Wednesday, June 13, 2007

CIRCLE TOTE AND ROBIN WOES.....


Well, I have cast on and begun my circle tote. It is quite the challenge for me but I think I am slowly making some progress and catching on to a thing or two. It is a bit cumbersome having all the different yarns dangling from the back, but I LOVE the way it is turning out and hope to be able to master it to some degree so I can do more of these!!




I finished and felted my 2nd Moebius basket.
It is amazing how different yarns knit and felt. These two baskets are exactly the same pattern.. same number of stitches etc.., but very different in final size. The maroon one is made with Reynolds Lopi yarn and is quite hairy! The striped one is with Crystal Palace Fjord.

My Magical Knitting books came yesterday and I am trying to decide what project to start next!





We have a love-sick robin. He pines away at his reflection in our window day in and day out. I am not quite sure what to do! I don't know if he was thwarted in love; lost his mate; is extremely narcisstic or what??











The biggest problem with the robin, is the 'gifts' that he leaves himself on our window sill and the deck and, well, everywhere! Yuck! And now that it's berry season, the 'gifts' are quite colorful!! We have tried several things to discourage our robin. Papers in the windows, picture of another, very ugly, bird etc.. To no avail....











I thought of asking Sumo to do something (like eat) the robin. I mean, he's a big strong lab who is born and bred to hunt, right? Well, I guess he belongs to the local chapter of LACTR. (Labs Against Cruelty To Robins) and was quite offended that I even suggested it. Go figure!


Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.










Until Next Time....

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one weird bird! I have never heard of that. Try tin foil, maybe strips waving on the window sill. I would have thought a sticker of another bird would discourage it.
Good work with your circle tote! I have never tried intarsia.
Also, have not been to centre island yet but we were talking about it the other day.

Karen said...

Janice...my neighbors had the same problem only with a cardinal. They put up something that looked like an aluminum foil hula skirt on the outside of the window. The wind waved it around and the it kept him away. If that doesn't work how about a picture of a mean cat?

The tote looks cute, can't wait to see it done. You are the "Tote Queen".

Karen in MN where we love our robins!

Jennifer said...

love the pic of sumo w/ his lil stuffed friend...soo cute!

good luck w/ the real bird...not sure what you can do about that one.

ps - the circle tote looks really cool - is it a free pattern or one from a book/yarn shop? i haven't done intarsia, but that looks like something i'd give it a go for :)

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe said...

I love your circle tote! Is it a coincidence that you're making it in my very favorite color combination? Just wondering.

Cute robin story!

AR said...

Hmmm - Weird bird!

Love your bag so far. What a neat pattern. The baskets look cute, too. Wonder what would happen if you used those two yarns together, and the one felted more?

rohanknitter said...

Aww, Sumo the bird lover.
We've never had a bird do that, although I know if parakeets have a mirror in their cage they spend most of their time with it. Is there something you could put up so he can't see himself?
We've used big plastic owls in the garden to keep birds away, I guess you need a big owl picture to put in the window! ; )

rohanknitter said...

Forgot to say....great bag! Great colors.

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Seems to me I heard something awhile back that if you have some fabric strips or something to blow in the wind (especially if it makes noise), it might or should discourage the bird. At any rate, it couldn't hurt to try it.

monica said...

I have no advice to offer in regards to your robin dilemma, and I have to admit until I saw the outside of the window sill I thought it was sweet. Obviously Sumo will be no help. Love the tote in progress.

hakucho said...

That is so interesting seeing the results of the same exact pattern knitted with two different yarns. Guess you do have to be careful substituting when felting especially when you need a certain fit. Can't wait to see your circle bag finished. Looks like fun.

Poor Robin and poor you :( He probably needs therapy ;)

happy knitting :)

Anonymous said...

I had a silly robin 2 yrs in a row what I did was cover my window with a black trash bag and he went away.I did feel sorry for him he was really hurting himself there was small amount of blood along with the gifts he left.