way through the mud and puddles and had the best day at the zoo I think I have ever had.

Some of the animals preferred to stay snuggled up indoors, but the majority were outside and the best part was, we just about had the place to ourselves!  There were some places where we were the only people, no-one else in sight.

My camera perfomed well today - I got some great reference shots.  As well as some unexpected bonuses:

A crow photobombing!

Do you ever wonder where pigeons nest?  This one has found a lovely spot.

The zebras were curious and friendly today without hordes of people passing by.

Unfortunately, it was so quiet that my favourite animal and the reason I wanted to go to Marwell, the snow leopard, could not be bothered to wake up. Oh well, you can't have everything!

I managed to get some sketching done in the giraffe house too - usually it's impossible with lots of people jostling for a view.

So a good time had by all, and well worth taking the chance.

I Think We Got Away With It!

Every year the Year 1 class trip to Marwell Zoo is scheduled for January - I always feel that's a bit of a risk to take with the British weather being what it is.  Our first date had to be cancelled due to snow, then it was re-booked for today.  I've been watching the weather reports with great trepidation as heavy rain was predicted since last week and the forecast didn't change.  The idea of traipsing round a deserted zoo with 90 wet and miserable children was not appealing....

However, the weather gods smiled on us today - it was damp and a bit drizzly, but we managed to stay dry and most of the animals were out.  I got quite a few reference photographs - these will be put in the 'future paintings' folder.

We were subject to time constraints so didn't manage to see everything, but it was still pretty good.

My favourite animals were willing to pose for pictures, so I'm happy!

On the creative side, there is another snow painting on the board; I've been labouring for a week over a knitted Alsatian dog;  there will be another little dog set going in my shop soon, and I just received something in the post which will be the perfect prize for my 1000th post giveaway!