Knit, Garden, Hike, Repeat

 On the knitting front, I finished my pair of socks using the Winwick Mum pattern and the Turtlepurl yarn. It took me several weeks with school and everything to make the first sock and I messed up the toe part so badly that I actually took scissors to it and cut it off (!) and went at it again. Of course, the second sock went like magic and I finished it in 2 days. I was a little dismayed that the yarn ends did not weave in very well (especially as I had alternated colors for the cuff, heel, and toes) and did not improve after blocking. When I went back to look at the yarn, sure enough, the yarn is superwash wool, so will not stick to itself. If I had known that, I would not have just knit straight ahead and not switched colors. 

I am pretty happy with these overall though. 

What I am NOT happy with is the cardigan I started last summer. It is a cotton cardi with no buttons and it should be easy. I stopped knitting it because the cotton yarn was giving me no end of grief with the stitches seemingly constantly slipping off the needle. Well, I pulled this UFO out this week and had another go, but when reading the directions I was at a loss. "Selvedge stitch"--"Sew on sleeves"--"Sew on collar." I fiddled and thought and just could not wrap my head around what to do. It seemed the selvedge stitch was to be put in the wrong place--and wouldn't I need a row of those stitches? The more I looked at my uneven knitting and thought about having to somehow evenly pick up stitches on bound off stitches, I just said to myself, no. 

Alas, this project is officially scrapped. Life is too short for this kind of thing.

Instead, I cast on the Lunenburg pullover by Amy Christoffers. This may have 5 balls of yarn going all at once, but I definitely feel more comfortable knitting something like this.

Meanwhile, the flower garden is over the top! Bursting with color and variety.

Saturday, I went on a group hike up to Anna Ruby Falls, a dynamic double waterfall. 

The trail was thick with rhododendron and passed over many water ways. It was a fairly challenging ascent, but the falls at the top were a fabulous reward and a great place to stop for lunch before heading back down. 

Everyone on the hike was so nice and interesting and enthusiastic. 

 My son and I went out this morning, poking around in the woods for snakes. We saw a pair of water snakes, but didn't even bother to take a picture of them. He calls them "lowest of the low tier snakes." In other words, super common. It was really just too hot for snakes today.

 But we didn't mind. We did get to see this this glorious mimosa in full bloom!

All About the Plants

 So, all the vegetables are in and coming along nicely.

We've been eating the kale and the fava beans and radishes as they come. And hope for snap peas before too long.  Everything is still looking fine and the inevitable insect and disease troubles haven't really begun yet. Ha! 

Honestly, though we've attacked the weeds much more seriously this year and have kept pushing back a lot of "volunteers" that shoot up perpetually like wisteria and English ivy and jasmine and nandina. So far, so good.

Iris' of all colors are opening everywhere.  More varieties than I have pictures of.

And big washes of orchids are everywhere too.

The peonies and roses are opening. And even the clematis on the gate has blooms this year.

The hostas have come up an unfurled. We have so many varieties! The area here in the picture looks so good now, but fern comes in and takes over by summer's end. Right now, I can keep it tamped down more or less, but each day more little fern ends poke up.

The frogs are out in the evening (along with the mosquitos!), and there are little green or brown anoles hiding out in their favorite plants along the brick work on the patio. The fish are happy in their (FINALLY) functioning and clean pond. Today I saw a pair of goldfinches pass through and a big flock of cedar waxwings. So, late spring is here full on. All the early golds have turned to green. I've brought the hibiscus back outside and now they are even out of the shade too. Most of my seeding  is finished. I've only some zinna and marigolds to sew here and there.

Such a pleasure! I hope you are enjoying spring as much as I am.

Warm and Cold Spring

 Typical of spring, some days this week were wonderfully warm and some were seriously cold. Like sleet in April cold. That was yesterday. We were talking to someone outside when suddenly, the sky opened up and freezing rain was falling on us!

I don't mind cold weather, but I had hoped to plant my garden and get the bulk of the annuals in during my spring break.

Well, no worries, because today was warm as ever and we got the vegetable garden planted.

Every year we add a few more vegetables it seems. Last year we had incredible yields from the poblano, but the plant began to die before the peppers were mature. This year, we put the poblano in his own pot like we have traditionally done. We hope this helps the fruit mature. ??  Gardening is fun for me because each year I never know which plants will do well and which won't, and I love problem solving and trying to fix mistakes from one year to the next.

The fava beans are all finally taking off (some people call these broad beans) since the weather warmed up. And the sugar snap peas are coming up alongside the kale (Nero di Toscana). The kale seeds were free!

I also put in a ton of flowers, but half of those are seeds so I didn't take any pictures. Someone gifted us some amaranth--which grows like 5 feet tall. I sewed a few of those seeds and we shall see what results!

On the cold days, I was able to read and knit. I knitted a pretty simple colorwork hat. It is called the Nordic Fair Isle Slouch Hat. I made it with Cloudborn Fibers fine highland wool I got on closeout last year.  The weight of the yarn was an exact match for that in the pattern which is why I bought it.

I loved making a cable cast on and knitting the corrugated ribbing! I made this in one day and never had to tink back even once. I guess I am getting better--finally--at knitting. Hooray!

