Visitors

We have been having visitors near the house lately. One I've seen:

He likes to have breakfast in the same spot in the backyard most mornings. I believe he is the same little fellow we saw back in February. I am tickled pink every time I look out the window and see him, although I do get a little worried when I see him run off to the garden to hide. (He seems to favor a big clump of catnip I need to pull up).

The other visitor(s) I haven't seen, but I've seen the evidence:

%&$#@! deer have been munching on my tomato plants. Four of the six plants have been damaged; this one is the worst. (No, it wasn't the bunny; much of the damage is too high up.) I think they'll all recover, now that I've put out my deer deterrent--each tomato tower now sports a bar of soap. The cheapest, stinkiest deodorant soap I could find (Walgreens, 3 bars for $1).

I've been working on my Lopi vest, and I swear, the neck and armhole ribbing is going to take me as long as the rest of the vest. It's just three rows of ribbing, but I spent two days trying out different bind-off techniques for the neck until I found one I could live with. The Lopi really responded well to all that ripping, I can tell you. I ended up doing the basic bind-off for the neck, and it's acceptable, but I thought I'd try this one for the armholes.

BTW, I love the cable on my new Knit Picks circular needle. Wonderfully flexible; a joy to use! But the needles are slippery as all get-out. I know some people like that, but I'm not one of them. Maybe it's because I tend to knit loosely, but I feel like I have to keep a death-grip on them to keep them from falling completely out of the sweater. If Knit Picks put that cable on some bamboo needles, I'd be in heaven.

Speaking of Knit Picks, they told me it'll be a month before I can get a color card with the new Telemark colors on it. :( They said I can return the one I received and get a refund. I am tempted to go ahead and order the Charcoal Heather and hope I like it in real life. I'm getting really antsy to cast on for my next sweater; I think it's separation anxiety since my Lopi vest is so close to being done. I find that I'm craving bigger projects in addition to the socks and mittens. Maybe another BSJ is in order, just to tide me over...