Sunday, August 16, 2009

Stargazer

My girlfriend, MJ, has many interests, ranging from paper quilling to Pre-Raphaelite paintings to remote-control vehicles. One of MJ's current interests is astronomy. She recently bought a Sky-Watcher telescope.

For her birthday in June, I crocheted her this ultra-portable telescope and some celestial objects:


The star, heart, Saturn and moon are strung from a mobile made of metal wire and fishing wire. The telescope's optical tube is reinforced by two cardboard tubes. The yarn legs are wrapped around a mini metallic tripod. The front lens was recycled from the plastic cover of a flashlight.


Here's a video of MJ checking out the telescope's features:


She took both telescopes to the park, where I photographed her stargazing:


In turn, she used my camera and her working telescope to photograph the moon during twilight:


She also captured Jupiter and five of its moons:


Happy Birthday, MJ! You prove that interested people are interesting!

20 comments:

  1. I love your telescope and seriously, your girlfriend is so adorable. What a contagious laugh! Great stuff!

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  2. Oh that is too cute!

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  3. The telescope is great, but your girlfriend is so adorable! I love her hair, and wish I could look good in short hair like that. What an awesome b-day present you gave her!

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  4. How sweet are you??? Love that you made that for MJ!

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  5. Lovely post!
    Great and original idea!

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  6. There you go again!!!Your girlfriend is precious and the telescope with portable solar system is wonderful, fabulous & oh so creative while being scientific & educational!! Way to go, Howie!! Oh & the picture of the moon, by your girlfriend, is gorgeous!

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  7. oh how loving!!! I am sure that you helped her to have a wonderful Birthday!
    Happy Birthday MJ!!
    (and you did a great job on all the crochet objects!)

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  8. Great work! And by the looks of it MJ loved it! And I agree, her laugh is contagious...

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  9. Ooo . . . how awesome would it be to live in a universe where there's a pink heart in the sky? :D

    Awesome project. (And I can't believe MJ caught Jupiter and its moons! So cool!)

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  10. Launi: Thanks! Yes, MJ's laugh is famous for its contagiousness, even to her co-workers. Plus she's always watching comedies, which makes her infectious laughter more frequent haha

    pixelhazard & ✿Ji✿: I share your salutes to the Cuteness Spirits!:D Merci!

    PaisleyJade: Thank you :) It's fun to crochet gifts, though I'm starting to worry about the time required to make this winter's holiday gifts! We all better get an early start :)

    Jess: Thanks! MJ also thanks you for the compliments to her and her short&sassy haircut :D After seeing your blog, MJ says you're pretty, and that you would look smashing in any haircut!

    Shorty: hehe I couldn't afford the many hundreds for a real telescope, so this yarny telescope was the best I could do! ;) Thank you!

    Ju Fidélis: Thank you! It will be fun making more non-critter objects for a bit :D

    Miss Julep: MJ and I appreciate your kind words! She has been turning our families into junior astronomers with her photos and telescope lessons :)

    Seeing the moon through one's own eyes (vs. on a screen or a photo) is breathtaking! When we were taking these photos, curious park-goers asked to look through the real telescope. When they saw the moon's craters up close, many people would audibly gasp.

    K4TT: Thanks for the birthday wishes! The crochet telescope was a belated birthday gift (in addition to a carrying case for her real telescope), so I at least stuck to a theme? :D

    Julie: Yes, she liked the telescope enough to put it on her mantle, though the celestial mobile is hanging in her washroom. I used glow-in-the-dark yarn for those 4 objects, and they do glow more noticeably in there haha

    JenGoPop: You're right, it would be awesome to look up in the sky and see cushy pink hearts up there! Très romantique!

    MJ says she can usually see just four of Jupiter's moons, so the visibility of a fifth moon is relatively rare. She also showed me a view of Saturn recently, and it was incredible to see its rings!

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  11. That is soo sweet. It is the cutest thing ever I wonder if I could get my boy to crochet me something..... Unlikely so I will just swoon at what you did instead.

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  12. Oanhderbread: Thank you! I often wonder if eye-less objects can still be cute :D

    stromasdragon: I'm sure you could convince your boy to crochet you something if you promise to swoon! :D I'm lucky that MJ reacts so well to my gifts. It wouldn't be fun if she just hucked them onto the floor haha Thanks!

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  13. What a fabulous and original idea. The thought that went into this, not to mention the work, shows just how special you wanted MJ's birthday to be. And MJ taking both telescopes to the park shows just how much she appreciated your efforts! What an adorable couple you are. Best wishes to both of you always!!

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  14. ~♥Sonya: Thank you for your sweet wishes! Yes, it's fun to share similar interests when you're a couple, or at least, appreciate the different interests! :D The park trip worked out well since MJ wanted to see the moon & I wanted to photograph her with the telescopes!

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  15. I stumbled across your blog today and your creations are wonderful! You have a great imagination. I only recently taught myself to crochet and I have a few Ami's of my own. I look forward to more of your works so I can be inspired.

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  16. Dragonpearl: I'm glad you stumbled this way, thanks! I'm sure you will be a crochet whiz in the blink of an eye, especially with the supportive crochet community cheering you on :)

    TADA's Revolution: hehe Thanks! I'm happy MJ liked her birthday gift. It's on her fireplace mantle right now, and I recently leaned Peanutty against the eyepiece, so the telescope is being used 24/7 now :D

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