Finperation and Shrimperation

If you know me, you probably have the impression that I love creatures large and small. Well, this is the tip of the iceburg. No! I'm not some crazy hoarding cat/dog lady with 100 animals in my apartment. What I mean is that I truly love and find harmonious beauty in nature. I have a wee chunk of the Transcendentalism in me. I've started to design patterns and a few quick knits to try out the workings of my imagination. Right now I am focusing on the color combinations found in butterfly wings, in tropical fish and other marine critters. I am increasingly fascinated!


My first set of sketches and pattern doodles in excel (yes - microsoft excel) are based on a cute little shrimpy. I have been known to frequent high quality aquarium stores as a cheap thrill. Basically they are free aquarium visits for me. If you are on the East Coast, I highly recomend the Aquarium Depot in Randallstown, MD.

I have had many fish over the years but have kept to ryukins and bettas. It was on one of these visits that I saw my first camelback shrimp, also called dancing shrimp, hingebeak shrimp.

TaaDaa! (Dancing Shrimp) Sorry, I don't have my own picture of these guys - yet.

I'm also in love with the Mandarin goby/dragonet. I'm sure you have seen one before. They are quite striking - see! :)

And the Biscuit Starfish and Necklace Starfish.

Also, I must confess that I am in love with Sea Slugs (Nudibranch). Yep. I loves them. For knitting purposes I am going to focus on the pretty ones like this one, this one and this one. However, if I ever aspire to own one, I am going with a little brown blob like this one. They look like little cows to me. A little squishy, gooshy, cow (or an icky clump of fat??). I actually saw one in the aquarium store and we had a moment. Sure, they aren't as pretty but I like them all the same. While I am more interested in the color inspirations, I may knit up a little Nudibranch to keep me happy until I get that tank.