Rethinking Crochet Purpose

It's been a while, sailors, and it seems I have abandoned my fledgling blog before it really spread its wings. I've been thinking a lot lately, because I'll be going off to college in just a bit over a year, and once that's happened, I sort of wonder if I'll have money for yarn anymore.

Then I start to get a sick feeling in my stomach, because to be able to crochet at all is a privilege that too many people are unable to even contemplate. In the wake of discussions about yarn bombing and how undeniably oblivious the people who do it are, I've been feeling disconnected from my art. Gentrification is something I hate; by crocheting, am I becoming like or even just unconsciously affiliating myself with the gentrified hipster crowd? I want my crochet to have meaning to somebody, not just something that's "worth more" than store-bought socks and sweaters because they're handmade.

So I've done some thinking, and I think I've figured out why I want to crochet and run this blog. I want to be able to use my art as a form of scientific education; biology is something that I am wholeheartedly in love with, and by creating and thinking and learning about animals through the medium of crochet, I teach myself and anyone who comes by to look here. It's certainly not world-changing, and I still like to crochet socks, but it's something.

On that note, I'm going to talk about some upcoming projects that I hope to be writing about. This is one of my favorite creatures ever, Oligocottus maculosus--the tidepool sculpin. They're very beautiful fish, delicate and well-camouflaged. Also, they perpetually look like they hate the world, which is very charming considering how tiny this particular sculpin species is. Some of them can get a meter or so in length (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus, the cabezon, comes to mind).

A lil guy I found chilling under some seaweed. Note the saddle markings and lace-like fins.

So, here's a quick sketch I put together about how I might construct a huggable one. This one is probably going to resemble a Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) more than a tidepool sculpin due to its size. That's fine with me, because Irish Lords are also incredibly beautiful. They're covered everywhere with chromatophores, the things that allow cuttlefish and octopus to change colors. The Irish lords can't match the octopus for creative camouflaging, but it is unique in that it has chromatophores not only on the surface of its skin, but in its eyes. It's nothing if not thorough in its hiding mechanisms.

Man, look at those scribbles.

Some of the things I make sure to do in my crochet is add extra lines--the vertical lines on the body indicate which direction I want to crochet him in (lips to tail), and the spiral in the mouth indicates how I want to construct the throat piece that will make sure you can't jam a fist down his face. I make notes about what kind of stitches I want to use and some special details I want to pay attention to--in this case, cute chubby bellies. Sculpins are hardly plate-thin vertical tropical fish; many people compare them to frogs, and they should have some bulk to them.

Next Wednesday I'm going to try to make it to a local crochet meeting and get started on the prototype. See you next time, sailors.

Hello, World

Good evening, sailors!

This is 5 facts about me, or maybe more accurately, 5 topics that Quill can consistently write on. See, I have a problem, and my problem is consistent scheduling. This conflicts significantly with my love of blogging. Therefore! We shall start the Seaman's Yarn with a bit of a proof to you and me that this blog has enough content to exist for at least a little while.

1. I crochet. Probably I crochet too much, especially as I'm in college and should be doing the Collegiate Things, but it gets in there no matter how determined I am to be exclusively studious on any given day. Therefore, it is a thing I can write consistently about.

2. I really, really love bizarre animals. And own a few myself. I mean, you can argue that platys and betta fish are pretty normal, because you can buy them at any podunk pet store down the street, but platys are three inches long and still manage to give live birth to at least twenty babies every pregnancy. Where did you fit all of those babies, mom. Where. Also, why are they still in my house?

3. I study marine biology! I like to talk about marine biology! Nobody in my family likes listening to me talk about marine biology anymore! So you get to listen to me talk about marine biology instead.

4. I like small stuffed things.  I also love making small stuffed things. I have recently discovered I like designing small stuffed things. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not somewhat preoccupied with the making of something Small and Soft. Or Large and Soft, because I am not picky.

5. I enjoy process blogs so much that I could waste literally years reading blogs about artists' processes. I don't care if they paint with their butt, I will read about all of the work that goes into butt-painting. Ergo, it is interesting for me to catalogue my own processes.

There. That's five reasonably interesting facts. Let's get this thing on the road.