Category: gardening

  • the reddening

    Things are happening in the garden! Things with colours!

    it begins!

    These Romas and San Marzanos are slightly under-ripe, but they’ll ripen up soon – some of them were on the ground, or fell off when the plant was brushed slightly.

    Black Beauty eggplant

    A “Black Beauty” eggplant. I stuffed it and ate it up tonight!

    a basket of purple

    Basket o’ purples – burgundy bush beans (which have been producing lots!) and the first eggplants.

    The tomatoes and things are really starting to ripen – we’ve taken nearly three dozen tomatoes from the garden already! Exciting. I’m planning on canning as well as doing some drying. All in addition to eating as much as possibly, of course! I had a yellow pear tomato today and it was totally awesome.

  • wishful thinking.

    ribbing

    I re-started the Sienna Cardigan from Interweave a few weeks ago, thinking “hey! this’ll be fast and easy! I can use up that yarn!”. I’m using Knitpicks Main Line, that has been in the stash for awhile – it’s actually working up quite nicely, and the bigger gauge (4 sts/in) works well for it, since it’s quite thick.

    I knit up one ball – the ribbing and a few rows of stockinette, and then it just sat. And sat. Taking up space on my desk. I really want to knit it, but there are other things to knit first! I wanted it for an early-fall sweater, since it is cotton, but I just don’t know if I’ll get to it anytime soon. Maybe when I finish that skirt? But then it’s time for a Rhinebeck sweater!

    I’ve been musing on Rhinebeck and a Rhinebeck sweater – I definitely want to go, and I’m sure I’ll swing some way of it. So then there’s the sweater. I’d do Road to Golden (from Knitscene) but I’m sure there’ll be other people there wearing it. So I’m thinking my own design, a lace cardigan out of Socks that Rock mediumweight.

    And I’m not stopping at the sweater – I really want to make a Rhinebeck skirt, too! More on that later.

    Hey, check out my baby watermelon!

    baby watermelon's getting bigger

  • back on track

    The pain and any surface marks from the burn went away pretty quickly, and I’ve set my sights on finishing the crocheted herringbone skirt.

    getting closer!

    I’m farther along now, with just a few inches to go on one of the pieces. The other piece is about halfway done as well. The pattern, just as a reminder, is from the Fall 2007 issue of Knitscene.

    I had four skeins of the yarn (silky wool) in my stash to start with – the pattern calls for eight. I crocheted two balls each of the front and back while waiting for more yarn to come. I knew it’d be a different dyelot, of course.

    flare closeup

    It does show (the new yarn is brighter) but luckily, it’s at a point where it looks perhaps intentional – pretty much right where the increasing for the flare begins. So I’m okay with it. I ordered five extra skeins (so nine total), and I think I’ll only need seven. Maybe I’ll make it a little longer, since I’m not planning on doing the mini ruffle at the bottom.

    And now, a different type of (almost) FO:

    a BIG tomato

    I grew that! A HUGE tomato, heartland variety. Those aren’t kid-hands, either! It’s not quiiiiite ripe, but I picked it anyway under the strong urging of a garden-neighbour, because it is almost ripe, was at the front of the garden (easily accessible), and because it is big – don’t want to risk someone coming along and yoinking it! I’ll give it a day or two in the kitchen to ripen up before the ritual devouring.