Birthday presents: felted friend

Monika needed a felted critter for her birthday, and since we certainly adore our weird and wonderful brethren of the sea, it had to be something from the underwater class. Thus...

Manta Ray



The manta ray took a couple of hours to felt. Lucky for me, I had one of my trusty A History of Britain dvds playing in the background--the perfect accompaniment to any craft session. Two episodes: "The Empire of Good Intentions" (Ireland & India) and "The Two Winstons" (Churchill and Orwell, via Winston Smith from 1984), just in case you were wondering.

Catherine says the manta ray looks angry--it's all in the eyes--but I can only concede one angry eye.  For instance, the right eye, as pictured in the last photo with Matilda, does indeed look a tad miffed. But the left eye, as seen in the very first photo, evinces something more akin to mild concern or sad hopefulness. A little wistful, a little confused. That's how I make them. Not that I intended to turn out a ray with an emotional schism evident only in the eyes...that's just what happened. It's difficult to make wool roving emote using only a barbed needle. Believe me.

For tomorrow: the birthday odds & ends!