Category: knitting

  • 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

  • baby thermal, and one last correction

    pink thermal yoke

    Last week I started into yet another version of Thermal, following the little blue one I posted a photo of a few entries ago – that one’s sized for a baby, this one, for a kid (about 4 years). I’m reworking the pattern to self-publish it sized from newborn right up to a kids’ size 12. Instead of being knit in the round from the bottom up with set-in sleeves, this one’s a top down raglan – easy to knit, and easy to size!

    Still knit in fingering weight – this time I’m using Nature’s Palette. It’s coming along quickly despite the small needles – I just started this one about a week or so ago. And it’s really fun – I really do love this waffle stitch pattern! Easy, but good visual impact.

    pink thermal, into the body

    And, well, there’s one more little correction to the B-Side pattern – the last correction that I made was mirrored again in the next row, so that is now a bit off. I’ve decided not to email out the corrected pattern automatically to everyone this time, because my email doesn’t like the volume! It’s a really easy fix, though, and of course I’ll email it to anyone that asks.

    The row following the cable set-up row should read:

    “Next Row [WS]: Purl to marker, slip marker, work Row 3 of Ensign’s Braid Cable over next 24 sts, slip marker, purl to end.”

    The BSide3.pdf version of the file says to purl a certain number of stitches which should have been changed when I changed the cable set-up row – but basically you’re just purling across and working the panel in pattern. Pretty simple fix, and some knitters might not even have looked at the number of stitches to purl to the marker!

    Again, though, if you want a new copy of the pattern, just email me at cosmicpluto@cosmicpluto.com. I’ve also posted the errata on the B-Side Ravelry page.

  • strawberry season

    Friday I went strawberry picking with Dr. Steph and Denny and their kids, and it was so much fun! We went to Reesor Farm, not far at all, and pick your own sure is pretty cheap! We picked for about an hour, and I came away with 5kg (11 lbs.) for my very own. (Denny and her son had about the same as me, Dr. Steph and her two kids picked 9 kg! Whoa.)

    one bowlful

    Yum. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my new camera?

    With my family away on vacation and me on my own, there’s just no way I could eat them all myself. I wasn’t planning to, anyway. So once I got home, I got busy right away putting up the fruit.

    I washed, hulled, and froze 2 baking sheets’ full (then put them in freezer bags the next day; it’s so they don’t freeze in a big clump):

    "little soldiers" (picknik)

    I made “fridge jam” (as opposed to freezer jam, because I just stuck it in the fridge) – just fruit, sugar, and lemon juice, macerated for awhile then cooked down in a pot. An intermediate step on the road to jam tarts!

    fridge jam

    Then the next day, I made strawberry ice cream! In my old-school hand crank machine. I used this recipe, which uses eggs but is uncooked. It’s yummy! I don’t think I have a photo of a bowl of it, but I’ll try to remember later when I’m eating it! (We’ll see how that goes!)

    mmm, ice cream.

    And yes, there has indeed been some knitting around here parts. I had a bit of the knitting ennui there for awhile, but I think I’m back on track! Finishing up some old projects, starting some new ones. An older one that’s almost done, the cashmere sweater:

    hem-y goodness

    Just in time for the sweltering weather, eh? Well, that’s kind of how the knitting goes. I am planning on writing up my notes on how I converted the Unwrapped pattern to a cardigan and the other details – I don’t feel comfortable writing up the whole pattern since I used Jody’s yoke, but I’ll write up a little bit on how to make your own. The sweater just needs some type of closure, and a good blocking. Maybe clasps, maybe not.

    Oh, and the handwoven scarves in my Etsy shop are now on sale – each is just $85. I’ve got more in the works, but just need to clear some stuff outta the studio!