For my Father in Law

My father in law is a good man, who has had a rough few years. I know last year was rough on all of us but I kid you not when I say he had a really rough time of it. So when he tells me I need to move on from windowsill gardening to the outside world, you bet your sweet bippy I had to send proof of just that. 

I did indeed get a late start to planting outside because I was slightly obsessed with my seed starting project. Hubby would say more than obsessed but hey a girl needs a hobby. Shh don't tell him knitting is my hobby. Ok fine a girl needs an experiment sometimes too. I was so busy watching things grow inside and so worried about the last freeze date that I missed my sow seeds outside date. 

I know! I even have a month by month garden book to refer to. I blame pandemic brain!

I did get myself a nice little tent greenhouse. I had a thermometer that kept the daily highs and lows in it. I can tell you it got pretty near freezing and if I did not open it up whew, it was sweltering in the day in that tent. It was not uncommon to get a face full of steam if I did not get out in the morning. 

Anyways back to the pictures. I swapped the bed the tomatoes were planted in this year, it is the far bed in the above pic. It has been interesting to see how much less light it gets. The house and back porch shade it pretty well till midday. Plus I mixed up how I planted the tomatoes this year since I had so many. The ones that get the most sunlight are also the ones I planted sideways. They are much stronger and fuller plants than their shady not as deeply planted cousins. So yay more data for my experiment. Now I will always plant tomatoes sideways to give them better root development. 

Lettuce plants from the nursery seem to have taken off. We got one cucumber from the greenhouse cucumber plant too. Now if this weekend's heat does not scorch everything to death I will be happy-ish. Yesterday was a record breaker at 107 I think and today and Monday are both expected to be over 110. Climate change is real!

We have dusted off the cards and Cribbage board. That is Hubby winning yet another round. He one that set and is on his way to winning the next set. BUT I WON last night so I am feeling feisty!!

 Speaking of feisty Mellie says a fur bikini is not all that much cooler. She feels save tucking herself behind my chair and letting it all hang out. A cat has to do what a cat has to do!

Try to stay cool and safe my friends. Hope you enjoyed this one H!!

Still in love with windowsill gardening.

I am going to claim success in my seed starting experiment. I have been able to get things to grow and it has brought me immense joy to see plants in windows. 

I took wee seeds and turned them into wee plants.

Which turned into not so wee blooms that make me smile every time I check in on them. I don't know if my blooming cucumber will produce anything besides a sense of happiness in me but that is really the point most days now. 

My tomatoes and basil are growing up too. One of these trays spent the night out in the tent greenhouse to prep it for planting. I think it is time to get some things in the ground. 

My tomatillo is blooming too. Not sure if I am going to keep the blooming one inside or not. 

My pea experiment has one wee pod and a few blooms. Time to plant some outside. 

Burt makes sure to plant himself in my lap and keep me knitting too.

It is tough work but he is the cat to do it. 

After all he is the resident knitwear model cat. Yes Momma you can knit socks, we know...

Happy knitting and planting to all!

 

New Love

So a while ago my backyard looked like this. Super unusual for where we live in Oregon. Don't worry the Rosemary survived. She is tough like the rest of the Yarnkettle household. Oh heck we may as well be British sounding today, Yarnkettle Cottage. I do so love the sound of that.

Last year at this time I was busy healing my broken parts. I was busy knitting myself back to health and plain old knitting my yarn too. I was fretting about the virus like many others and trying not to plan and dream about my garden. 

This year I am so in! The snow came to town and I started thinking maybe I could add gardener, or as I like to think of it Proud Plant Momma to my list of skills. I checked out some books and started thinking I would like to try my hand at starting seeds inside. I was immediately intimidated. Did you know some seeds only germinate in darkness? Would I be put on some sort of watchlist if I bought grow lights? Did you know you can use an ordinary fluorescent bulb as a grow light? (Me neither but it works!) 

I started saving up TP rolls, put in my first order to a seed company, and made a run to my local Feed and Seed store. Yep we have one of those. Being a farmer's daughter I could not resist supporting a business called CowPots. It is made from just what you think, but they do not smell. So it is not quite the true farming experience. 

I consulted multiple websites for an estimated last day of frost for where I live. That was not terribly productive. My answers ranged from March 15 to April 15.  So being a pessimist I added two weeks to the last date and decided to figure on planting the end of April. Then I consulted the seed packets and yowsa I got a move on. (I think I should have thought a little harder about it but heck what is a anxious girl to do other than experiment?)

I cannot express how happy it makes me to see green things growing that I planted. Yeah I started some stuff too early but I am trying to figure out how I can just get an indoor crop. Plus it is an experiment, if all I do is learn what not to do that is useful too. 

