GARDEN OF DELIGHTS
This post is all about the garden. With the rain and the coming of warmer weather things are growing and blooming. Hubby is busy on his riding mower trying to keep the grasses from taking over while I weed on my hands and knees around and in the raised beds. It's time to put out tomatoes and all the other vegetables along with moving various perennials around (as in: maybe you'll grow better here - hope springs eternal). We've done so much yet there remains so much to do. I have a very healthy respect for farmers. It's hard work.
In the meantime some of the Happy Plants have burst into bloom. These are just a few of what is in the garden plus there are many more not yet quite ready to open. I do love Spring.
This section is especially pleasing since for years it was a scrubby, dry area under oaks where not much thrived. We built up the front part of the slope with salvaged rocks from around our property and hauled in loads of dirt then transplanted various things. Hubby improved the sprinkler system and away it went. It's still a work in progress and I can see that a few things need to be moved because they are being crowded by other plants but overall it's working out very well. Azaleas are the main blooms in this photo.
A cascading rosebush that only blooms once a year. It's so prolific that the deer chew at it constantly, hubby hacks it back now and again (it has a great desire to grow up under the house siding) and still it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Somehow I didn't even notice the ladder when I took the photo.
One of many iris. In the background are some tall pink flowers whose name escapes me. I like the plant a lot but it reseeds aggressively and I have to keep digging it out from around other plants.
A real treat every spring are the yellow wild iris surrounded by the Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila).
A purple clematis outside my kitchen window. Timed to bloom with the climbing rose it's either early or the rose is late. I did cut the rose vines back hard so perhaps it's all my fault. Still, very, very pretty and should have a second round of blooms later in the summer.
I tore our small pond apart because the waterlilies had formed an edge to edge mat leaving the fish very little room to move around. They were being picked off by a visiting heron (goodbye 8 year old koi!) because their safe spot was overgrown. We posted on Freecycle for anyone who wanted free waterlilies and had a massive giveaway. Now the fish have their safe spot back but I haven't seen the lone surviving koi for the last few days but I have seen the heron fishing in the early morning. Herons are smart. Fish, not so much.
In the world of crafting I've been sewing (mostly clothes) but my knitting mojo is still on walkabout. I felt like things had finally clicked with my lace weight shawl. Feeling cocky I started listening to an audiobook (Catching Fire) and promptly made a huge mistake. I had also decided that I did not need to update my lifeline. Oh.Woe.Is.Me.
SPRINGY SPRING AND A WHOLE LOT OF RAIN
Spring is here at long last. We have had a very dry winter but the skies have opened up at long last and poured enormous amounts of water over Northern California. We are grateful though a whopping deep snow pack would have been appreciated. Though snow fell yesterday in Grass Valley there isn't a base. It was gone by today.
Overall, there have periods of warmth and the plants and grasses are literally growing right before your eyes. (What's that squeaking noise?) The birds are making lots of chirping noises and checking out the bird boxes (and the cats). I have high hopes that we will have a decent fruit harvest (there were no stone fruit last year). I've already been cutting rhubarb for sorbets (with strawberries - luscious. I had a wonderful recipe for gelato that I lost years ago and I am on a quest to recreate it). I've also used the strawberry/rhubarb stewed on top of custard - divine!
The photo above, another Sobretto with a bit of a twist. I used some pin tuck fabric and cut on the edge instead of on the fold creating a panel. I then cut the panel at a right angle so that the pin tucks go horizontally not vertically and sewed some beads down the front. A little fancier, a lot of fun. It was warm enough on Easter Sunday for me to wear one of my Sobrettos. I found that the shoulder sections kept wanting to wander off my shoulders and exposing my bra straps. I countered by sewing in a little strap with a snap into my latest effort. I will tuck the strap under my bra straps thus holding things in place.
My first attempt of knitting with real honest to goodness lace weight yarn has been a study in patience and focus. Thank goodness for lifelines (a piece of yarn threaded through so that when you totally screw up you have the ability to frog back to that point and not lose everything). I've knit forward, I've tinked back. Okay, I've done outright frogging to my lifeline. More than once. More than twice. I think I have the hang of it now. I literally cannot even listen to music while I'm knitting this. Hopefully, that will change. The little I have accomplished so far shows me that it is well worth the effort. It's delicate and light. I like it a lot and it will be the perfect gift for a very nice person who had No.Idea. Hehehe.
THE GARDEN
Single flower from a tree peony. There are eight blossoms this year. The plant is three years old. I can't wait until it has many, many blooms. They are huge. They are glorious.
