It has been kind of a tough week. The weather shifted and suddenly became hot; I struggled with the sudden heat and couldn’t sleep well. I had adventures with online ordering that created a duplicate of an expensive item that finally got returned for me by my son. Mateo caught a baby bunny somehow that he brought into the house; it took two hours to catch it. My ankles/feet have decided that they hate my guts with as much swelling and tendon pain as my wrists did last month. Then the absolute worst: my next-door neighbor poisoned the bunnies and every single baby bunny died along with most of the adults that I have seen. I suddenly understood why bunnies suddenly disappeared last year.
I put the bodies into her trash. Every single one of them, including the rescued baby that I had carefully returned to the yard two days earlier.
Okay, enough of that. You should see what has been happening with the Soldotna Crop sweater:
I’ve been taking the knitting off the needles and steam blocking it to check for length, and I’m so pleased with how the sweater fits and looks now. I finished the ribbing late last night, steam blocked the whole body this morning, and took it out for this picture. Looking good, huh!!
I put the sweater onto blocking mats to finish drying indoors, and then I headed out to take some pictures of the roses. Let me tell you, these roses are really happy with the water earlier this year, and now that it is hot, they are blooming like crazy!
These are the front roses, and they are really looking good this year! Do you see all of those buds? They have never been this lush and prolific before. These roses are called Hot Cocoa.
That rose is over 4 inches across, and for once the plant is sturdy enough to hold all of the blooms upright.
So, the roses are looking pretty darn good. I went back into the house with the pictures and discovered that Hannah had savaged overly-loved the Soldotna while I was out of the house.
I pulled the worst of the fluff to the inside of the sweater with a little crochet hook, and then I shaved the remaining fluff off. It isn’t perfect, but it isn’t horrible. I’ve decided to finish the sleeves and will then decide if I should rip back to above the damage and then reknit the bottom of the sweater. I don’t want to reuse the blocked yarn, and it all depends on how much of the dusty pink is left over. I’m pretty sure that I will rip and then reknit. This sweater must be cursed…
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
I like it because of the roses, Marilyn. That’s about all. They are swoonable, without doubt.
I can scarcely believe that it was Hannah and not Mateo !
Your next-door neighbour: can this unspeakable person not be taken to task in some way ? – possibly by poisoning ?
Hannah is the one! She will suddenly start grooming away on a handknit and can actually create a hole. I have a nice shawl that has some yarns knotted together in a spot where she actually obliterated the fabric. I love her so much it is okay, except in this case, of course. I usually remember to put a towel over blocking handknit because of this but I didn’t this time. Lesson learned.
I’m not talking to this neighbor because she is impossible to deal with. Seriously, as in there is definitely a personality disorder here. Best to just keep your distance.
Sighh .. yes, I recognize that type. We had a pair next-door when we lived in Annandale; and they attacked us physically because we tried to stop their cats from digging up our carefully-planted little strip front garden. We had to move away. But we were young and fancy-free and able to do that ..
Impossible not to love Hannah: she is – well, Hannah !! 😀
Yep. Some people have outsized entitlement and just can’t be reasoned with.
Oh boy that’s so depressing about the rabbits. I’m afraid I couldn’t speak to my neighbour ever again if they did that. When we moved here the estate was overrun by rabbits and my 2 cats I had caught and killed and ate them all. I was embarrassed but the neighbours were grateful and the estate has remained rabbit free despite my cats having died many years ago now.
It’s a small section damaged what if you duplicate stitched over do you think that may work?
I had a greatly beloved cat who managed to kill an even dozen bunnies one year. There were so many in that neighborhood that we had to get out of our cars to chase then out of the street so you could drive on it. Mateo would sure like to try to match that record! I was so freaked out when I realized that she had put out poison because Mateo had managed to catch that one bunny… I think that it would be nice to warn the neighbors, don’t you?
I did think about duplicate stitch, but it isn’t that bad. Then I thought that I could add another inch or so of knitting and maybe change the ribbing placement if I ripped back…
That neighbor is despicable. Any local dog or cat could have gotten into that poison. I did have one summer when rabbits were chewing holes in my backyard grass, but I never considered poisoning them! Your roses are gorgeous. I’m too lazy to try growing them and never had much luck anyway. Tell Hanna she’s in the doghouse. That’ll fix her!
I bought some rabbit repellent to use in the areas of the lawn where they had snacked a little too much, but seriously, putting out poison is over the top! I worry for another neighbor’s cat now. Ironically, her dog died two years ago from a sudden onset blood disorder, and after reading about how this rabbit poison works, I think that she poisoned her own dog as there was a dog door and unlimited access to the yard at that time. Some people shouldn’t have pets.
I love roses because they are pretty easy to grow and the bunnies don’t chomp on them. The one English rose I have has to grow in partial shade, but the others are somewhat drought tolerant and the landscape roses just grow and bloom like crazy along the side of the driveway. My mother had wonderful roses so I was raised with them.
Oh, Hannah thinks that she should get some more knitted toys! Maybe she can play with them in the doghouse!
Hannah: do they serve tuna in the doghouse?
Heh heh ! – trust you to come up with that ! 😀
Your poor, beleaguered sweater. I fully understand the appeal of wet wool, and I also understand your frustration. You can’t stay mad at those cute cats for long, eh? I am appalled that your neighbor poisoned the bunnies. I’m sorry you had to pick them up, poor things, but I’m glad you put them in her trash so she can see the end result of her actions. Your garden looks stunning.
I’m now feeling good about the sweater again and have decided to rip back so I can knit it a little longer and I also plan to try out a different edging treatment as I don’t like all of that ribbing. It’s a win again! I’ll be much more careful when I do the final blocking!
You’re right. Those two cats are just too darn cute to stay mad at!
Oh Marilyn – how little encouragement you need to utter a statement like that !! [grin]
That is all good news, then. I’m happy for you.
What a horrible thing to do! The poor bunnies 😦
But your roses look so beautiful, and I’m glad Mateo didn’t get any poison. That’s a big positive.
I am so, so sorry about the bunnies! And about your health difficulties as well – you are going through so much. Your roses are glorious though!
Poor bunnies! It sounds like it’s a long-term win on the sweater, though, and your roses are stunning. I hope the heat breaks a bit to give you some relief from it!