I have pricked out and potted on my tomatoes and tomatillos. I have learned about cotyledons and true leaves. I may even be obsessively watching Gardeners' World, but that is more of a nice calm antidote to the world we live in. 

I will admit that yesterday was the first Friday in a month that I did not take a trip to the Feed and Seed. I will further admit that I also bought and assembled a short tent greenhouse. I even managed to tie it down effectively. Look at me learning. 

And this week I woke to more frosty than not frosty days so I am going to hold off starting more than I can handle right now. But I am trying to figure out how I can pot on and fill some window sills. Anyone else concerned I am going to go plant something after this? Me too.

Poor hubby has been encouraging through the process but admitted to having a dream where a friend of ours started plants. His waking thought was damn it, not her too!

Never fear hubby dear you're going to love my tomatoes as much as you love me.

 

Keeping on

I'm still knitting hope you all are doing what you can to stay safe. I do love a striping yarn. I took some Urth Uneek Sock yarn and turned it into socks for the hubby. Because who doesn't love stripy socks? Hubby sure does.

Are those not some beautiful socks? I pulled from the outside of the ball to reverse the color progression. I prefered the darker colors to not be hidden in the shoe.

I started these Sept 6, 2020 an finished them Dec. 5, 2020. Urth Uneek Sock Yarn in color 52. My standard plain 80 stitch formula for the hubby. I think these will be excellent antidote socks for blah days. I mean with that kind of color on your feet plus hand knit, come on!

I am finally making some progress on these fantastic socks for me. Speaking of color, shazam! Socks with a pattern always take me so much longer. I can't just blissfully go round and round, I have to actually pay a bit of attention. I do feel like I should make a few pairs of fancy socks every once in awhile. You know to keep up the old Knitter cred. But this conflicts with my goal of twelve pairs a year. Compromise is essential. The first one was knit mostly in 2020, which gives me an advantage on this year.

I will claim some spinning success this year too. I finally started a spinning notebook too. I always think I will remember what I do but that sure is hard when you're spinning natural colored fibers and you don't have a lot of breed knowledge. I'd like to think I could tell some long wool breed from merino but how good would I be at identifying merino from rambouillet? Not very good I can tell you.

 Not to fear in this case I spun Greenwood Fibers Polworth in the Hawaii colorway. It has even been plyed. This time I learned I have to measure out the lengths separately if I want three singles to ply. Spinning is a bit like socks for me. I'll keep on going till a sock is done or a bobbin is filled. No stopping. 

I also learned that I prefer to strip the braid vertically into three smaller portions rather than working a whole fat bundle to work my way across before progressing to the next color. I don't know if that makes any sense to you but hopefully I'll remember for my next project. 

Fingers Gotta Knit

I wanted to post on the anniversary of my ankle break, but sometimes it is best to leave sleeping cats lie. I will say I've been healing for a year now and am happy with my progress.

Now back to the knitting, shall we? I finally decided I have the brain power to learn something new. I'm knitting my first cardigan. I picked Mr Greenjeans since I admired it then and I have not used a Knitty pattern in a while. i have dubbed my ferion Teatime Cardigan, because it is a lovely dark brown and I will feel fancy wearing it.

I'm diving a wee bit back into the stash for some Valley Yarns Northampton yarn. Although my car is older than the yarn so it was not too deep stash, only from 2017. Hmm now I wonder how much of my stash is older than my car...

I just love the look of cables but I don't really love knitting them. I don't hate it but I guess I'm a stockinette girl at heart. This will be my first time knitting a button band and I will admit being a bit intimidated. The fear of incorrectly picking up stitches is strong in this one. I know it is fine I can always rip back but I can see the shark fin of fear circling me. Naa Na Naa Na.

Have no fear Momma I will protect you from, uhm... getting cold or getting up for a toilet break? I don't really have a job here and that's OK.

I did manage to finish a pair of socks for Hubby. I really liked the subtle coloring of these Hula Hut socks. Hey this yarn is the same vintage as the sweater yarn. How did I manage that?

For my own project management. Hula Hut Yarns Sock in Winkle. Bought at Oregon Flock and Fiber 2017. Cast on Dec. 11 2020 and Bound off Jan. 24 2021. My standard 80 stitch sock pattern. The first pair of the year.

I've been knitting on the next pair for quite a while. they are finally finished but alas without photos to show them off. Heck Hubby has not even tried them on yet. Maybe the next post. 

I of course cast on more socks because I am me and I still have a goal of knitting 12 pairs a year. So far I've got January and February pairs done but my fingers gotta knit!! 

