my new friends and some spinning and something really important

My husband took these pictures for me. He's really good at the macro photography.

Jerry - a small Purple Pincher land hermit crab
Lucy - a slightly larger (but still small) Purple Pincher crab
Habibi - a teenie PP crab that has since dug in. He wouldn't come out of his shell for a picture, so this is a shot of his little claws. I may not see him again for awhile.

Tom's another small crab, but I didn't get any good pictures of him. I've had Tom and Jerry for a couple of weeks, and got Lucy and Habibi yesterday. They're living in a 10 gallon tank in my office. Fascinating little critters, but require rather more set up and care than most people know.... humidity and temperature are critical.

I'm learning fast and think I've finally just about got their tank set up correctly. I need to add some netting for them to climb (I'm knitting it, of course). Most people seem to recommend nylon or hemp to prevent rotting or mold. I'm tempted to try wool. Wonder how well it will hold up to warm, humid conditions?

That shot last week was of their tank before I added all the extra stuff... there's a lot more bedding and things to climb on and under now. Lots of extra shells, too. They like to swap shells every now and then.

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting lately since I've been working so much. I have, however, been doing a fair amount of spinning on my little home-made bead spindle.

My singles ready to ply. I ply from both ends of the ball - nothing left over!

My Kundert spindle is great for plying. The singles can take hours, but the plying is 15-20 minutes.

The finished yarn - there's about 40 yards in that hank. I'll combine it with two others to make a ball.

I've got about 570 yards so far. I need 1200 - 1500 yards for the shawl I'd like to make. Got a ways to go!

And the really important bit -

This is our 12th wedding anniversary! I love you sweetheart!