Despite initial reservations, it’s turned out that I really rather like Twitter. I set up an account last April and, although making connections has been slow, it’s been great for finding like-minded people… especially folks recycling, reusing, repairing and repurposing. In addition, on days when I don’t want to embark on reading long posts, it keeps me connected with the world.
Anyway, through a regular weekly discussion via Twitter – Make do and mend Hour – I also encountered a large family of critters, The ‘Vaarks. Originally created by Danielle Lowy of The Make it Shop in Manchester, and featured in her booklet How to Make Monsters & Monkeys, the ‘vaarks have taken on a life of their own. Various ‘vaarks have their own Twitter feeds – @Ratvaark, @Mousevaark, @Bendivaark and @Phileas_Vaark – sharing their adventures in gardening, repairing, reusing objects and eating cake.
And, so I hankered after my own ‘vaark. The originals are each stitched from an old sock, but being me, I didn’t fancy sewing and kept looking at the spare knitted snail shell and some left-over sock yarn I had to hand. Then I mentioned on Twitter my desire to make a snail version of a ‘vaark, and thus the seed was sown. I just had to make a snailvaark. Not only did I have to make a snailvaark, however, I had to make one (at the request of Alfred, one of Ratvaark’s guardians) that was able to retreat into his shell. I thought about it long and hard and didn’t make any progress, and then I heard that Ratvaark and his folks are coming to west Wales in May, and want to meet up for cake… hopefully with snailvaark too.
So, this week, I picked up my crochet hook and set to. And I’m pleased to introduce Snailvaark:
This is Snailvaark!
As you can see, he can be a bit shy:
Gone!
But he can be persuaded to come out again:
Oh, hello
Snailvaark has been very well-received. Danielle-creator-of-vaarks has already asked if she can have one (it’s on my list) and he got a good reception from some of his cousins on-line:
Snailvaark makes his internet début (courtesy of @Ratvaark)
In May, there will be a grand ‘vaark gathering (the crowd above plus Bendivaark who lives locally), with tea and cake… who says we can’t develop meaningful relationships via the internet?
If you want to follow Snailvaark’s adventures on Twitter, he has his own fledgeling account: @snailvaark (what else?)
And if you want to follow me, I’m @thesnailofhappy (happiness was, apparently, too much for it to cope with!)
Ready for some adventures
The Snail of Happiness 
Wild Daffodil
/ February 5, 2016Speechless, but smiling!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016If you are smiling, then I have succeeded!
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Wild Daffodil
/ February 5, 2016Ha! Ha! 😄 Have a great tea party!
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katechiconi
/ February 5, 2016It sounds as if the group should have a catering manager called Cakevaark…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016and a teavaark!
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katechiconi
/ February 5, 2016Bisquvaark….?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016cookievaark!
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Wild Daffodil
/ February 5, 2016Sconevaark
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016ooh, yes
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iamsimplyhooked
/ February 5, 2016That’s one cute creature!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016such a simple idea… I added the complications by wanting the snail part!
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Ann Pole
/ February 5, 2016Snailvark is lovely. I’d happily offer a home if he didn’t already have one. 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016The spikies might bet jealous!
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Danielle Lowy
/ February 5, 2016Guilty of two things here – inventing the Mousevaark (in 2009!) and over-excitedly totally begging for a snailvaark within minutes of seeing him. I’m happy to say that the lovely @snailofhappy has agreed to a swap!
(Mouse)vaarks rule!
Danielle x
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016Just have to decide on what colour he’s going to be. The shall of snailvaark #1 had been hanging around for a while, so that defined his primary colour, but snailvaark #2 could be any colour from my stash…
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Danielle
/ February 5, 2016I wonder if there is any purple in the stash….? Just a passing thought about the nature of the stash…. 💜
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016There’s lots of purple in the stash… one of my favourite colours!
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nanacathy2
/ February 5, 2016I love him!😊
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 5, 2016he’s about to have a sibling, who will be off to live with Danielle in Manchester
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arlingwoman
/ February 5, 2016This is very funny! I love the picture of his siblings greeting him. May have to follow on Twitter.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016It’s certainly resulted in lots of smiles here!
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nettyg
/ February 5, 2016Snorts with laughter. A wonderful plus of the internet. We’l all be crossing to the ‘varkside 🙂
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Wild Daffodil
/ February 5, 2016😄 😃 😝 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016May the ‘vaark be with you!
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thecontentedcrafter
/ February 5, 2016Totally brilliant and a whole lot of fun! My Twitter experience is very limited!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016It took me a while to get into it, but once I started making connections it became much more enjoyable. In many ways it’s better than Facebook – hardly any memes and links to political stuff and any rants kept necessarily short. In addition, Twitter does not control what you see – everything appears on the feed.
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Karen B
/ February 5, 2016Welcome to the world, Snailvark! Wonderful ! 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016Snailvaark may be joining us in May…
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claire
/ February 6, 2016ooooh lovely!! well done
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016Snailvaark says ‘hello’
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Sue Archer
/ February 6, 2016We’re very glad to have introduced you to the vaarks, via our good friend Ratvaark. Looking forward to meeting Snailvaark and his sibling!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 6, 2016Sibling should be on his way to Danielle in the next few days, so you’ll see him/her first 🙂
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Lori Fontanes
/ February 6, 2016Yes, I’m spending far too much time on Twitter these days & rather enjoying it, must admit! See you there!!!
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emmazocco
/ February 6, 2016He is so adorable!!! I’m sure you and him will have an awesome time eating cake and drinking tea/coffee with the other Vaarks!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 7, 2016he’s already been very busy, as you will see if you check out his tweets!
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Born To Organize
/ February 7, 2016What a delight. I’m going to find you on Twitter now.
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Kitty
/ February 7, 2016Ahh Mrs Snail, Snailvaark is simply adorable and making me laugh so much too! I’m very envious of your crocheting talents.
It also reminds me of a little elephant that I think my mum knitted for me as a young child. I kept him up until adulthood when the moths sadly attacked him.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 7, 2016Moths are the enemy of the yarn artist!
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Kitty
/ February 7, 2016Yes so I’ve gathered.
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ February 9, 2016I love Snailvaark! Especially the fact that he can hide away in his shell when all the attention gets too much for him! What a great idea… Plus I’m now considering joining Twitter, something I’ve long avoided 😃
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quercuscommunity
/ February 9, 2016I know what you mean about the characters available for Twitter names – I am a slightly shortened @quercuscommy on there. Hope it goes well for you.
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shapeofthingstoni
/ February 11, 2016Snailvaark is rather adorable! I’m glad you’ve found yourself a Twitter family: I’ve met some brilliant people through it, as well as connecting with knowledgeable and inspiring people in sustainability, ecology and development. 🙂
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