Pestilence

It was bad enough to have a mouse in my hotel room, but now I have to deal with this on my very own front door:



Startled Mornings
Three mornings I've opened my front door to find this four inch bug greeting me. I have no idea what it is, but it's less than thrilling to have it hanging out on my screen door.

Other Startling Items
As many of you mentioned in comments, the "Men's" issue of Knitty is out.

First of all, I want to say that I love the idea of Knitty. The communal effort of this on-line knitting magazine is a worthy effort, and I'm glad it's there. However, I've never had very high expectations of their designs, since the compensation for designs is minimal, and as anyone who has written a knitting pattern knows, it's a pain in the ass.

That being said, I'm not very fond of how they executed this latest "Men's" issue. Especially when the nicest garment is a striped baby blanket that is non-gender-specific as far as I can tell. I agree with Tricky Tricot that it's disappointing that most of the designs are by women. I also agree mostly with Franklin's comments about the wearability of these garments. For me, the skull & crossbones cardigan with three quarter sleeves (so they doen't interfere with my DJ'ing) is laughable, and the men's Kimono is just a silly use of knitting. I do like the short-row hat, but I would use a nice yarn, and more interesting color combinations than black and white or red and white.

Finally, if anyone is interested in knitting my current pullover, just follow the directions for the Saranac, and change to a standard crew-neck. It uses the exact same pattern stitch as my current project, and I love the color she selected for the design.

Current Knitting
I told you I'd post a progress picture (or, in this case, a lack-of-progress picture) of the Wool/Hemp pullover.



I was glad to see the design in knitty using this same pattern stitch, but with a solid color. I used the pattern stitch to mix up the colors, but I also like the fabric created with the green yarn in the Knitty design. Since I wasn't planning on writing up this design, I'm glad someone else did.

Readers' Comments/Questions
RJ asked the other day, "Is the wool/hemp knitting up like wool/linen would?"

I'm pretty sure the two yarns would knit up practically the same. There is a loose drape, and very little stretch to the wool/hemp yarn. It's also a little scratchy, which I'm hoping will soften over time after multiple wearings.

Marie asks, "Your Merino singles look really great. What have you got planned for them?"

I plan on double-plying them into sock yarn.