Tavistock Dickensian Lantern Parade

I have been hinting at this post for a while, and am so happy that this year the Dickensian Evening Lantern Parade took place. Last year it was cancelled because of gales, and although this year was rainy, we did manage to parade our lanterns. Above is me, with my chameleon. I have been thinking about chameleons a lot this autumn. You can't see from the photograph, but some of his lights were colour-changing, and there was a hoop of willow so that he rested on my head, which made carrying a bit easier.

Below is my son, with his spider lantern. It was very impressive, and is now going to the Tavistock Youth Cafe to be displayed. My chameleon is going to a local plant store, Leaf and Stone, to be part of their display.  

 

Final photo shows us gathered at St. Eustachius Church, waiting to set off. My husband got roped into carrying the anomalocaris from last year. 

I feel that The Chameleon, Spider and Anomalocaris sounds a bit like a children's book title. What adventures they could have!

Running Horse Bucket Hat

Not my daughter, but a fashion student friend.

 

My daughter asked me to knit her a bucket hat with horses running around the brim. A fun project, and as I was planning it, my husband suggested that I have the horses in different poses, as if on a film reel. 

We used to live in Kingston-upon-Thames, and in the local museum there was a section on Eadweard Muybridge, a local photographer who was a pioneers of film. Kingston Museum was a small but really excellent place, with exhibits from Kingston from prehistory to the current day, and other exhibitions and events. 

So I knitted my hat, and then jokingly said to my husband, this probably isn't original, someone somewhere will have done a Muybridge Hat. And a quick click on Ravelry, and there it was, the Zoetrope by Leah Batt. My hat was a one-off, and is not going to be a pattern. I think I can admit that I prefer her hat, and wish I had found it first. I ended up embroidering the legs and ears on my horses, while hers are proper fair isle. It is also nicely set out to look like a film reel, and she has done a clever series of linked photos to look like a moving picture, which I guess is the point. It just shows how difficult it is to come up with a truly unique idea in knitting, or anything.

                           Not as pretty, but me in the hat when just finished.