At work we just got a new drapery/canvas fabric with neon pink & green owls. The manager was setting up a feature window with this and it’s complementary set and commented that I should make “one of those critters you like to make” to sit on the couch in the display.

Instantly I recalled the obnoxious neon VIVID yarn we sell, grabbed the biggest crochet hook I own (11.5 mm) and set to work replicating the owls from the fabric.

I had planned to knit this, but my largest needle is 10mm and bamboo; the extra diameter and smoothness of the acrylic hook made this massive & grippy yarn a little more manageable as a crochet project. It’s making for a huge owl, I grabbed one of each colour, not realizing that each big ball only contains 45m, so this jumbo yarn & hook chewed through a ball and a half on the first night. Got more yarn this morning and was permitted to work on it during slow periods at the cash. At this size, it moves really quickly, and it generated lots of interest among the customers. I was really surprised by how many people described these hideous colours as “so beautiful” and my “basket” (since it was that shape most of the day) as “stunning”. Not words I would choose.

I ripped back a few times before being satisfied with the head shape, stuffed it and started working on the eyes tonight. I’m reasonably pleased with how it’s turning out, especially since I’m making it up as I go along. I’ve modified & adapted patterns before, usually with some advance notes, sketches & calculations, but this is my first project straight from my head to my hook, (and a scrap of fabric as a reference).

I had hoped to have enough green left to replicate the second owl on the fabric, but at this rate there’s no way I’ll have enough.

May 20
The crochet face I tried looked terrible, kinda like a scuba diving mask, there’s a photo of it pinned on as reference. I tried separating the plies of green yarn to make it lighter, but the loosely spun plies just pull apart, so today I tracked down some green felt to make the markings. I was surprised there was no neon felt, but this green isn’t too bad.

I also decided that smaller black buttons/pupils gave him more character than the big pupils of the fabric owl, so I took a little more creative licence in my replication. I do wish I had made the eyes a little bigger, but I had already cut down the green felt mask so I couldn’t make them much bigger, and I had already made 3 versions of the mask & eyes, so I was done with them.

I discovered tonight that, as hard as neon is on the eyes, it’s even harder on the camera. Man, oh, man was this hard to photograph, the colours were way off, and the whole thing glowed under the flash, washing out the stitch definition. I tried every setting I could think of, they all turned out bad or worse. These shots are the best I could come up with, after a little photoshopping. Still not great, colours are still off, but they show some detail and don't burn through the computer monitor.

Then I snapped some followup shots with my new cell phone, THOSE turned out more accurate than the ones taken with my high-end SLR and planning, so I’ve replaced all the photos.

May 21
Took the owl to the store today, and put him in the window display, he fits in really well. The manager who “suggested” I make him, loves him! When the store is done with him I thought I’d send him to the local children’s hospital, but now I’m thinking I may give him to her. After all, the other manager has gotten a knitted critter.