The three-year-old crossvine on our front fence is really starting to come into its own. It is filling in and expanding and this spring has an abundance of blooms. We have a one-year-old plant next to the chicken coop that is in full sun that I am hoping in a couple years will even surpass the glory that this one displays. It too is blooming now, but still has the look of a gangly youth.
There is a tree with a deep crevice in our back woods. The neighbor cats like to sit in the crook above the hole and watch, so I’m pretty sure something has made a home in there. I’m just not sure what.
So now that I’m back to posting things for sale on Etsy, I needed a way to organize and protect my inventory. In the past I would tuck boxes into a cupboard, but then have to rummage through the boxes when something sold. This time I bought a file box with hanging folders, and am tucking the cards and wood work into the folders and labeling.
This should keep my inventory safe and dry (rather than on a table or counter where anything could happen), and I know where everything is!
I was hoping to make it through knitting my Grandma’s blanket without having to rip anything out. Alas, it was not to be. I missed a cable cross over row, but luckily caught it two rows later, so only had to frog it (rip rip) back two rows.
Ripping out knitting is a bit terrifying (I always think of getting a runner in pantyhose). Luckily, I learned how to make a lifeline by picking up the target row with a spare needle set. Unfortunately I didn’t look up the directions before I did it. (Here is a link to good instructions for next time.)
The mistake I made was picking up the left leg of the purl stitches instead of the right leg.
The final ripped row was still threaded through the work. Rather than pull the entire skein through, I cut the yarn and made an overhand knot at the end of the row (so I can undo the knot and weave in the ends later).
When I picked the the left leg of the purl stitches, it also made those stitches backwards on the needle.
To make sure these stitches didn’t get twisted, I had to make my purl stitches from the back side of the loop. The knit stitches were all fine. It was an unfortunate mistake, but it is fixed now and I can continue on!
We have some rust issues with the back fence that need to be fixed. However, after we saw a small bird fly into the hole, and Sophie the cat’s interest in the hole, we think a bird has a nest in the bottom. Fixing can wait until after nesting season.
Critters and Craft 