Blooming by Marti Fuerst [Knitting]

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.

Submitter's Comments:
I mulled over a few different ideas for my Threadknits entry before I settled on T.J. Zhang's "Blooming" in December. The plan was to make a felted stag that would be a display in the local yarn store. The cherry blossoms would be detachable so that the sculpture could be altered to reflect the season - green leaves (and fruit!) for the summer, brown leaves for the fall, and icicles and ornaments in the winter.

I didn't have a pattern, but I had a bunch of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky, too much ambition, and just enough free time. It was fun watching the deer evolve on my needles, and I can't thank the ladies in my local knitting group enough for their encouragement and advice along the way.

Before he was felted, the deer was approximately "life size." (But we're talking like, Florida sized deer, not South Dakota sized.) Once he was felted and smaller, it was time to tackle the armature. Initially, I had planned to make his "bones" out of PVC pipe. But it wasn't strong enough to support the antler/branches. That's where the Engineering Husband came in on a pony. Well, he didn't have a pony. But he could have! He helped recreate a wooden armature, as well as thread wire through the antler/branches to give them shape.

It was at this point in the project that my husband shared a folktale he'd heard when he was a kid. It was about this Appalachian hunter who shot a buck with a cherry pit because he was out of bullets with his muzzle loader. It didn't kill the dear, of course, but he saw it later that year with branches growing out of its head instead of antlers. Totally awesome.

All the detail on the deer (the white blossom-spots, markings, and face are needle-felted. I knitted each petal separately with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted and then sewed them together. The white and black detail on the blossoms was also needle-felted on.

I have to say I'm really happy with the way he turned out.