Do Jackalopes Exist?

For the recent Y2Knit Experience Buffalo, we stayed at the historic Occidental Hotel.  Well worth it!  One of the features is the saloon, which has been lovingly restored, complete with animal heads of all kinds.  I believe every animal found in the West can be found in the saloon.  I polished my identification skills and after a week (and a few beers), i confidently know the difference between deer, elk and caribou, among others. 









One critter than I knew instantly was the jackalope.  He's mounted on the wall just to the left of the doorway into the gift shop and hotel lobby.   Since I felt that all the animals would look better if they had scarves or cowls on, but didn't feel enough commitment to that ideal to actually provide them, I decided to knit a small scarf for the Jackalope. 

I was able to do this with some lovely purple yarn donated by Mountain Meadow Wool.  I knit the scarf in seed stitch, 2 inches wide by 14" long, not including fringe.  It was perfect knitting during Knitting Night with local knitters.

I gave the Jackalope the scarf the next morning, attaching the yarn label.  The next morning the owner of the hotel, Dawn, commented on how lovely the scarf looked on the Jackalope.  I told her that Emily, the resident ghost, had apparently gotten into my needles and yarn and been up to some mischief.  We'll see if that story sticks!  Anyway, he looks quite fetching, whoever gets the knitting credit!

pics courtesy of Maureen Ladley of Ladley & Associates

Story 2: 

I had a magazine deadline, which since I procrastinate, means I was working on it at the last minute.  This involved finishing Bunny Love, a pattern that Creative Knitting accepted for a special interest Babies and Children edition coming out sometime in 2011. 

So, right now I'm kind of over bunnies, cute as they are.  I thought about sending the prototype knitted Bunny Love to my nephews, perhaps with a ransom note, but then decided to just turn him into an Jackalope.  When Sandy and Phyllis stopped by to pick up their new One Skein Wonders Sock Yarn books, we sat and visited and I just whipped those antlers up.  Bunny Love got to sniff the rosemary while I took his pic.   He's so Wyoming!!