Knitters are such delightfully weird people

Yeah, I'd hang one of these on my wall. Wouldn't you?

i-fc547f1143aac47f080335cf9bc541d2-DissectRat.jpg
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Actually . . .

t'yeah I would hang one of those up on my wall. But I'm weird like that.

Teach the controversy of whether or not rats are made of blood, guts, and other slimy bits, or are made out of colorful yarn.

And you know, any time any human makes something modeled on nature, it's an admission that nature was designed. Yes, there really is nothing too dumb for (un)intelligent design "theorists."

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

That is so amazingly weird and unnecessary; I love it! I'm sending that link to my sister who knits obsessively.

I see that often enough at work. Besides, the organs are all wrong!

Damn it, I just got done with the squid hat, and how I have to go find out how to make this.

That's freakin fantastic!

By cactusren (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

Some people collect butterflies, some set mouse traps, some people knit, and some combine things a little too much. :P

Remember folks. This is what PZ wants religion to be like.

I think it would be more precise to say "biologists who knit" rather than just knitters in general. I cannot imagine either of my grandparents making one of those. I mean, my grandmother did make me a wonderful dinosaur sweater when I was little, but it was the outside of the dinosaur...

Perusing other items in the perfectly named Why Would You Knit That?!, I note a strong interest in biology. Some of it leaves me speechless. No doubt PZ could ask the art student who knitted a full size Ferrari to knit a giant squid for him.

By freelunch (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

We tatters are far too french unmentionable trims obsessed to 'eveh consider such a grisly and dis'gustin thang.

Wow, I have knit a stuffed nautiloid for a friend, but never a post-dissection specimen. That is some serious dedication. (Particularly given the sewing that must be done after the fact, since I have never met a knitter who didn't *abhor* doing seams. Never. And my grandmother was such a dedicated knitter that she would simply knit garments her kids had left behind on family vacations.)

F! French, dammit.
I stepped into something that Chimp left on the floor earlier today, and I just can't say out of it!

That is officially the single most awesome knit-work I've ever seen. I want one!

By Grimalkin (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

I just added that to my list of must haves!!!!!

By Another Primate (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

One of these would be great for the occasional student who has conscientious objections to dissections. Oh the things that they would learn...The reproductive system may pose a problem though.

Perfect timing! I wasn't so sure the mohair scarf was right for my mother's Christmas present. Now I have the perfect gift to knit. I wonder if I could make it into a hat....

By elaine ellerton (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

That is awesome.

freelunch, I hate you. I am now losing huge amounts of time to that blog.

Not only WOULD I hang one of those on my wall, I bought the pattern for that and her frog one as well several months ago. She has an etsy.com store and I highly recommend everyone go and buy either her pattern or one of the finished products! (The pattern is only like 4 bucks, and you can also buy a finished version, framed on cork like the one PZ displays).

Us weird knitters like to support our fellow knitterly science nerds.

Interesting, but . . . just received The Jehol Fossils, so will be incommunicado for a while.

That is one awesome book!
At $55 from Amazon, - best bargain of the year.
And no, I am just an ordinary customer, no promotion.
Just get it, and see for yourself.
And if you disagree, go and see an optician!

Poor Stewart, attempts were made to save him, they were too little, too late

I thought the frog was rather cool too - I wish I could knit worth a damn. I can sew quite well, but knitting? Not a chance.

*sigh*

By CanadianChick (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

That is so cool! I want one!

The Redhead is quite the knitster, but other that the technical work to make the mouse I don't think she would be interested. She likes to wear her projects.

By Nerd of Redhead (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

Remember folks. This is what PZ wants religion to be like.

But that IS what a certain major religion is like... using tasteful artistic recreations of nailed-up dead mammals for wall decoration.

Does Etsy have a wearable version?

By John Scanlon FCD (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

Oh, I love these little knitted dissected animals. It takes me back to when I was a kid, 11 or 12. I had a old barrel full of 'swamp' water. I would catch tadpoles and put them into their new home. Then I would select one to operate on. I would first put the tad-pole to sleep with an alcohol soaked cloth. Then, very carefully, I would slice them open, skin deep, so I could see how their innards looked and how their little hearts beat. Afterwards, I would just as carefully sew them up and hope they would survive my intrusions to become frogs. - I did not grow up to become a serial killer.

