Monday, January 23, 2006

Winter has arrived!

We’ve had an uncommonly mild winter so far, but look what it’s doing this morning -

Pretty cool, hunh?  I can relax and enjoy it since I don’t have to do any driving today :) It’s coming down very heavily and we’ve had probably already gotten 5 inches or so.  If the winter follows its currently established pattern, the temperatures will go back up to the 50s later this week and by next Monday this will all be just a memory.  You don’t think so?  Me neither :) I think winter just took a while to wind up.  It’s going to stay with us for a while.

We got Snap a new tank last week.

She had been living in a small acrylic aquarium tank which we were less and less happy with.  Hard to clean, retains odors and as the acrylic gets more and more worn, the gerbil becomes less and less visible - not problems you have with glass.  So we went out and found a 5 1/2 gallon glass tank and cover and set Snap up in that this weekend.  It’s going to be great: she has more room, she can see out better and we can see in better.  The cats enjoy the improved visibility too :)





Crackle and Pop have grown to be very beautiful little girls, happy and friendly.  We enjoy all the wee ones enormously.  That aqua reflection you can see in the above picture?  My night-shirt.  Sundays tend to be pretty relaxed around here :)





I finally did start a blanket project though it’s not the afghan of my dreams.  Again, it’s an effort to use up stash yarn, Caron Simply Soft this time.  I did a swatch, figured out my measurements and gauge and then cast 128 stitches (yarn doubled) on to a size 10 circular.  With 16 blocks about 3.5 inches wide, that should give me a width of about 56 inches.  I’ll work it to a length of about 70 inches or so.  Right now I’m figuring the blue will be the main color with various other colors worked in here and there - coral and turquoise mostly.  I may even play with the texture of the blocks now and again - some seed stitch here, a cable there.  That’s part of the fun of making it up as you go along - you can do anything you like!





And this is another Dulaan hat.  I figure I’ll probably be working on quite a few Dulaan things for a while.  You can see the Fisherman’s wool; the sock yarn that I’m combining with it is also Lionbrand and I’m trying to figure out how to handle this for socks to go with.  Probably double the sock yarn for cuff, heel and toe and use the plain wool for the leg and foot.  I have a few balls of sock yarn that I can use in this fashion for little sets.  I’ll probably make a few scarves as well.

Happy Monday!

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1. what an incredible ‘snow’ picture- love the contrast of the greenery with the frosty exterior- kudos to the photographer-

   aha, i see a reincarnation of ‘lady eleanor’- whee!!

   stay warm and happy-

   Posted by  on  01/23  at  12:43 PM
   Location : still right here...



2. Barb - Hehe - yep, the yarns are from the long defunct Lady E.  I do like them and they are nice to knit with because they’re so soft.  But when I get to Lady E. it’s going to be with something very special :)

   Glad you liked the picture.  We’re up to a foot of snow now!

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/23  at  01:53 PM
   Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...



3. Ooh, a hat made with sock yarn.  What pattern are you using?

   Posted by Pamela  on  01/23  at  04:58 PM
   Location : UK



4. Wait, why is Snap in exile?  Poor little thingy, isolated like that.  Or is she beaten up on a regular basis?

   Posted by  on  01/23  at  05:49 PM
   Location :



5. Pam - I’m using this pattern:

   http://ooobabyknits.typepad.com/ooo_baby_knits/2004/07/something_old.html

   and modifying the decreases a la this pattern:

   http://www.alohamedia.net/sarah/hats/chicken-viking/

   It’s not entirely sock yarn, it’s sock yarn carried along with a strand of cream colored worsted wool.

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/23  at  06:59 PM
   Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...



6. Samina - Snap lives alone because of her propensity for biting her sisters. She is quite active, diabolical (for someone with a lentil-sized brain) and very territorial.

   But, she seems perfectly happy and her sisters, one of whom she injured early on (hence Snap’s removel to her own quarters), are happy too :) So it all works out.

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/23  at  07:04 PM
   Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...



7. I’ll be upping the Dulaan ante soon too. :) Cute start to your hat!

   I LOVE seeing your snow! I truly think we’ll make it through this winter with nary a flake to our names. At least northern NM got a few inches over the weekend but ABQ is still dry as a bone. Our fire season has started and it’s only Jan! That doesn’t bode well for mid-July. :(

   Posted by Bron  on  01/23  at  07:43 PM
   Location :



8. Hi Robbyn, Snap looks very content there. Your gerbils are a handsome bunch, aren’t they? Sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis. My Dad had the same experience a couple of months back and is doing the diet and exercise to keep it under control.

   Posted by Anne  on  01/24  at  05:31 AM
   Location : UK



9. Bron - Well, we’ve got a ton of the stuff at the moment :) It looks really pretty outside - for now. It’ll get grungy soon :)

   I’ll hold a good thought for some rain or snow for you folks.  Sounds like you need it!

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/24  at  09:29 AM
   Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...



10. Anne - Yes, we think they’re all gorgeous.  It’s great fun to watch them build their nests and chew up their wood and cardboard toys.

    Sorry to hear about your father but glad to hear he’s keeping things under control :) Seems I’m in good company!

    Posted by Robbyn  on  01/24  at  09:32 AM
    Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...



11. Okay, now you’ve made me want to try entrelac to get rid of all my sock yarn scraps.  (Wouldn’t that be cool?  It’d be a memorial sock afghan.)

    I’d like to point out that I know NOTHING about entrelac…

    Posted by Colleen  on  01/24  at  02:35 PM
    Location : At my cubicle. As usual.



12. Coleen - With the self-patterning/striping sock yarns you could get some excellent effects!  What a spiffy blanket that would make!

    Posted by Robbyn  on  01/24  at  06:42 PM
    Location : Coralling the dust bunnies...

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