 Happy knitting Y'all!

On making ourselves happy whatever excuse we need.

2020?!

Am I right? Whew, what a year. The year no one will want to remember. So like most folks I've been trying to look on the bright side and do what I can to make myself and those around me happy. I've learned and grown. I have learned how easy it is to make freezer meals when you're home all the time. I have fallen in complete love with my crock pot and bread machine. 

I love working from home. Especially now that I can call these two my coworkers. We've put on some Covid, Mom's home to dispense food, and Burt's smart enough to demand food, weight. We have also figured out that Burt will run down the stairs chasing treats. Guess where Momma's desk is? Yep right by the stairs.  So that weight is going to go away in 2021. We could all stand to lose a bit here. So it is written so it will be done. 

My coworkers taking a wee nip break.

My broken ankle started stay at home orders earlier for me than the rest of my world. We ordered my medical equipment and some easy to get into and out of clothes and not much else for the first part of the year. 

Then restrictions eased and I had a long list of things that I wanted to have for the next lockdown and I got busy supporting my knitting habit. I saw yarn stores close up and thought I could help some people and myself.  I bought knitting needles, stitch markers, tools, storage containers and yarn. 

My first Jimmy Beans Wool order.

I bought my favorite needles and tried out some new ones, then I bought more like the new ones because they worked well for me too. And stitch markers I bought any kind that I thought looked interesting. I had bought some cat ones from the local yarn shop that closed and wished that I had bought more. I sought out more and now they live with me too. I bought DPN tubes to protect my knitting needles from my bossy boy that figured out the sure fire way to get Mom's attention is to grab a knitting needle in his teeth and run away. DPNs slip out of stitches very easily. Bad Burt gets what he wants. Not anymore BB, they are protected and you no longer have an instant food machine!

Yarn babies from CeCe's Wool

I "attended" another Rhinebeck. I wish I could have gone to NY and seen my friends like we had talked about last year, but at least we're doing ok and can still love to look at each other's yarn. I know I can ask for yarn advice and opinions and get asked the same while many mile separate us. 

Beautiful neutral Valley Yarns fingering weight.

I found out that I have loads of color in my stash but needed some nice neutrals in case the colorwork shawl patterns keep attacking my brain. I have at least one of those to show you.

If I get more tools and stash I need another project bag right? I fell in love with this bee print from Phoenix Yarn. Such a perfectly pressed, beautiful bag. Honestly I was looking at the honeycomb pattern and did not even notice the flower garden bottom till I received the bag. It is a bit bigger and less stiff than other bags I have which makes it all the more unique in my collection. 

Urth Uneek Sock from Blizzard Yarns. 

And just in case you think all I have been doing is supporting yarnie people I will tell you that I have knit up this yarn into beautiful stripy hubby socks that he's getting for Christmas. So he can dazzle and pop his way into the new year. Who doesn't want socks for the new year? 

Remember to be kind and take care of each other. Wear a mask and stay home and safe as much as possible. We can stop Covid spreading.

Missing picking apples

Back in 2014 I bought some fantastic tweedy yarn in pinks, greys and a touch of light green dyed by Fiber Stash. The colorway name was Bushel, hence the apple picking idea. So I knit some of my favorite socks from the yarn. It always made me feel a bit fancy when I wore the socks. I can remember wearing them in the hospital back when D had his accident, and showing them off to his nurse when talking about hand knit socks. Soon after that I realized the soles were wearing thin. I tucked them safely away till I had the time to repair them. 

I'll let you in on a little secret repairing things is not as fun as knitting things for me, so they stayed tucked away for quite some time.

See how pretty that yarn was? I mean really how could you not like happy yarn like that?

Last winter I pulled out the leftover yarn an knit a wee sock just in time for Christmas. I took it into work and hung it next to my name. I received a few comments that I really did not expect much for Christmas gifts. Yeah I have hilarious coworkers. Doesn't every office have at least one?

I made sure it came home with me after my accident and I used it as a pen holder a couple of times. Mellie just wanted to make sure my feet were warm enough. Good Girl Mellie.

Since I had used the leftover yarn up I thought about tossing the socks. But why they still make me happy why not just finally fix them. If the doc can fix my ankle surely it is worthwhile to save a sock too? 

I formulated a plan, since I don't like fixing holes and I'm not very good at it why not just knit a new foot/toe? I tossed the leftover stash and came up with complimentary bits of yarn.

Only one sock was holey so only one had to have surgery. Now they are back in the sock drawer rotation. 

And I have a "new" pair of socks and some old friends all at the same time. 

It is good to be a crafty knitter!