It grows! Things blossom! The redbud in all it's glory. Below, succulents around the pond. The color changes from an almost lime green to rusty reds and bright yellow.
Olive, helping with the pots. Looking beautiful as always.
Opal smelling the primroses and dreaming up trouble. She's such a smarty pants.
MORE LIGHT SEWING
There continues to be quite a bit of sewing going on. I go through periods of being interested in sewing but not enough to put my knitting down then out of the blue I just have to sit down and sew. Go figure.
I finished up one more Sobretto. I must say, these little tops are downright addictive and a delight to make. I plan to make a few more. Despite the high winds outside at the moment and the impending rain warmer weather is just around the corner. Yesterday was a balmy, sunny 65F. At the moment the trees are whipping back and forth with debris shooting past.
The garden is starting to wake up with visible growth from one day to the next. The weeds, well, they are weeds and as far as I can tell, never ever stop growing. A few things have started to sprout in the greenhouse. It never ceases to amaze me that those tiny little shoots will produce lots and lots of lovely tomatoes and melons (among other things) in just a few months.
One of two dresses for young girls part of some charity sewing for the upcoming sew-in this summer. The second one is almost finished but for some bias tape application and made out of the blue floral Sobretto fabric.
I continue to wonder just what to knit next while futzing along with some UFO's. I knit little swatches just to get a sense of needle size. I know I should do a Great.Big.Swatch but really, who does that? There are just so many lovely yarns out there and fantastic patterns it's difficult to say "this one!".
Coming up fast on my never ending "To Do" list is to recover the speakers in the living room. Opal has already tried her claws out on the new fabric and gave it her "Nice for Shredding" stamp of approval. A sturdy, attractive burlap in a mossy green with overtones of khaki. I like it, Hubby is not too sure. He doesn't like green.
Also waiting in the wings is the recovering the dining room chairs and sanding and re-staining the table. Oh year. Lots of fun. Eight chairs. Big table. Sure to be fun.
The predicted rain has now started and I am reconsidering going out to knit. Perhaps just another log on the fire please.
A LITTLE SEWING
I finally managed to get back to my cowl front pattern alteration experiment. I am very pleased with the final result. It took me quite a long time to get the sleeve cap to align to the top of my shoulder and actually fit into the armscye. I tweaked here, I tweaked there. I was a tweaking maniac. Then there was taking things in, getting the underarm seam to be just right so that when I raised my arms I could well, raise my arms. I am liking working with knits a lot. They are not at all like what I produce with needles and yarn but still, they are a great addition to one's wardrobe.
I ended up with several, not quite perfect attempts that are fine for wandering around the house in and a pattern that can be cut out and sewn up in an afternoon producing a lovely top. I stockpiled my attempts so I could switch my serger over to its cover stitch function. (Note to self: Never buy a combined machine again, just way too much trouble changing plates out.) I ended up spending an enormous amount of time getting the sucker to work properly. I mean and eNORmouS amount of time. But in the end it worked. I can be amazingly stubborn as anyone who has spent any time around me can attest.
Next up on my sewing agenda was
Sobretto, a free pattern from Colette Patterns. It's a super easy pattern that you download and print out. Then you trim and tape the pieces together. If you are a beginning sewer this is a perfect pattern to make up. All of two pieces, no closures to fiddle with because you use bias tape for the neck and arm openings. It's a pattern that can be gussied up as desired. I did a muslin and thought the armscye gaped more than I liked and the back neckline was a bit lower than desired so I whipped out my French curve, some tape, and tissue paper. Voila! A much better fit.
I have two more cut out and almost completed. The whole thing sews up in a couple of hours. I am liking how my summer wardrobe is shaping up. Next up will be pushing my skill level on making better fitting shorts and pants.
We finally had a decent storm come through and give us some much needed rain. Not enough, it's going to be a long and hot summer but it was great. At the height of the storm our propane delivery truck drove up, topped off our tank (country people have great big tanks of propane) and promptly got stuck. Absolutely and totally wedged against one of our oak trees.
Four hours and four men working in the pouring rain. Two two trucks (the first tow truck got stuck TWICE). I haven't had such an amusing morning in ages. I got to stay indoors taking photos in between sewing. Our driveway was severely chewed up and the tree took a very nasty gash. The company responsible has already been out with an arborist and a man who will bring a tractor and a heck of a lot of dirt and make things all better again. I assume the tree will live long and prosper though somewhat scarred.
I always enjoying seeing a hint of what creatures wander around during the night. Tracks of who knows what. Probably a loose dog and something much smaller, I don't think it's our cats.
