Review: Dyson DC35 Animal

Arabella Dyson

After using this you will never need another vacuum. Period.

That is a tall claim, but after having used this for 2 weeks around our house, we are convinced that this is the future of all vacuums. It is even better than our beloved automatic Roomba and the original full size Dyson.

Is it a handheld? Or is it a standup vacuum? It is both! And that is what is brilliant about it.

Face it, if you do regular clean-up, you don’t need the full sized Dyson. But you don’t do regular clean-ups because lugging the heavy full size Dyson is a chore. Right?

But use this Dyson 35 Animal and you will do more regular clean-ups because it so easy and lightweight to use. It combines the convenience of a handheld with the power of a Dyson motor.

What is not to love?

— Light enough to be used by even a kid.

— Does not need to be plugged in to use. Carry it to the cleaning location and press the button.

— The bin is big enough to hold a regular clean up. Empty the bin with the touch of a button with no mess.

— Two modes – one for regular clean up and the max mode for more powerful suction.

— Hangs in the cupboard with space for multiple attachments.

We used it to do a regular house clean, to clean a family car, and to clean a car that was used to transport a pet. Except for the pet car, for everything else the DC 35 Animal was powerful enough, especially when used with the mini brush tool to come up spotless. We couldn’t be happier.

There are some issues though!

— The battery on max power lasts only 6 minutes and takes 3.5 hours to fully charge.

— It is not a full sized Dyson. That is a feature and a problem. Some situations will require the full sized Dyson.

All in all, we would recommend this Dyson wholeheartedly. It will replace your original Dyson.

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When I knit socks (which sadly I have not done in a while; need to get a new pair on the needles soon!) I generally stick to pretty simple designs and colorwork that isn’t all that detailed.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a fancy sock, I’m also just pretty lazy and I figure a project worked on size 0 or 1 US needles is going to take a long time even without the added work of intricate colorwork, so why make it more complicated?

But there are definitely socks out there I’d be willing to make an exception for, and I think Tangled Bliss by Annette Schleicher may just be one of them.

If you can’t tell from looking, this is decidedly an advanced knitting pattern. There’s brioche for the cuffs, complex looking colorwork done with the ladderback jacquard technique, multiple charts, and colors changing everywhere.

There are links to tutorials for all the special skills in the pattern, but still it would help to have a handle on these concepts before you get started.

The pattern uses three colors of light fingering weight yarn at a whopping 31 stitches per 4 inches/10 cm (that’s 7.75 stitches per inch/2.5 cm).

Would you believe me if I told you that this pattern was designed for a speed knitting contest? Speed would be the last thing on my mind.

But again, I think all the work for these fancy socks would be worth it. I love hoe the colorwork looks like an old tile floor, and think of the bragging rights when you tell people you made them yourself. (Though of course you did; have you ever seen store-bought socks that look anything like this?)

Best of all, this pattern is available for free on Ravelry, so there’s no reason not to give it a try if you’ve got the skills. If you do, I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Annette Schleicher]

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