Boy, I have pretty much decided that people who own aquariums must love real-life drama. I'm serious when I say this because I thought, when we took home our very own and got it all started, that it would be everything that it hasn't turned out to be.
Last night, our Bamboo Shrimp, Lucky Stripe, aka "Jumbo" got out. And Godot did too. I only know this because this morning Girlfriend came around my side of the bed, tugged at my sleeping arm and said "Mom, I'm not sure if Jumbo molted on my bathroom floor or if Jumbo somehow got into my bathroom."
This bathroom we're talking about is about 25 feet from the aquarium.
And then I looked into the tank (after seeing Jumbo there on her floor) and I realized Godot was missing too. We only had that frog for about a week and let me tell you, he grossed me out plenty. He'd hide for ages (hence his name) or hang out in his cave with his four limbs planted on the four corners and stare back at me. Maybe he was plotting his getaway but problem is, he's now missing too and we haven't found him.
I will surely die a thousand deaths if I step on something squishy in the middle of the night.
Or maybe he plotted with Lucky Stripe, aka Jumbo, for a getaway while I wasn't looking and he became Loretta's snack. Ugh.
Never ending freshwater aquarium drama, I tell you. I should contact a local freshwater magazine and ask if they want an aquarium columnist who specializes in wonky ph balance, escaper and swimming sideways stories.
On knitting news. Well, there's plenty, but it isn't half as interesting as what is going on in and around that dang tank.
1. I'm knitting my first chemo cap. This one is jaunty. It's not for me but for a family member.
2. I think yarn bombing is a waste of time.
3. I will not knit a cozy for that tank.
4. I have officially spent 8 hours knitting one 4-inch swatch. It wasn't a good time.
5. The chicken is almost done so I have to wrap this up.
6. Knitted socks are completely underrated. Especially the ones that are just stockinette.
7. When your husband wears them till they die, it is a compliment.
8. When your daughter wears them till they die it is even more of a compliment.
9. People, knit socks for your loved ones. And don't use worsted weight yarn.
That is all for today.
Except this: I probably won't be able to eat shrimp again. For your eyes only: Jumbo, aka, Lucky Stripe, on Girlfriend's bathroom floor. (How the heck did he get there?)
I think that nothing I knit is appreciated as a good pair of socks. You can never go wrong there! Even my husband likes the socks I make him, and he's not much for hand knit anything.
Posted by: susan | July 24, 2012 at 08:00 PM
Love it.....Wendy, I can never go wrong with your posts. :) For the record, I also think yarn bombing is a colossal waste of time. Kudos to you for saying it out loud.
Posted by: Michelle | July 24, 2012 at 08:04 PM
Wait, is he dead in that picture?
My sister had a frog in her aquarium when she was a kid, it also got out and we never found it.
Sometimes I miss having an aquarium but they're more work and drama than I have time for.
Posted by: Jenn | July 24, 2012 at 08:12 PM
I love this post! I have to say we had a small bala shark jump out of our tank and die on the dining room floor. I thought I read somewhere aquariums were relaxing- obviously written by someone who doesn't have one.
Posted by: Lori | July 24, 2012 at 08:29 PM
Can they walk? So weird. Knit bombing totally seems like a waste of time and I don't think I'd want to participate, but when I see it around town, it makes me smile.
Posted by: Windsor Grace | July 24, 2012 at 08:36 PM
To add to the yarn-bombing conversation: I think there is a place for it: In a museum.
Posted by: Wendy | July 24, 2012 at 08:56 PM
Jumbo is dead in that picture. We found him way too late.
Posted by: Wendy | July 24, 2012 at 08:59 PM
Ugh, I had those water frogs and they grossed. me. out. I specifically had those cellophane-y, see through nightmares and they were absolutely horrifying. I hated the way they skirted around the tank and then would just freeze somewhere, floating petrified, then take off again without notice. Good god I hated those things. You're honestly better off when they disappear. Thank Loretta; she did you a favor.
Posted by: flossie | July 24, 2012 at 09:38 PM
Ah yes, fish stories, that's what tanks are good for. We had a pair of kissing Gourami who both lept the tank flopped across the counter and landed in the dog dish where they made out in the kibble till I heard their noise. Even perfectly breaded in dog food they survived to kiss many a day .. rinsed and back in a lidded tank.
Luck to your hat gift-ee
Posted by: Tory | July 24, 2012 at 09:44 PM
Oh man, I once went to summer camp (it wasn't even the kind with cabins but a boarding school out in some california hills) where there had been an absolute frog population explosion. The frogs would crowd the sidewalks at night. Teenage girls stepping on frogs makes for lots of squealing, though the guys were actually just as bad but not so high pitched.
Posted by: GinkgoKnits | July 25, 2012 at 12:05 AM
I have a pair of socks that are my emergency backup knitting for the day (in case I cannot pull out the deadline sweater). I love them because they are little works of color. Delicious, delicious color.
