Progress at Last!

Finally, I have managed to get somewhere on my Clapotis:

Naturally, since I put in lifelines, I haven't had any problems with the pattern this time around.

I have also managed to work on my dishtowel. I based the pattern on the ballband dishcloth by Mason Dixon Knitting.

I am really pleased with how easy this pattern is! It makes for good tv knitting. I am using dishcloth cotton, and it is rather pleasant to work with in the heat of summer.

The heat here has let up a bit. Or more accurately, the humidity. The temperature is still up there, but at least the air isn't so thick you could cut it with a knife. So knitting has been put back on the roster of things to do!

The ant battle continues here. In frustration I bought some Raid Max Crawling insect spray. We have been spraying the front of the house outside and in a fit of pique I sprayed under the stove and along the baseboard in the kitchen. The first morning we had a few dead ones on the floor. The second morning we had some more dead ones on the floor and a bunch in between the front door and the screen door. On the third day we didn't find any dead ones upstairs! Yippee! However, when I went into the basement that evening I found dozens of dead ones on the floor! I didn't spray the basement. Weird. I then found a couple of live ones and they were heading for the same corner of the basement. I looked over there, and found what appears to be evidence of the nest! Hard to tell since it is in a corner tucked in behind the furnace and water heater, so I can't just walk behind to look. I found still more dead ones last night in the basement. So they are obviously still around, but dying! So I figured I had better call in the ant guy again and they are going to spray the inside of the house next week. It's a pain because we have to vacate the premises. Kitties included. For 4 hours. So I am going to have to pack up the cats and take thejm over to my MIL for the afternoon. Hopefully that wil be the end of the freaking ant problem! and maybe I will be able to use the dishwasher again.....

In closing, I gift you with a picture of Micha. I finally managed to get a good picture of her. She is very hard to photograph well, so I am very pleased with this picture!