It's a Mating Swarm

I managed to wrap up a couple projects recently and while casting off on my Pine Forrest Baby Blanket, I got to witness a nature event that will probably make most people cringe. I loved it.

Mr. Pickens, who hardly leaves my side, was playing with an insect on the floor beside me. Insects in the house is not an abnormal thing, especially when I have the screened porch door open, little moths usually somehow get in and suffer the torture of one of the cats. I was certain this was the case and after the kitten had decided he would not eat this insect but play with it, I thought I would save the moth.

I got up and went over to him and stooped to find that this was no moth but a termite that was in it's mating molt, winged form. I squished it immediately thinking, we do not need anymore of you guys. I sat back down and went back to my knitting. Not long after that, I noticed Mr. Pickens had another one. I squished it and continued knitting. After a trip to go get my freshly brewed coffee, I noticed Mr. Pickens was now fascinated with the window sill.

I came upon this:

I vacuumed them up right away.

But they did not stop coming.

I sat down at my computer and decided to do some research and found this link about indoor swarming insects. I then got the opportunity to look outside as my desktop faces a window. The termites were certainly swarming! Unfortunately I do not have a fancy enough camera to capture it (I tried) but I did get this after going outside to investigate.

There were so many! They were taking to flight as soon as they left this little crack and were also coming out of the flower bed next the me. They were flying into my nose, and into the jaws of the dragonflies, wasps, larger flies that I've never seen before, and birds that were swooping around the yard eating as many as they could. I got to see a dragonfly take out so many termites right out of the air! The dragonflies were the closest termite eater to the ground, probably to keep far enough away from the birds, and so the easiest to see in action. The birds were at every level, but were up to 100 feet above the house. I couldn't see the termites up that far but it was cool to know that they must have been that high. They were very delicate flyers, looking really like dainty moths in flight, with a large wingspan for their size. They certainly revealed the many spider webs against the side of the house as they absolutely clogged them. The birds were amazing in their ability to dip and dive so sharply. I couldn't tell what kind they were, but I know sparrows are best known for being insectivorous, so perhaps they were sparrows. It was awesome to experience.

I emailed my landlord immediately.

My cats were very helpful in eating as many termites as they could before I vacuumed them.


I started and finished a little softie over the weekend. It's a Mr. Octi the Octopus.

I embroidered the face and stuffed it with yarn bits. I got to use my new Halcyarn project bag for this project.

The designer is Dr. Kelly from the Ewe University podcast which I started listening to after Emily of the Fibre Town podcast mentioned it. Ewe University is an audio only podcast and can be a little slow going but I have enjoyed the 2 episodes that I've heard so far. The bag is cute at a cute price and she tucks in a stitch marker and handmade notecard.

I also wrapped up my Pine Forest Baby Blanket.

I just knit on it until I had used up the skein of yarn. I had about 2 yards left over after casting off and it was one of those Red Heart Super Savers that have ~360 yards in them. That's it blocking in my laundry room. I steam blocked it first, but I wasn't satisfied with the lace at that point so I tried hardcore blocking. I have a little electric 3 gallon washing machine that was once used for socks and undies in the days of extreme poverty that were my first years in college, but is now used as a way to wash my knits and handwash only clothes.

This is it. Got it for $30 on Amazon 8 years ago.

For my blanket, and other scratchy knit items, I wash them in this with a tablespoon of hair conditioner. It really improves the cuddlyness. I got that tip from a podcaster, I think, but I don't know who it was anymore.

Now I have begun work on a Butterfly Hat.

As soon as I finish a project, I always say that I will commit time to dabbling into a new craft. Wanting to knit all the things makes this very difficult. But this time, for real. And I'm just going to do a really outdated and difficult and hardly appreciated handicraft: hardanger.
I was out at a community book sale recently and found this book for 0.25.

 

Family members are going to get a lot of useless pieces of embroidered fabric posing as bookmarks this Christmas. Yay! The book did come with a greast surprise and revealed the hardanger fervor of the previous owner:

The card has a hardanger design on it and a note that makes clear that the book was a gift to a younger relative encouraging them to try this craft that has impacted the elder's life so greatly. No hardanger bookmarks, but perhaps Elsie decided to hold on to those.

That is the latest! See you soon.