Folks,

When I was a wee lad, my mom made me a plush moray eel and a plush torpedo ray. They were lovely, resplendent in early-70's textile patterns, and I keep them to this day.

With all due respect and love for my mother, however, someone's eclipsed her achievement:

25-Foot Long Crochet Giant Squid (http://monstercrochet.blogspot.com/2005/04/attack-of-giant-squid.html)

That's the work of Ladylinoleum, who hails from Los Angeles.

Erich, go find this mad crocheting genius at once.

Cheers,
Clem

Damn.

:notworth:

Yeah. Damn.

We really need more pictures of this beast.

Double Damn! I had plans to knit one!

My ghast is well and truly flabbered :shock:

We NEED more pictures of this epic acheivement!

My ghast is well and truly flabbered :shock:


Well said. Perhaps there could be a TONMO "Los Angeles Locals" field trip for a viewing.

do these people have lives? im come on that must have taken years! i mean holy beep thats beeping insane! that would be like tying your shoes over and over and over and over and over and over again for like 3 years!! she could have just bought a live ceph for the amount of money she put into freaking yarn!

by the way, thats really freaking insane yet cool!!!

And the challenge is set before me -- to crochet a 30 foot architeuthis!!! :archi:

I MUST hunt this amazing artist down for better pics! This is truly, truly awe-inspiring!:shock:

Great find Clem! I would like to own that. I would replace my chandelier with it.

I emailed the artist (her name is Regina Gonzalez) and this is what she said

"Hey Jennifer, thanks for your inquiry...sadly the giant squid is residing up in my closet right now, however if you've got a group that wants to see it, I can take my show on the road (I'm serious).

~ Regina"

Her email is ladylinoleum@hotmail.com

Seems a waste being in a closet.

I want one!

Full props to ladylinoleum. Perhaps this could be a display item at the next Tonmocon!

I wonder if she would consider selling it.

:shock: :notworth:

I'm impressed (i can't crochet to save myself!)

Hey Sorseress...you could knit a Messie!!!

J

Well, Sorseress is in the middle of a rather dramatic move right now, but she knits like nobody's business and used to make pretty incredible stuffed animals for me as a child - chief among these being Octavius my rather large teddy-octo...

Maybe if you kept on the pressure, Jean... I don't think ANYBODY makes a messie soft toy...

Actually sewing a Messie would be a lot faster than knitting one. The other upside, if you goofed up too much on it's anatomicals, you would see it quickly. Frogging(which is knitters term for ripping out offending stitches) tends to be discouraging. I would be far less likely to be discouraged if I screwed up sewing a Messie. There are knitting machines, however. Hmmm. Doing a lifesized Messie in tapestry is much more than I could contemplate. I couldn't possibly fit that large a loom in my studio, and considering how large a Messie is, I doubt I'd live that long, unless, of course, I dedicated the rest of my life to it, and believe me, I'm not THAT much of a ceph nut! This will take some thought, but it's intriguing. It has to be life sized, right?

Just re-read Erich's post. He mentioned soft toys, and THEY couldn't be life sized. If I can make them to scale, but toy sized, well, that's extremely doable. I would need good measurements so I could get the dimensions correct. I would also need a lot of info about eyes, suction cup specifics (understanding that beaks, hooks and anything else has to be made of sewable materials. I can't sew plastic, (although soft vinyl, though a pain to work with, can be sewn wth good results) or metal, or anything like that. Besides, who wants a potentially lethal stuffed toy? Nobody is expecting anything soon, I hope. I will have NO furniture when I get to Arizona, I've given everything away. Nobody gets a squid until after I have furniture.
This actually sounds like a fun project to tackle, but I'm not promising anything.
:mesonych:

Hmm, a monster might have just been created... albeit a future monster...

Ok, honesty demands that I say, my studio doesn't have to be that large to make a tapestry woven life sized Messie. Tapestry looms can have rollers. I lied. I just don't want to. I have a life. Squids rule most of the time, but not always. Sorry Messie.

You say you'll have no furniture, if you make a lifesize soft Messie, you could sit on it like a monster beanbag!

Besides, who wants a potentially lethal stuffed toy?

Who wouldn't?

:angel:

giant messie beanbag couch. the furniture of the future.

I think no one will ever do better than Malcolm Clarke's wife.

The famous Dr. Clarke and his wife Dorothy made a museum in their house in Pico (Azores). Half of it, is about the physiology, ecology and behaviour of sperm whales and the other half is about the sperm whales's favorite preys: our lovely cephalopods!

His wife made at least ten plushes of deep-sea squids including Archteuthis...I Went there and it is amazing! You can go down to species level. So much details! from the beaks to the photophores!
here are a few pictures of my visit to the museum:

ohhh...sorry
dont know how to post pictures...can anyone help? :roll:

Sounds Great!

Scroll Down past 'Submit Reply' and click on 'Manage Attachments' you can put upto three pics per post....

Where is this Dr. Clarke's museum?

Ich bin ein impressed...