There has been knitting. I may actually finish my Knotty Gloves which will end up being fingerless gloves. I chose my yarn, Koigu's Kersti based on color so I have 44 stitches cast on, not the 60 the pattern calls for. It's driving me nuts trying to get the thumb gusset in the right place. The gloves are way too long in the wrist. I could unravel them and them and then bind off. It wold be a lot of work. I am pretty tired of this project. Tired. Seriously Tired.
I also knit the sleeve of Samsara using some pink Fleece Artist/Scotian Silk and as feared the whole thing bloomed after blocking a huge 2" all around. What to do what to do. It's a lot harder to knit from stash than I had thought.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
We hit the highway last month in our trusty RV to do our last annual trip to Cactusland - The Enabler is Moving! We didn't make it last year (though I flew in, one cannot let one's BFF celebrate her birthday with just a Prince Charming and a passel of cats).
We spent a few days in Death Valley and enjoyed walked around part of the
Ubehebe Crater. I even managed to catch a glimpse of the
mojave fringe-toed lizard though it ran so fast I doubt I could pick it out of a line up.
Last time we were in Death Valley we tried to see
The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns but couldn't make it through the snow with our motorcycle. This year we both had our dual sport bikes and although there was a bit of snow there was no problem riding right up to the parking lot. They are magical!
I just loved them.
One has a lot of time to knit while flying down the highway. The trick is to bring projects that aren't too complicated, need charts, or use teeny tiny needles. I opted for more baby items all in Cascade 220 Superwash.
When we rolled up our driveway there were definite signs of Spring. It was great to see things growing.
Or not.
WHO! WHO!
The owl sleep sack was finished in record time. A very easy (and fast) knit. Based on a few comments I decided to make it just a little longer which took me into a second skein of yarn.
Cascade 220 Superwash on size 4 needles.
I plan to knit the hat up (soon) but decided to start a little vest with owls along the chest (also using Cascade). That too seems to run on the short side so I will knit it a few inches longer. I've toyed with knitting one of the owls a different color but what I've liked best are the garments with a little light embroidery around just one owl. Stay tuned!
I have quite a bit of the Cascade so I may make another vest sans owls but done in bright stripes. Then again I may break out my crochet hook and make a lot of granny squares. I seem to recall making up several of these back in the 60's using some very heavy cotton. Everything comes around again eventually.
The photo was lifted from Ravelry and I'd love to credit the person who did all the hard work but it escapes me.
While not churning out owl related garments I did a little herbal picking and preserving.
Cilantro. It's been a banner winter for my cilantro which is great because we use A.LOT of it. I ground it up with olive oil and put into little baggies.
The dill took off too. We use a lot less of the dill but it's still good to have. I put the fronds in whole into larger ziplocks with some filtered water.
A photo of some of the pruned plum branches. It's fun to watch nearly bare sticks burst into flower from the warmth of the room. Now if only it doesn't hail or snow or do something nasty so that fruit will set.
A pretty sunset. What else is there to say?
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
Bright Star is now finished. As do a lot of my FO's, it stretched a great deal after washing. I popped into the dryer on low and it returned to close to its original size. Still, it's larger than I like so I may experiment with the dryer again. Famous last words? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to keep things from stretching? I knit this on size 4's and it's an Aran weight yarn (Classic Elite Waterlily). It seemed tight enough, the gauge was spot on.
Overall, I am pleased with it. Like all of the things I have knit I'd probably do things a little differently. It seems like it would work better to join the bottom part as you switch to the ribbing. You could do a faux button band or just attach buttons. It's not really a great style for me but it is warm and comfy. I initially had a problem with the collar wanting to flip over but that seems to have settled down.
I'm having a hard time picking up a UFO to work on so I started something very simple, a sleep sack for an infant with adorable little owls along the top. There's a hat too. I don't know anyone who actually
has a baby but a couple of people I know are thinking about it. Heck, I just wanted to knit the owls and do something fast and cute.
Cascade 220 superwash on size 4's from my stash.
THE GARDEN
Very little is happening in the garden right now other than my perching on the orchard ladder in a very unsafe way while I prune the fruit trees. One of the nice side effects of this (no, not a really tired right hand) is that I end up with a lot of flowering branches which make for beautiful arrangements. And no, I don't have a photo to share.
The cats are spending a lot more time inside lounging around. We are due for a little much needed rain tomorrow. I'm ready. Opal things she'll just catch a few more winks.
END OF THE DAY
The view from our bedroom every day around sunset. Hummingbirds sucking down sugar water for what it's worth. It's a long time until daybreak.
