THE LIFE-CYCLE OF A BLANKIE

Look who I've been chatting with this weekend! It's 'Sock Yarn Blankie'! He's just woken up, after a very long and lonely, year long (well, very nearly) hibernation. He was a little bit cranky and a little bit distressed by the bright light of day, but other than that he looked great, after a stretch and a cuddle. These blankies are quite extraordinary little creatures, you know. They manage to remain tightly curled in the bottom of deep, dark bags, without any form of yarny nourishment or human contact for months, sometimes even years! Their survival is a complete mystery to all those who have delved into the long and, very often, quite secret life of the 'Sock Yarn Blankie'.

My little companion is still very much an infant. He has a considerable amount of growing to do, before he reaches adulthood. This can take any number of years ...................... usually many, many! He has been more than happy to sit on the arm of the sofa all weekend, soaking up the family atmosphere and reacquainting himself with life in the Snoopydog home, although there are signs of hunger and I know that feeding must begin very soon, if he is remain docile and companionable.

Here he is as a newborn.... just after entering the world on July 21st 2009.

Here he is after his first feed.....

And here, only a few weeks later,

They can grow at an alarming rate, but as you can see, my little friend seems to be progressing rather slowly. There is much debate over whether this is down to Nature, or nurture. There is, however, no clear pattern thus far. Certainly, feeding is high up there on the list of factors being investigated at the present time. Blankie food comes in many different colours and qualities.

 The Snoopydog blankie is fed on only the most succulent and squishy yarny skeins as you can see from the evidence above. Each meal is carefully weighed out into 3g portions. We don't want him getting too fat, now do we! He does get leftovers too, but only cut from the highest quality Snoopydog sock yarn skeins. So, all in all, the quality of the food certainly doesn't appear to speed up the growth rate.

 Scientifically, the lifecycle of these little companions is unfathomable, due to extent and range of their different genetic make-ups. All we know for certain, is that they love to be cherished and fondled and allowed to sleep for relatively long periods of time, before awakening ready for a good 'top-up' feeding session. The feed sessions can last for days, weeks or even months, until the day hibernation resumes; he will slip back quietly into the dark recesses of the blankie bag for a lovely, long sleep.

Well, there you have it. What an instuctional post I had for you all this evening. I bet not one of you suspected that old Snoops was the great scientist that she is!!!! Oh no! Hopefully, there will shortly be a follow up, to show more recent evidence of blankie feeding and, hopefully, growing.

Until next time, I wish you all a good evening and a very productive week ahead.