Dr. Clarke's museum is, based on the post above, at his residence in Pico in the Azores! Wonder when I'll ever get to the Azores...

Here are a few of my pictures of my last visit (because I made a few now, such an interesting man!):
Check also the website:

http://www.bienal-baleias.org/malcolm/index.php

a few more

:shock: :shock: :shock:

and again I say :shock:

Only in my dreams have I seen such a place!

:shock:

check out number 28 on this list on their site

http://www.bienal-baleias.org/malcolm/exhibits.php

oh how awesome!! Kind of makes me wish I had a MUCH bigger home!!

Hello Euprymna,

Wonderful photos. Thanks so much for introducing us to this unique museum.

:notworth:

Cheers,
Clem

ps: So, they've got a preserved Mesonychoteuthis tentacle club sitting in an open bowl? The spectacular models are protected by a blue plastic tarp? We at TONMO should take up a collection to send the museum a charitable donation. They deserve it.

:shock: :notworth:

So where exactly did they say the next TONMOcon was going to be held?

Wowza! :notworth:

wow!:shock: :notworth:

someone has too much time on their hands...

ps: So, they've got a preserved Mesonychoteuthis tentacle club sitting in an open bowl? The spectacular models are protected by a blue plastic tarp? We at TONMO should take up a collection to send the museum a charitable donation. They deserve it.

Yes, the museum is entirely self-financed. The sperm whale part is located inside (in a extension of the house built for that purpose) but the cephalopod part is on the terrasse covered with this blue plastic tarp.
Actually, I wonder how it is over there right now considering the amount of rain that fell down today and the strong wind.
Since the museum is strictly open in summer, I guess valuable things such as the Mesonychoteuthis club and other ceph jewels may be protected inside.
However, beaks and hooks of Mesonycho on display are more protected!

Actually, I wonder how it is over there right now considering the amount of rain that fell down today and the strong wind.
:goofysca:

I like the Gothic typeface used to label the pointy Mesonychoteuthis parts.

Euprymna, I see that Squidblog (http://squidblog.net/) has given you a friendly shout-out.

Cheers,
Clem

:Euprymna, I see that Squidblog (http://squidblog.net/) has given you a friendly shout-out.


Well good...I was not aware of that page...Is just all the information posted in tonmo are reposted there? :roll:

No,not quite. For example, I don't think we have a blog item devoed to Squidhead from "Return of the Jedi." Squidblog frequently references (and thanks) TONMO, so they can't be accused of siphoning readers away from us. Besides, this really saucy troll once hit on me over there...

Cheers,
Clem

Just once?

I like Squidblog.

Thanks for the squidblog complements dudes.

I probably should have posted here first asking permission to add this stuff to squidblog, especially the photo. :roll:

I do tend to look at the TONMO forums a lot, and even when I find some squid news elsewhere (usually through automated news searches, though also through the random wanderings of myself and a few choice friends), inevitably there is a TONMO discussion on the issue. These forums are just too good!

Squidblog frequently references (and thanks) TONMO, so they can't be accused of siphoning readers away from us. Besides, this really saucy troll once hit on me over there...

If anything, my intention is to bring more readers to TONMO. I certainly don't intend to compete - that would be futile. In any case IMHO the more squid stuff on the web, the better! Not sure about the troll though. I'm trying to attract them, but they seem to be lurking silently. Maybe I should post something more juicy for them to feed on, maybe on religion and evolution, or "intelligent design"? That is sure to get them in a frenzy!

How about "Insane Design"?

I had never heard of squidblog before and Ive been looking at this site quite often for around 6 months, it makes sense to team up a lil more since our interests are very similar.
If only keeping pet squids was accessable as pet octos.

How about "Insane Design"?

Or "Inane Design," as the case may be...

I probably should have posted here first asking permission to add this stuff to squidblog, especially the photo. :roll:


For me, I do not mind a lot about posting my pics since you acknowledged me. But some others may not appreciate. I would think it would be better if you asked.
cool page though :wink:

You should all come down to the Azores to see the museum...it's really worth it! PLus the squid fishery has just begun and you get to see huge Loligo forbesi on the dock!
Although donot come now because Wilma is on its way...

You should all come down to the Azores to see the museum...it's really worth it! PLus the squid fishery has just begun and you get to see huge Loligo forbesi on the dock!
Although donot come now because Wilma is on its way...

I'd certainly LOVE to, but it isn't exactly close by. In fact, it is probably as far away from where I live as you can get on the surface of this planet! But one day maybe ... ???

Wait until the new hypersonic technology finally trickles down to the commercial civilian user! Then you can fly from Australia to the Azores in about 1 1/2 hours! If the folks in the Azores build a long enough runway for landing.

If linoleumlady brings the knitted squid to the next TONMOcon, will the tabloid press (and squidblog) trumpet that the "Giant squid is now "out of the closet"". Or will it be a non-issue (we already know the giant squid sometimes implants its spermatophores in other males...accidentally or not)