Posted by: Seanna Lea | July 25, 2012 at 03:03 AM
Aquariums are only really and truly relaxing when they're beautifully designed, well-kept, and belong to someone else.
Posted by: Stardancer | July 25, 2012 at 05:38 AM
2.--Yup
6.--definitely, pretty much the only socks I knit.
7 & 8--I'll have to take your word for it. My people are ingrates.
Posted by: Ashley | July 25, 2012 at 06:13 AM
we had a newt once (or my brother did) that ended up in the hallway, dead. the hallway that was DOWNSTAIRS from the aquarium. We think he got out of the aquarium, then the bedroom, into the bath across the hall and then used the pipes to get into the downstairs bath (one room over, one floor down) and then got out and made it to the hall. Because otherwise it was like 20 stairs? CREEPY!
Posted by: alyson | July 25, 2012 at 06:31 AM
Yes, this exactly describes my morning! We have a rosy barb that is terrorizing a catfish, so now I have to treat the poor catfish's injuries, separate the rosy barb some how . . . sometimes that aquarium feels like only a source of stress and guilt! Surprisingly, we haven't had any tank jumpers . . . yet. I would never describe it as "relaxing" but I also just can't live without that dang aquarium.
Posted by: katie | July 25, 2012 at 07:51 AM
That is VERY "interesting" indeed to find a shrimp on a bathroom floor. Maybe, from a kid's pocket??? many strange things have been found in a kid's pocket.. =P
I really enjoyed your commentary on socks and to NOT knit worsted...I'm learning to knit socks...and my ultimate goal is to knit with the "iddy-biddy" stuff =D
I have to ask...(off topic). But, do you have any knitted patterns thatn have a Maderin-type color. I was thinking how cute one of your vests would be with a collar of that type =). I LUV-LUV your patterns!!!
thanks,
annie
Posted by: annie toy | July 25, 2012 at 07:53 AM
You got a lid on your tank? Shrimp can jump. I think we had to stick a weight on the lid for our turtle tank because things kept escaping.
My sister had a hamster (named Tootie) that could climb out of its cage (with a screen lid too), shimmy down a bookcase, and climb a flight of stairs. It always hid under my cousin Em's bed--I think Tootie liked terrorizing her. Tiny hamster thrills.
Posted by: Flora | July 25, 2012 at 12:11 PM
agreed on the yarn bombing...
Posted by: robinvk | July 25, 2012 at 12:44 PM
I've tried knitting fancier socks, but the stockinette ones are best for me. :) Such socks are perfectly fine for wearing, and much more relaxing to knit. After a couple of pairs, I don't need a pattern either. Auto-pilot socks!!! Let the gorgeous yarns do the decorating! Love 'em.
Posted by: samm | July 25, 2012 at 02:24 PM
Yarn bombing... waste of yarn! Socks, knitted them for every member of the family and only half were converted. Shrimp in the floor? That's quiet a mystery. Do those things launch themselves?
Posted by: jomamma | July 25, 2012 at 05:54 PM
It gives me an inordinate little thrill to leave small crochet or knit covered stones as gifts to the universe in my travels. I hope the next person who sees it smiles. Waste of time? Perhaps.
Posted by: Jill | July 26, 2012 at 05:00 AM
Regarding the fleeing frog, you might want to check under/behind the refrigerator, near the water heater, etc ... Amphibian runaways often seek sources of warmth. Good luck!
Posted by: Barbara | July 26, 2012 at 07:28 AM
My husband won't wear anything I knit him, except socks. He has about 10 pairs. It's getting so I have to think of creative ways to package socks for birthday and Christmas. This year they were hanging off a potted plant that "came knocking" at the front door.
Good luck w/ the tank. We had the same problem with our pond. Then we discovered the racoons. And a goldfish with a bite out of it on the roof of the carport. Racoons apparently don't like goldfish but they keep thinking they might. We don't have a pond anymore.
Posted by: Su1282 | July 26, 2012 at 07:36 AM
Aquarium escapees...Sis used to have a 20 Gal tank, and put one of the little crabs in it. The tank was lidded, but there were gaps where the air pump hose and other accessories entered. We had to put tinfoil over the gaps, and check all the time because the stupid crab would pick it off! And the cats LOVED it when that crab scuttled across the floor:"It smells like fish, but it's crawling like a spider?!?" --Absolute insanity. I don't know how that thing lived as long as it did.
Posted by: CeltChick | July 26, 2012 at 08:54 AM
I am so relieved to hear that I'm not the only one who thinks yarn bombing is a waste of time! Every time I see/hear about it, I think "gee they could have made a decent sweater/hat/pr of socks in the amount of time they have in that". But I've never heard anyone say anything negative about it! Thank you!!
Posted by: Beth | July 26, 2012 at 03:00 PM