Hot Water, Finished Objects,Arbitrary Goals, and Some Current Event Commentary

Around here we have squirrels.  Everywhere. They dig in the lawn and the flowers, herbs and food plant pots alike, peanuts found in the most unlikely spots on a regular basis.  A sprinkle of cayenne slows them down, but cayenne degrades rather quickly when left out in the elements.
We have dried arbol chiles in the pantry.  Half a handful were chucked, seeds and all, into a mortar and pestle.  After a bit of pulverizing, the chiles were dropped in a large container, with some dried rosemary, and doused in boiling water.

The resultant infusion will be strained, placed in a spray bottle, then have some neem oil added to it.  This combination should deter most bugs and critters.  We shall see.
The baby socks and hat have been completed and gifted.

My summer Autumn League pullover has also been finished:

Which means the arbitrary goal of fifteen projects completed for the year...was achieved before the end of June.
My brain has kindly supplied yet another arbitrary goal/time frame in which it seems to think I can finish another three sweaters.

From left to right they are: Shiny, Ripple Crop Top, and Special-T. (Shiny has been on the needles since late July 2018. I really do need to finish it)  Two weeks is totally reasonable right? 
The Ripple Crop Top actually went to Barbarian Brewing with me this weekend!

Two hundred percent of my previous annual goal? Sure! I can do that!  (Just have to skip some housework and sleep.) Of course, I've finished most of the smaller projects on my needles and there aren't many small items on my "to knit" list and at least two of the sweaters I want to finish this year (only one of which is on the needles) require a solid 1500 to 2000 yards of yarn...so maybe aim for one hundred and fifty percent of the annual goal?  Totally reasonable.

As for current events; most of you probably saw something about an announcement on Ravelry. It was mentioned on various news outlets and late night talk shows.  The new policy is a step in the correct direction.  Ravelry is a private company (run by good people), this is totally valid.  I don't just stand with Ravelry though;  I stand even more with the Ravelers who reported those on the site being malicious, who pushed for action to be taken.  Speaking up is difficult; more so when you are personally threatened.  To all those that continue to speak up, to push, to fight; you are understandably tired, I hope you are safe, and thank you.

Happy Solstice!

We went to a barbecue this afternoon.  It was about 60*F.  It also rained.  I lamented not bringing a jacket and gloves to the park.  Yay summer?
My plants continue to give it their all though. 

The raspberries will be ripe, eventually:

Tomorrow is supposed to provide us with the perfect weather that we hoped for today.  Husband and I will likely hit Barbarian Brewing to sample their new stuff for this week. 
Tonight,  we will drink local and semi-local mead while nibbling fresh strawberries.

May your barbecues be warm and your beverages tasty for the shortest night of the year!

Distractions and Detours

Also Known As: why I rarely get things done in a timely fashion or in any sort of logical order.

The wildflowers I planted produced a daisy (I think) in a color I have never grown before:

It is pink y'all.  Like '80's L.A. Gear tee shirt I used to own, pink.

A glass table we have had, and moved, for the last twenty years (the last ten it's been outside in all weathers), kind of...randomly exploded, the other day:

The one chip that was in the table?  Was still there when I went to clean up the resulting mess.

I recently made friends with a young military family getting ready to have their first child.  As I rather like them, they've been invited for food (of course).  Knitter Mom also kicked in, especially as the first full season the newborn will experience, is Idaho Winter.
So I cast on some socks (based on this pattern) earlier this week with yarn pillaged from stash:

Then I realized, woolies for toes are good, but during Idaho Winter, child needs their head covered as well...so I went into the stash, found some yarn and a pattern:

I'm trying to get both projects done as fast as possible, they need to be washed before I pass them along.
I was making progress on my Autumn League (Summer edition):

As well as my Special-T:

The yarn for the Special-T has been surprisingly nice to work with, particularly as it's a nylon/cotton/acrylic/silk/linen blend.  Definitely a non-wool blend I would work with again!

The real problem/distraction I am having?  I went and took a good solid look at the pages for the Ripple Bralette and the Ripple Crop Top.  Now I think I need both.  In multiple colors.

I was just browsing new patterns

Scrolling through the latest pattern on Ravelry, like I do all too often, I found one of the latest by Boo Knits, Venus Rising.  Interesting, though goodness knows I was not looking for yet another giant lace shawl pattern with beads.  I still went with my normal routine with patterns I am interested in; look for yarn and/or beads and if I find things, plan for the purchase of all the things needed, put them together in a kit and chuck it in a bin in the craft room for later.  The whole process sounds simple enough.  Usually, if I am truly taken with a pattern, I buy it, then can't find the "perfect" materials to make it, so it gets set aside indefinitely, with the supplies I envision for it bouncing around in the back of my skull. 
This time, the pattern was not put on the back burner.  I went looking, only to find a BFL/silk lace in the Rosewood colorway from NorthBound Knitting and Sparkly Champagne beads, with a Venus theme?  Perfect.

As it was Eat. Sleep. Knit., they are doing their yarn marathon again this year (I hadn't bought yarn from them since fall last year) I grabbed a skein of Malabrigo lace in the Velvet Grapes colorway to pop me to the first level.  I knew I already had one in the yarn stash.  A second skein would give me enough yardage to make something substantial.

As Daughter gasped when she saw the color, the Twenny Dolla Sweater I will make with it shall go to her. 
To find that second skein,  I had to dig through bins in the craft room. Which means I found yarn for two or three more Twenny Dolla Sweaters in colors I prefer(charcoal and blood red).  The Monarri pattern  has been bouncing around in my head as well.  I may have found a couple of quantities (in burgundy and green) of yarn in the correct gauge and fiber content, (I do adore silk) to make the top.  Trying to be sensible, I grouped them in little piles and told myself once I got a few more things off the needles, then I would pull them out and kit them up properly to be cast on.
I did allow myself to pull out one kit that had been put aside for a good long while, my Abomination Unto Nuggan shawl

Of course it's blue.  What other color could I have possibly chosen?  I do love a novel inspired knit.

The yarn for my (first) All Tied Up tank has been left out:

And the My Boy Lollipop sweater is practically begging me to find yarn for it!

I have six sweaters, a minimum of five shawls, seven pairs of socks, some shopping bags, and one Cal-King sized crochet scrap blanket in progress at this very moment.
Two sweaters have actually been finished in the last two weeks:
Mini Montrey (which even Husband announced was cute when I tried it on) still needs buttons:

As well as a third June Lake:

At that rate I can totally get all the sweaters on my needles, maybe some socks and a shawl or three completed by the end of August....right?