Insomniac Knitting

Yesterday I played a funeral in the morning. It was hot at the cemetery but there was a nice breeze. I saw an Common Buckeye but alas, no camera. Even if I had had my camera it would not have been proper to run around in a kilt (or anything else) shooting photos during a funeral service. I think the butterfly understood what was going on because it landed quite close to me and spread its wings several times, just to show off. Sadly, we do not see Common Buckeyes as often as we should. Many butterflies are decreasing in numbers due to pesticides, herbicides, loss of habitat, and other environmental reasons. It is frightening to think how precarious their situation is.
This photo was taken last summer at Sand Ridge State Forest. The "eyes" on butterflies are thought to be a defense mechanism. A predator thinks the dots are the eyes and therefore connected to the head. I've seen many a butterfly getting along with partial wings.

Last night I had trouble getting to sleep so I got up, made myself a cup of hot chocolate, and thought about knitting. I'm ready to start a new project but I didn't want anything too elaborate. Reading the many knitting blogs and seeing such spectacular projects inspires me but right now I'm in mindless knitting mode. I go through these phases. I've done the Fair Isle and Arans, etc. and will get back to them. So I started one of the baby bibs in Mason Dixon Knitting. All garter stitch and totally mindless. After about an hour I was ready to sleep.

Tomorrow I am packing for a 5 day trip to LA to visit my brother. I'm driving to my parents' home and we'll fly out together.