Josiah (by SuAmi)

I'm still working on the orange chair, although I have had to take a break to work on my items for the annual swap for the HalfScaleMinis group.  Unfortunately, I can't write about my items until after the swap has occurred, on pain of being banned from the swap in future years.  I can say that my original idea did not work, which necessitated a return to the drawing board, but I finally came up with an alternative plan, and production is going full speed ahead.

In the interim, I do have a little something to post about, a very little something—Josiah!  In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt was given a badger by a young girl in Kansas.  The Roosevelts named him Josiah and kept him as a family pet for a while, until they had to give him up due to his habit of biting people.  In return, they got a stuffed badger for the library.  He looks kind of ferocious.

My original hope was to crochet an amigarumi version.  I got a pattern for a stuffed toy badger and thought I would be able to make one the right size by using a single strand of embroidery floss and a size 14 hook, as well as simplifying the pattern a bit.  I actually have done miniature crochet like that, with decent results.

This time, however, despite several attempts to modify and simplify the pattern, I finally had to admit defeat.  I have no idea how they crochet in the round for those teeny little legs without losing track of their rows and wanting to tear their hair out.  It was time for my back-up plan.

SuAmi on Etsy does some of the sweetest, tiniest amigarumi animals I have ever seen, and I have always wanted something by her.  So, as a Christmas gift, my mother bought me one of her badgers.  (Admittedly, at the time we ordered it, I hadn't made my goats and sheep, so I hadn't considered the possibility that I might be able to make a polymer clay version work.)  Anyway, he arrived this week, and he's cute as can be.

Here he is in the room.  I think he fits in there very well.

I am telling people that he is the real Josiah, not the stuffed version.  He just happened to wander into the room and stand at that exact location. 😉 It's clear he's not nearly as fierce as his taxidermy counterpart. 

The books are also coming along, slowly.  At last count, I had made 269 books (including the books on the desk and side tables), but I still have 17½ shelves left to fill.  Fortunately, I can make the books while sitting and watching TV.  Suggestions of good shows to binge watch while making swaps and books are welcomed.  😊  We subscribe to Netflix, BritBox and Acorn.  Last year, I watched all three seasons of Broadchurch while making my swaps.  I've already consumed all of A Place to Call Home, 800 Words, The Great British Baking Show, and most seasons of QI.