By Jeanette Garcia (not verified) on 06 Oct 2008 #permalink

...no. No, I wouldn't (it's interesting, but not appealing).

I have a new knitting hero. Here's someone with a fun, creative idea who just went with it. Good for her.

More people should take up knitting. I firmly believe, from witnessing it happen, that knitting together with others makes you a more accepting, curious, caring and interesting person.

Where are the worms in the frog? All the times I dissected frogs in school, there were worms swimming around inside them.

Where are the babies inside? That's how a cut open mouse usually looks to me.

Seriously awesome though - I'd put that up on my lab bench.

Number 11 won the comment contest I was running in my mind.

To think I have been wasting all my time knitting SOCKS. I must buy this pattern. I already have the perfect yarn for it, and in all the right colors.

Anybody for a lab rat in cashmere?

By Annapolitan (not verified) on 07 Oct 2008 #permalink

the Anti Craft does have fun stuff, thanks for reminding me I hadn't checked for a while. The stuffed pasta doesn't have to be shaped as skulls.

Noadi, check etsy and ravelry if your a member, do they have a forum? Start asking for the patterns for crochet, they are around.

Relax Glen, knitting can cause variation in the evolution of the project. A lot of variables involved. Yarn, tension both real and imagined, knitter's skill, expectations.

By becominginvisible (not verified) on 07 Oct 2008 #permalink

I'd TOADALLY get that for my stepdaughter the biologist. But it wasn't a biologist who designed that pattern: the liver's in the wrong place and the "lights" are missing. Or maybe the cats got ahold of the mouse first.

In an interesting convergence of memes, my cats bring in small stuffed toys....

Did someone already post the link for the knit uterus?

Seriously, if you enjoy knitting but live in a warmer climate, this is only to be expected. I was ever so proud of my first knit penis.

And of course, the first thing I think is, "Ah! Awesome...I could totally knit that..."

Yea for nerdy knitters. Oh, and randomly to any crafters here on Pharyngula in the Pacific Northwest, the Urban Craft Uprising is coming soon in early December in Seattle. (http://www.urbancraftuprising.com/)

And of course, the first thing I think is, "Ah! Awesome...I could totally knit that..."

Yea for nerdy knitters. Oh, and randomly to any crafters here on Pharyngula in the Pacific Northwest, the Urban Craft Uprising is coming soon in early December in Seattle. (http://www.urbancraftuprising.com/)

And of course, the first thing I think is, "Ah! Awesome...I could totally knit that..."

Yea for nerdy knitters. Oh, and randomly to any crafters here on Pharyngula in the Pacific Northwest, the Urban Craft Uprising is coming soon in early December in Seattle. (http://www.urbancraftuprising.com/)

And of course, the first thing I think is, "Ah! Awesome...I could totally knit that..."

Yea for nerdy knitters. Oh, and randomly to any crafters here on Pharyngula in the Pacific Northwest, the Urban Craft Uprising is coming soon in early December in Seattle. (http://www.urbancraftuprising.com/)

Hey, wait a second... was that a consecrated mouse?

By Donnie B. (not verified) on 07 Oct 2008 #permalink

I am deeply impressed by comment 39. That is awesome. What was the survival rate like...?

Where are the babies inside? That's how a cut open mouse usually looks to me.

It's not a mouse, it's a lab rat. Biological Introductory Lab Work, spring/summer of 2001.

I was ever so proud of my first knit penis.

That was originally intended to become a sock, right? :->

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 07 Oct 2008 #permalink

Absolutely awesome! I would most definitely hang it. No doubt. Probably right next to my replica of a homo erectus skull that people get queesy about.

Ericka - So is there going to be some crafting open to us Pacific Northwest tatters? I live about 75 miles from Portland, but I might be open to supporting a group effort.
How about hairpin lacers, lucet corders, and bobbin lacers?

I'd trade an equal amount of time teaching tatting for heel turning. I'll bet I can out darn anyone under 75 years old. That would be a fun contest at any knitting based get together. ;o)

Ha, reminds me of a game I play with the kids where I make up a model of a body (complete with different coloured internal organs) out of play dohh, and help them dissect it, naming each organ as we carefully extract it!

Is this ok for kids?