Winging it.

When you are working on a bird this big, you know it is two things: a big time commitment and a big material commitment.

Fillippa got so big that I moved her to my cheticamp frame the other day, figuring I could isolate just the wing area while I was prodding it with all the fun fibres. It was a good decision and much easier to work on on this frame.  I was hoping I was half way through the wing when I moved her.

After this morning's session, I think I am probably two-thirds done the wing. And would have finished but ran out of some of the wool I was using. So back into the dye pot for more flamingo pinks. I mixed a few different textures to create slightly different values of the same colour.

I am calling this the 2/3 mark. Optimistic? Maybe.

And here is some more pink to go to the finish line. Well, not really the finish line - I still have to hook the body under the wing. But getting closer.

I will surely have had my share of "pink" when she is done. Hopefully, I can get lots more done this week before the "grandson" returns on the 6th. There is NO hooking when he is here. lol.

Lots of fun, but NO hooking.

Big Bird is Coming Along Nicely

First of all, welcome to another "theme" for my blog. The last one was just too hard to navigate - as an author or a visitor. This one is very simple "what you see is what you get".

So, after spending a week with our Grandson here, I got back to Fillippa Flamingo. I actually had posted a progress shot on Instagram last week, which I will share here.  Knew right away that the "hit or miss" was a much better way to go, for many reasons.

I did get more done on the neck before Jackson arrived, but pulled nary a loop while he was here. By the time he was ready for bed at night, so was I.

But back on track today and reminded about just HOW BIG this bird is. I took a "selfie" with me and Fillippa, just to show the scale. I am standing right in front of her - this is not one of the fake fishing shots. lol  (I am definitely NOT a selfie expert, but figured this was a good reason to take one - or half one.)

With this much hooking done on the neck, I decided to do a little playing with the wing. I have collected some fun fabrics to create lots of texture. And got enough done this afternoon to show you a bit of a preview.

I took a close up shot so you can see all the fun tulle, bathing suit fabric and other proddy wool bits.

And here's a shot that shows the height of the "fun feathers" next to the hooked parts. 

Fun, right?

Trying now to figure out how to move all the fun stuff around the wing surface, so have had to do a count of strips of the fun stuff and then fill in with the other stuff. It's time consuming, but a nice break from the hooking. 

Will update with progress as I go.

The Beginnings of Big Big Bird

Here are the first pictures of Fillippa Flamingo.

You can see from the very first image, with the hook and scissors in for scale, that she is HUGE. I think she will probably stand over 5 feet tall when she is finished, not counting the block she will be inserted into.

After transferring the pattern (thanks to Judy K in Fort Frances) onto backing and making a few modifications, it was time to figure out what to do with her. So I started with her beak.

Next step was to try to figure out HOW to hook her body. And my first attempt is not working for me. She just looks too stripe-y. Sure I want her to be wild and crazy - but in a flamingo way, not a clown. I think I will back up and start again with some feather-like shapes that I can hook hit or miss with all the textures and colours that I have. I am sharing this first experiment anyway. Hopefully, I will get started on the alternative approach tomorrow and can share that result.

So, why am I hooking a giant flalmingo anyway??? Fillippa will be a mascot/ambassador bird at the OHCG 2019 Annual in London Ontario, the theme for which is "BIRDS OF A FEATHER".

She will be a multi-fibre bird, using just about anything in the pink-ish range that I have in my stash or can find. And her wing will be WILD.  I have crazy yarn and pink feathers and I am thinking of adding some taffeta too - should be fun.

Once she is hooked (which I think will take quite a while), she will become a "dummy board" - or in this case a "dummy bird". What does that mean? She will be mounted on a plywood cut out of herself, given some rebar legs, which will be inserted into a block to enable her to stand up.

So stay tuned. I am hoping to give progress shots as she develops. Hopefully she will be as spectacular as I imagine.

Her motto:  BE A FLAMINGO IN A FLOCK OF PIGEONS.
I saw this saying on Pinterest and might just have to order a t-shirt with that on the front. Perfect, I think, to wear to the Annual.