I also started a sock using self striping yarn from Turtlepurl in the color Bob's Camping Trip. This yarn is so soft and delicious!! It is a bit more costy than some other yarns, but when I got it out to drape over my swift, I fell in love with it. I LOVE these saturated colors. I got the pack that has the alternate color for the cuff, heel, and toes.

I am using the sock pattern from Winwick Mum. I have 2 pairs of socks I made from her pattern, and they fit me better than other socks I have made, so I am using her pattern again. It is a straight forward top down sock. So nice to knit a sock and listen to an audio book on a rainy day!

Tomorrow is back to school. I am looking forward to seeing all my youngsters again and hearing how bored they were on break and yet how boring school is too except that now they get to be with their friends. Ah! Teens.

Have a great week!

An Early Spring

 I'm not sure what the groundhog saw this year, but around here, it is spring.

We spent time today setting up a new raised bed and planting peas. I am so pleased with how tidy this garden area looks!

As the summer progresses, this area gets very tropical looking with all the crazy plants that come up. In fact, much of the fence will be barely visible! Right now, kale, radishes, broad beans, and carrots are growing. They are all really taking off now that it is warm.

I was thrilled to see this carrot! I've never in my life actually grown a carrot from seed. This was a fabulous first! 

The flower garden is all still pretty sleepy and a mess. Little by little I will get it in order too. I enjoy being outside working , smelling the jasmine today and hearing a pair of hawks calling to each other as they flew overhead.

Yesterday I went for a hike. It was slow and easy. Another nice day outdoors. I love this time of year when the hike starts out and its cold and everyone wants to get moving to warm up, and then midway you de-layer if you aren't too sweaty (because then you get all cold again). I love that no insects swarm at you. But, I do miss the leaves. Soon though, the wild flowers will be coming up. I don't want to miss them this year. I often miss them in the woods because spring is my busy yard work time.

Noses Creek

Noses Creek Trail

It's another busy week coming up. Lots of school and meetings. I've got one sleeve left on my forsythia sweater. Maybe I will get it finished this week. Well, that's a pretty big maybe. We'll see. 

Slow Summer Days

This week we have been working on clearing some of the sediment out of the pond so that the water will be clearer. I think we will need to do another treatment after the rains subside. It is a process of adding something called flocculent and then catching all the sediment that clumps up in quilting padding as it flows to the pump. This means keeping an ear/eye out for when the water can no longer move through the padding and having to jump up and change it. It's a good time to sit and read or knit or work outside. The work isn't hard, it's just a little messy and you have to be there.

Here is a little goldfinch friend who comes to eat the cone flower (echinacea) seeds. He's a little early for these flowers I think.

In summer, we love to eat simple salads and lots of fruit. I make a smoothie almost every day for lunch. Of course we have LOADS of cucumbers. We have given sack fulls to all our neighbors and we still have more! 

The half sour pickles came out delicious!

But sometimes, the healthy eating gets pushed aside. This week we made s'mores. I was so craving them. And they were great--even without the campfire--haha. 

I've been working on knitting a pair of little rabbits. The second one is almost done. All he needs are his legs and tail. Then I will knit each of them a sweater. This is a sweet summer project because there is no long heavy fabric to deal with. Christopher Rabbit Pattern

The balloon flowers and gladiolas are opening. So beautiful!

It was a lovely slow week here. Hope yours it going well too!

October

Today is cloudy and all over rain. Twenty minutes clear, twenty minutes showers. Last night it poured and flooded the backyard and pond. It's the usual autumn edges of hurricane. Limbs and detritus are everywhere, but it is too wet to go out and clean up. The pond is the color of milky tea. Poor fish.

I planted some mustard green seeds that came free with seeds I ordered back in the summer.  We'll see if the heavy rain washed them away. Some volunteer green beans were growing too, so I closed them in to my experiment garden plot as well.  Maybe we'll get some beans.

Another experiment I'm trying is windowsill herbs. I am not sure these will actually grow, but it is worth a try I guess. 

My dear husband surprised me by buying me some more of these little notebooks. (He knows how I love notebooks!)

One of them is missing here because it is at school. Another one has pond notes in it--like dates and PH and KH measurements, etc.  The rest are empty. I just love them. You think a person could write a whole novel in these? I bet they could. I used to fill up loads of notebooks before I started typing everything. 

These notebooks remind me of a little old man I used to see in cafes and bars around town. He would be sitting alone writing in a little notebook. Always. I wondered what he was writing. But I never asked. That was years and years ago. 

I keep these notebooks in a crocheted basket I made a couple of years ago. (And never weaved in the end! It is still holding together with a clip--haha.) I love the color and texture of this yarn so much. It is Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. I bought some to make a sweater. Of course, I'm waiting for the weather to cool down before starting that project.

 

Both my boys thought they might have had Covid last weekend. Two of them at once, living in different cities. I haven't seen them in months. It was frightening, but they got tested and both tests came back negative.  What disturbing times.

I hope all is well in your world. 

Here is a picture taken on a sunnier day. We grew the orange pumpkins, but I had to cut them off the vine too soon because of burrowing beetles. I wasn't sure they'd hold together until October, but they did!