Knitting mojo returns

I had been kind of "meh" on the various projects recently. (Actually, I think I was kind of "meh" to a lot of things; my working hypothesis here is some grass was flowering and setting off my allergies).

I'm regaining interest in knitting. Last night I "did the divide" (for the front and back) on Raven, so I can probably knit some if not all of the front part during exams tomorrow. I also found a lace vest pattern on Ravelry somewhat in the style of the "Alpine" or "Bavarian" vests - low cut, scoops under the bustline, fairly fitted. I like the idea of that especially as I have a couple of ruffled white blouses it would go well with. Also, because it's relatively less fabric, it doesn't take much yarn....I think I have something in-stash that will work for it. (it's SweaterBabe's "Little Lace Vest")

Also while looking at my Ravelry "library" I saw the pattern for Hermione's Everyday Mitts (it's a free pattern from Erica Lueder, the person who designed them) and thought, "I want to make those some time.....wait, they call for a dk yarn....do I have any small quantities of dk yarn in my stash?"

And then I remembered: yes, I have some orange "Herriot" dk that I bought to make mitts with back on my birthday trip to Quixotic Fibers. I found it, wound it off, and have it sitting as the "next" project I begin once something is finished.

I also thought about making another pair of the related "Hermione's Everyday Socks" (both these patterns use a very simple knit-purl pattern, but it looks nice and is more fun to knit than just plain stockinette). I found a yarn bought long-ago in one of my storage bags (the colorway is called Mineral; it is a mix of taupes and tans) and wound that off.

***

They were talking on the news this morning about copperheads (and oh, how I dislike the new-ish trend of setting up stories "clickbait style" - they introduced this as "Snakes are showing up in Texas yards, the surprising reason why...." and cut to commercial)

They're showing up late at night - between 9 pm and midnight. Which tells me I need not worry that much as I don't go out at those hours. And they're congregating around oak trees (Okay, that tells me that there's something they're attracted to, probably a food).

Turns out it's emerging cicadas. I don't know if it's a periodical-hatch year in Texas (which would mean I have even less reason to be concerned as we don't seem to be getting a brood year here) or if other food for them has gone downhill or if this is just something that happens every late summer and it's the first time anyone has noticed it.

I find it interesting. I mean, yeah, copperheads, don't want 'em in MY yard but, it's an interesting sort of little ecological thing that they are eating the cicadas (And I'm not exactly a fan of cicadas so it's interesting something eats them)