Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The pursuit of flight is as much an interest to bears as it is to humans. The ability to take to the skies, leaving behind the old homestead and exploring new worlds must be an urge for all creatures.

Bear in Flight

Some are, obviously, naturally gifted with the power. Most are not. And, it took months of tireless research to find the solution – research that started with interviews, sharing of knowledge and, even, inter-species cooperation (though, not always helpful in terms of finding the ability to leave the ground).

Bear with Chicken

Finally, a breakthrough. One bear figured out the most unlikely solution to the problem – a result of using only materials readily available, will power and a lot of luck. Thus was born the Land-to-Air Navigation Apparatus (or LANA for short). A quick flight around Lake Superior revealed the true power of the device. Life may never be the same for bears.

Fun at the Lake

So, I’ve been contracted to equip those bears who are interested in leaving terra firma. Not surprisingly, many are lining up – ready to explore new places, see new lands and, of course, customize their new LANAs (jet-pack for the layperson).

Bears waiting for Jet Packs

For a limited time, I am excited to announce the Walker Art Center Shop will be facilitating this dispersal of bears into the world-at-large. Look for them in the museum store from mid-November through early February.

Owls Helping Owls

There are a bunch of felted ambassadors ready to go out into the world and help out their real-world kin.

Felted Ambassador

When you add an ambassador to your collection of felted friends, a contribution (basically all of the proceeds minus shipping/listing fees) will be made to an appropriate organization. In this case, these owls will be supporting The Raptor Center.

I’m not associated with this group, but they do amazing work, both with education and with helping area raptors recover. These ambassadors do come with credentials, rest assured they are the real deal:

Ambassador ID

Find out more about this program by clicking on the “Ambassadors” link above.

Owl Diversity

I’ve discovered some fascinating things about owls these last couple of weeks. There’s more to them than meets the eye.

Owl

They are inquisitive.

Owl Looking for Love

They look for love.

Owl in Love

They are true.

Owl Couple

They make great companions.

Owl, Family of Two

Great parents, too.

Owl with Flowers

They like a little romance.

Owl the Hunter

They get hungry.

Owl the Vegetarian

Some are even vegetarian.

Owl Zombie

Unfortunately, they are just as susceptible to zombie attacks as we are.

Owl Knitter

But, most exciting of all, they know how to knit.

Summer Busyness

Needle Felted Viscacha

These summer days seem to slip by a little too fast. We find ourselves spending much more time outside, working on house projects, cooking, gardening, storing up food for the winter. It’s already August, and I realized I hadn’t shared any scratchcraftiness with you in awhile.

Virginia, in addition to the above, has been keeping her needles busy (both of the knitting and crochet variety). I just recently fired up the ol’ dusty spinning wheel and am trying to motivate myself to finish a cardigan that has been on the needles for way too long (it’ll be out of style before I ever get a chance to wear it – and, yes, this is the same cardigan mentioned in earlier posts).

A little glimpse of some of the things created over in our neck of the woods:

vknit_wrap_06c

vknit_wrap_05a

vknit_socks_196

Details may, or may not, be forthcoming. But, more projects are definitely on their way. By the way, the creature at the beginning of the post belongs to the same family as the chinchilla. Can you guess what it is?

See for yourself:

ARKive video - Southern viscacha - overview