Bayou Arcana's One-Eyed Raccoon

Here he is, my knitted rendition of the One-Eyed Raccoon from the much-anticipated Southern Gothic graphic novel Bayou Arcana. Ol' One-Eye is going to be at the Bristol Comic Expo May 12th - 13th if you fancy meeting him in the the knitted flesh along with Bayou Arcana's creator Jimmy Pearson.


I based One-Eyed Raccoon on Sara Dunkerton's original concept drawings from Bayou Arcana and started off by knitting him as she had drawn him: a scrawny, half-dead fella. What looked great on the page just didn't work out in knitting. Cue much unravelling of yarn and a bit of a think.


In the graphic novel, One-Eye is a dead raccoon whose body is possessed by a malevolent demon who is taking his final breaths and needs to find a new home for his evil spirit. So, I decided to knit him as a cuddly plush toy who had the misfortune to have the same experience, keeping Sara's original touches of the missing ear, wounds, and tail hanging off by a bone.

I worked out a method of unravelling the knitting to make gaping wounds without the whole raccoon falling to pieces, and here is the end result.

I do often feel sorry for fictional bad guys. I sit there watching Die Hard, thinking "Poor Hans Gruber, he must have had an awful childhood". I felt the same for this poor raccoon who had his corpse reanimated for such evil purposes: he didn't choose this to happen, it wasn't his fault. I think this comes across in my knitted version. One-Eyed Raccoon: evil through and through and stuffed full of bad intentions but you can still see the fluffy creature he was before the bad times began.

Poker Face

Some great poker faces being pulled while modelling Patons Cameo Crepe Twist "vintage cardigans for the connoisseur".

Although, to be accurate, I was informed by the lady in the charity shop that these people are playing whist, not poker, so they are actually pulling "whist faces."

Long John Silver

Here is Long John Silver as played by Eddie Izzard from the Sky TV production of Treasure Island. He's a one-of-a-kind custom order with a bright pink parrot, rather than the red macaw from the TV show.


I'm starting to think that maybe all pirates should have a pink parrot. In fact I'm feeling rather sorry for any buccaneers who have to put up with anything less. Pink parrots for all!


Long John Silver was great fun to knit: the first time I've ever attempted anyone with one leg + Eddie Izzard is my second-favourite comedian = knitted pirate win.

What the 1960s toddler is wearing this season

An oddly royal-looking toddler, this fella: a touch of the Prince Williams about him. He's sporting a two-piece powder blue Patons Quickerknit creation.

The top is a button-up cardigan, and the shorts are a "pilch". Never heard of a pilch before but a quick trip to the dictionary tells me that a pilch is an over-wrapper for a nappy. I look forward to dropping this word into a conversation some day soon.

Oranges

Citrus fruit used to be an enormous source of excitement before the internet came along. These two ladies have been standing on a street corner, discussing this orange, for over an hour now. Yet another pleasure that the electronic age has taken away from us.

Battletoads

Here's a Battletoads cross stitch sampler, based on the classic NES game. I created it as a custom order for one of my Etsy customers. It made a pleasant change from my usual faux-Victorian cross-stitchery! If you are hankering after a custom cross stitch sampler, do have a peek in my Knit For Victory Etsy shop to see the sizes, frames, and a selection of the sampler styles on offer. I'm always happy to create custom projects, so drop me a line if you have an idea for something.

Jet Set Hat

The Jet Set Hat in Patons Rimple - a scintillating glimpse into the glamorous world of the 1960s business man.

"Moscow today - Copenhagen tomorrow and then on to Delhi and Montreal. This is how the fast-moving business men of the 60's travel - and this is what they wear! Knit it in Patons Rimple used double - use black for the best effect or one of the dark two-tone shades."