Category: Accessories

  • super quick FO!

    I finished the hemp ‘ponchette’! That was fast. Would’ve been faster had I been quicker on weaving in the ends, putting it together, and running it through the wash, but whatever. You know how it is!

    fo: hemp ponchette

    Hemp Ponchette
    Pattern: “Cool Hemp Ponchette” from Hemp for Knitting – [Rav link]
    Yarn: 3 skeins of AllHemp6 Lux in the natural colour. Pattern and yarn are available at lettuce knit!
    Needles: US 8 Denise. It’s been a while since I used Denise needles!
    Time: start to finish, less than two weeks. The knitting itself was super quick.

    I made the rectangular piece a little longer than called for for the smaller size – I went until I ran out of yarn, just a few more repeats. The lace pattern is nice and easily memorizable, and I actually really like the sawtooth edge. At first I was a little confused (bind off? what?) but it was, of course, quickly apparent what the effect was. I knit this up for a store sample, so it needed to be quick, but it’s only a three skein project anyway – very speedy once you’re in the rhythm. Have I mentioned that lately I’m really feeling the garter stitch love? Much like the rest of blogland!

    I threw this in with a load of laundry once it was put together (crochet seam) and the ends woven in, and it machine washed and dried up super nicely! It did generate a lot of fluff in the dryer, so make sure you keep that lint trap clean. It’s SO soft. I definitely want some kind of garment knit out of this yarn.

    The “lux” hemp really is a lot softer and silkier than the regular AllHemp6, which I used for a large project last year (soon to been seen in a book), so I remember how that stuff felt! The Lux is a lot less splitty in the knitting, especially on the larger needles, and feels softer after a wash as well. The drape is incredible! And the colours are rich and fantastic.

    FO parade! There’s another one peeking out in the photo above, but I’ll leave that for another day.

  • state of the garden

    garden, july 7

    Someone asked for an update on how my garden was going – I’m more than happy to oblige! I took a bunch of photos today while out doing some watering. The constant rain for awhile there was irritating, but at least I didn’t have to get dressed, go outside and water every day!

    In the top row, L-R:
    1. Cucumber. Doing pretty well, looks healthy, with one yellow flower so far. I think I might let it just sprawl on the ground although I’m still wavering on whether to trellis it. That was the original plan, and it’s planted just at the bottom of the stair railing to the deck. I’ve got other squash plants planted next to the cucumber, and while they aren’t big yet (actually, two of them died and I just reseeded, ugh) it might get really crowded, really fast. Maybe I will set up a trellis so the cucumber will grow up along the railing.

    2. A puny tomato plant. Maybe purple ball? I can’t remember (but they’ve got tags in the ground). I’d originally planted a few of my tomato seedlings in a different spot, and although they all look healthy, they just weren’t growing much. I think once the leaves really came in on the trees in my yard they got shaded out. So this weekend I went out, turned some other crap under (green onions that weren’t doing so well) and moved the tomatoes to a sunnier spot. I hope they catch up!

    3. Bush beans (Royal Burgundy). They’re kinda leggy from being grown in the pot, but they look leafy and healthy and have lots of pretty purple flowers. I’m hoping that the taller stems will make it easier to find and pick the beans! These are so easy to grow, and satisfying – for those that don’t know, they’re normal “green bean” type beans, but are dark purple on the outside. And they turn green when they’re cooked!

    Bottom row:
    4. Flower on the biggest tomato plant in my wee garden – which is in a container. It’s a “Lemon Boy” variety that I bought on a whim at Canadian Tire and was the first one that I planted out. It’s almost as tall as its cage now, and has a couple of blossoms.

    5. An heirloom tomato growing with a basil plant in a recycling bin. The tomatoes that I planted in the bins are doing somewhat surprisingly well, so I’m happy. I think this one is a “Tigerella” variety. The basil’s doing great, too!

    6. This one cropped kind of weird, but it’s another tomato + basil in a recycling bin. This one’s “White Queen” – white beefsteak-type tomatoes! Doing quite well too.

    Overall, I’m pretty happy with how things are going. The squashes could be growing a little faster, but at least they’re alive; it seems like everything’s a little slow this year. I hope the sunshine and heat predicted for the next little while helps things along, even if I do have to be out there watering!

    And I’m keeping my cool knitting hemp (in my AC’d house, but anyway…) – this is the “cool hemp ponchette” by Hemp for Knitting, in the new AllHemp6 Lux. It’s smoother and silkier than the usual AllHemp6, and really quite nice to knit with! This one’s a shop sample, and it’s almost done.

    hemp, coming along

  • good food

    My first no-knead-type bread, from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” (a great book, but check the errata!!).

    first loaf, a nice big slice

    With butter, of course.

    Leftover risotto + chunks of mozzarella (inside) + egg + breadcrums + oil = deep fried arancini goodness.

    yummmmmy arancini

    Also, homemade oreos. Need I say more?

    homemade oreos

    (Next time I’d roll the dough into a log and slice-and-bake, so they’d all come out the same size! Also, my icing is not really white because I use very dark Mexican vanilla extract. But it’s okay, they’re still awesome.)

    File under “good enough to eat”, my tube scarf out of Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk is progressing nicely, and causes knitters to say things like, “oh my god, what is this?! I want to roll around naked in it!”

    silk/cashmere scarf