Our Monarch adventure has gone pretty well. We have successfully raised and released 5 butterflies. One more is in chrysalis. We expect it to emerge about September 21. Each of ours took 9-10 days.
Now, we are planting more milkweed. We fed every leaf we had! We bought 3 plants and dug 3 wild plants. And, we have a little seed to plant. We are looking forward to spring migration 2019!
Our first three were males, and our last two were females.
What a bittersweet moment, releasing our first Monarch into the wild.
A few years ago, I met a lady at at Crank-In (for circular sock knitting machines–CSM) who was raising Monarch butterflies. She showed us pictures on her phone. Oh, wow! I wanted to do this. My first step was to plant some milkweed, the host plant referred by Monarchs.
We planted the seed 3 years ago, but it has not done really well, and we have never seen it bloom. About two weeks ago, I decided to check it out to see how it was progressing, and I found four Monarch caterpillars on it, even though it was still pretty scraggly. Oh, my, I was not prepared for this!
I had to create an enclosure. I pulled out a collapsible laundry basket, added a cookie sheet on one side (for the floor), and a piece of screen to close the top (front). It was a couple of days before I got back to cut some milkweed for feed and gather caterpillars. By that time, there were only two, but we check again frequently.
Enclosure from materials on hand.
We have released our first Monarch! It was such a rewarding experience, and it was so hard to let him go. We still have two in chrysalis, and discovered two tiny caterpillars that apparently hatched from our host milkweed. Our milkweed supply is about depleted, but we hope to raise these two little guys to maturity and release them to join the fall migration south.
I seem to spend more time deciding what to make than I do making it. I’ve been making some HK hats. I have a basket full of slippers knitted on the Brother 260. I need to have a felting day.
I spent New Year’s Day cranking 2 pair of boot socks. It sure felt good to be productive. Knitting time has just been so fragmented since early November. Note to self: Anything I don’t have finished before the Fall Bazaar at church is not going to be finished before Christmas!
Paton’s Classic Wool, Brown with flecks of color.
Flecks of color don’t show, and they are very “hairy”.
Yesterday, I knitted these slippers on my Brother 260 bulky knitting machine. I experimented by using the sew-as-you-go-method, so that all I need to do by hand is the bind off across the heel. I think it came out fine and the seam does not show.
Every project is an experiment…keeps life interesting!
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