Bwahaha! They sneered at my squid. They laughed, when I told them about the 24 feet of feeder palp! But I knew there was a way to foil them. Behold!
This is a Singer knitting machine. Unlike the expensive large knitting machines, it is a child’s toy, operated by a crank. The salient feature, which I glommed onto instantly, is that it knits largish tubes. Not flat fabric, as most knitting machines do, for sweaters and garments. Or narrow tubes, like knitting noddies or knitting spools do, for use in potholders in Girl Scouts. Largish tubes, do you hear — tentacles!!!!
To further aid in the effort, I slid over to Michael’s and bought a gigantic one-pound skein of white yarn. My knitting machine needs to be fed! It was on half-price sale, and does not have quite the harsh feel of the cone of yarn. But it’s not like anyone is going to -wear- the squid, and differences in texture or even gauge are probably going to be invisible. Impalpable, you might even say.
I have yet to take this thing out of the box and try it out, but I am confident. The only possible improvement would be powering the crank mechanism with, say a cat on a treadmill. Or steam…
My newest novel Speak to Our Desires is out exclusively from Book View Press.
I also have stories in Book View Cafe’s two steampunk anthologies, The Shadow Conspiracy and The Shadow Conspiracy II, as well as in BVC’s many other anthologies.
‘palpable’ … brilliant!
Impalpable tentacles! Go, Brenda!
I broached the idea of feline participation to Tobey, who gave me an icy glare. Looks like I am going to turn that crank by myself!
Best to leave the cat out of it. Mr. Chessie would pounce and dismantle to see how it works, then walk away satisfied leaving me to clean up after him.
Now there are a couple of yappy purse size Chihuahuas in the neighborhood…