The divine and the odd

Here are two things I've found interesting lately. One is amazing and beautiful, the other is amazingly... odd.

The beautiful first: some truly "little things." I love how when you look at the minute details of the natural world, art emerges in unexpected places. Nikon holds an annual competition for photomicrography. Wired.com has a few gorgeous images in their article about it, and more can be seen in the Nikon Small World gallery.

(I wouldn't normally think of a mouse colon as something with the potential to be pretty, but check it out in the first link!)

Now the slightly absurd... or not? At home recently, we were talking about a woman who knits cat hair into tote bags, and I assumed she was a one-of-a-kind oddity. Well, apparently not. I found a website that promises if you send them your pet's hair, they will wash and spin it into yarn, then send it back to you so you can knit things out of your pet. But it doesn't stop there. There's also a book to help out if you need ideas on what to do with your pet's hair! That's a relief.



I have to admit, at first I did find this weird and possibly ooky, but the more I think about it, the more I'm picturing my parents' chow mix, Gitta, and the piles and piles of fluffy blonde fur I throw out into the yard every year while stripping her winter coat. It would be so practical it would be to use that stuff! Don't worry, if I do something crazy, I promise not to give any knitted gifts without checking on the allergy status of the recipient. :)