squid tea cozy.

i’m not sure i like it. this took me the better part of a day to create. it is lumpy. count its limbs carefully, and you’ll discover that it’s not even a proper decapod. still, i guess it’s maybe almost sort of kind of cute? [just look at its adorable mismatched button eyes! the arms are poseable!]

i’m headed off to the island thursday/friday for an ill-timed yet much-needed miniature vacation chez my sister, a`. her little home is in need of a tea cozy, and [last time we brunched together] she asked if i might make one – shaped like this particular mollusk – for her. easier said than done, i found, but even so it ended up looking more-or-less.. squidlike. my first thought was, naturally, to make the entire cozy resemble the squid’s head/body, and sew small, unobtrusive tentacles to the bottom edges; this may have worked if i were making an amigurumi octopus, but a proper squid is just too long and thin; it might have ended up being a very tall tea cozy indeed.

i employed my typical approach to making something new: cut a bunch of fabric into likely shapes without too much forethought, do a whole lot of guesswork, make it up as i go along, mistakes mistakes mistakes, fix mistakes, stay up ’til 2am finishing the blasted thing, aaand we’re done!

this horror from the deeps is made of an argyle-printed flannel remnant. its hideous tentacles are wired with chenille stems, which can be safety-pinned from within to prevent their dragging through one’s tea service. the “water” and interior lining are solid cottons. i’ve insulated this fearsome sea-creature with a scrap of truly horrendous polar fleece which has been haunting our family since the early 90′s. [this is why i keep all these old scraps from mum's sewing stash lurking around; you just never know when they'll come in handy.. thanks mum!]

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