Wednesday, November 14, 2007

wild kingdom and an fo that's not mine

That is a picture of a spider attempting to eat a ladybug on the ceiling in my living room. Before you ask: no, I did not, despite my latest obsession, intervene on the part of the ladybug, but yes, the ladybug did get away. It was really way too big for that spider (a spider big enough to eat a ladybug would probably make me ask J to kindly get a shoe). Btw, do you love how the camera focused on the chip in my ceiling and not so much on the bugs? Oh well. You may also wonder why I chose to photograph the drama unfolding on my ceiling instead of just getting the bugs out of the house. I'm generally not that squeamish about bugs as long as they aren't huge and they don't fly (so I always pretty much know where they are). Besides, I had just heard an interview on npr with this spider researcher and she told about this population of brown recluse spiders that have been living in the basement of a Goodwill store in LA since the 1950's. All attempts to eradicate them have failed, but nobody's ever been bitten and they've never spread beyond that basement. So I figure I'm pretty safe. As for the ladybug, well, they're cute. Plus they're everywhere this year, and I'm sure they'll be gone when the cold weather really sets in. And though it was no toad being eaten by a snake, it was pretty interesting.

As for the fo, allow me to present my mom's first sock!

She did a very nice job, I must say. And it's lovely soft bamboo - yum. (Anybody with tips on washing bamboo? Thanks!)

I have been knitting some new stuff, myself, totally cheating on the craft fair. J, if you're reading, stop here. Thanks. Love ya. Dude, I just can't make anymore hats/neckwarmers. We've got, like, 75 items, and that is not even an exaggeration. So here is what will be a felted stadium seat cover for my mom's Christmas gift. Here also is the chart I'll be working from when I get to that point, because the big old blue stockinette rectangle is not terribly evocative of the finished project:

I realize that's not the Patriots' logo. Don't blame me - I know nothing about football - but she likes the Giants. She has since childhood, the Giants were her mom's team too, so that's that. My sister is a diehard Pats fan, if that helps.
Also I started some socks for J. He has made some rather pointed remarks about not having any handknit socks yet, so he shall have them for Christmas. I had a ton of leftover Berroco Ultra Alpaca from Mrs Darcy, so that's what I'm using. Yay for unisex brown.



Stay tuned tomorrow for a favorite cold-weather recipe. Holy crap, am I actually planning posts in advance?