Crouching tiger, hidden...um, tiger?
Is it? Could it be?
Ah, indeed. For the past five days we’ve been stalking this one, and here he is at last: the elusive Knitted Texan Tiger, in his natural jungle habitat.
Though he looks rather more like a large newt than the feline he is, the Tiger is fearless, and will face down even the fiercest canine predators.
Sadly, this Tiger is extremely endangered, due to his pain-in-the-ass pattern, because apparently women in the 1940s had nothing better to do while sitting around waiting for the war to end than weave in a zillion ends and figure out what embroidered chain stitch is.
Luckily for the species, however, this Tiger will be residing in a protected environment at the home of my friend Vimala, who will defend her dissertation tomorrow. Yay Vimala!
Pattern: Tim the Tiger, from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s online collection of knitting patterns from the 1940s
Modifications: I made his belly white, instead of orange. Much cuter, and more accurate.
Yarn: KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. Two skeins Pumpkin, one skein each Cloud and Coal (These colors were perfectly tigery. But if I were making Tim again, which I wouldn’t, due to his pain-in-the-assiness and overall resemblance to a salamander, I would find a fingering-weight wool, because as Knitted Texan Tigers go, he is really quite ginormous: 2 feet long from snoot to tail tip.)
Started: June 10, 2005
Finished: June 15, 2005
Recipient: Dr. Vimala, PhD.
Ah, indeed. For the past five days we’ve been stalking this one, and here he is at last: the elusive Knitted Texan Tiger, in his natural jungle habitat.
Though he looks rather more like a large newt than the feline he is, the Tiger is fearless, and will face down even the fiercest canine predators.
Sadly, this Tiger is extremely endangered, due to his pain-in-the-ass pattern, because apparently women in the 1940s had nothing better to do while sitting around waiting for the war to end than weave in a zillion ends and figure out what embroidered chain stitch is.
Luckily for the species, however, this Tiger will be residing in a protected environment at the home of my friend Vimala, who will defend her dissertation tomorrow. Yay Vimala!
Pattern: Tim the Tiger, from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s online collection of knitting patterns from the 1940s
Modifications: I made his belly white, instead of orange. Much cuter, and more accurate.
Yarn: KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. Two skeins Pumpkin, one skein each Cloud and Coal (These colors were perfectly tigery. But if I were making Tim again, which I wouldn’t, due to his pain-in-the-assiness and overall resemblance to a salamander, I would find a fingering-weight wool, because as Knitted Texan Tigers go, he is really quite ginormous: 2 feet long from snoot to tail tip.)
Started: June 10, 2005
Finished: June 15, 2005
Recipient: Dr. Vimala, PhD.
posted by Ashley at 2:30 AM
10 Comments:
Tim is supercute, although I can see how he might have been a pain in the ass. I'm sure he will be well loved.
So cute! And I love the picture with your doggie. He looks freaked out! :)
pain in the ass or not - it is really cute!!!
Oh man! That is supercute! Your friend is so lucky! I was going to look at the pattern, but saw that you said it was a pain in the ass... Ok, maybe not! I have some cute dinosaur patterns I want to try!
I LOVE the pic with your pup!
But the tiger is very cute. Don't are animals put up with alot of torture from us. My guys had to pose with pictures of my freshly finished shawl this morning, they looked annoyed at me.
Tim IS supercute! And I'm glad that he will have the protected environment an endangered animal needs. I would try my hand at him myself, but I tried a "knitting kitty" from the back of an old....Interweave Knits, I think? A middle ages version of a wallet - to hold coins draped over a belt (although I'm thinking they might not have had the kitty ears/head/tail)Not that it looks like a cat.
And your tiger looks exactly like a tiger and not at all like a newt. Honestly. A newt? Poor Tim.
Aw, he's adorable. And he photographs well -- he doesn't look at all like a newt!
i think he looks lovely really. he has a very solemn expression. rightly so. being a tiger is not something to be taken lightly.
i think i'm going to make one of these actually. if i did him in regular stripes all the way along, would that avoid all the ends?
Tim is so darned cute! I've been looking at that pattern for a while trying to muster up the energy to do it. Why didn't they knit the upper part all as one, rather than having a seam up the back? And better yet, why not knit him in the round? Doing his legs can't be any worse than knitting the fingers on gloves.
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