This week, the peas began to flower:
I also put in seeds for tomatoes and collards last week, which seem to be poking out tentative sprouts now. Tomorrow afternoon is scheduled for a seed purchasing excursion, I’m trying to decide what to add next. I’m thinking perhaps zucchini (since it’s usually pretty easy and I’ve grown it before), and maybe bell peppers (which I haven’t tried previously).
I did massive quantities of knitting this past weekend. Most of it was experimental swatchy things that are not yet ready for the (photographic) light of day. I did, however, finish off my Whiskey socks:
My knitting shelf makes an appropriate backdrop, no?
Fortuitously, the weather has suddenly gotten “chilly” so I am wearing them today. So that’s two balls of stash yarn (390 yards, I have big feet and they’re knee-highs) used in 2009. The pattern is quite simple and I expect I’ll have it written up and available for download soon!
In case anyone was wondering, I am still baking my way through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World:
This time I ventured into the realm of sugar free with the Agave Nectar cupcakes (chocolate variation). Agave nectar, it turns out, produces a very satisfactory cupcake–definitely still sweet. The texture was also good, nice and moist but not overly wet. I cannot say as much for the agave icing (not pictured), it came out with a bitter aftertaste that I could not mask or identify a definite source for. If I make these again I might try the cooked velvet icing and use fructose granules instead of granulated cane sugar for a sugar-free icing. However, this time around it turned out icing-free was a good way to go, as I had a bit of a bicycling accident while taking them into the office (nothing serious, I was in the bike roundabout and another cyclist came in without looking, it was crowded and a crash was pretty much inevitable. I am okay except for a bit of scraping). The cupcakes survived, but I’m pretty sure icing would have created an impossible mess in my carrier tin.
This morning I followed the inauguration and worked on my whiskey socks:
One down, one more to go! The first sock goes up to just below my knee. I switched to smaller needles for some 1×1 ribbing at the top, which I’m hoping will help to keep things up–socks sliding down legs and pooling at ankles somewhat defeat the purpose.
Amazingly, a good chunk of my garden survived for the two weeks I was on vacation in December. Admittedly, there wasn’t much going on to start with, and December *is* one of the rainiest months of the year, but it was still nice to come back and see that nothing had died. And something had even flowered!
I planted this little rosemary in September when my mother was visiting (she got it for me at the Botanical Gardens) and it has really been thriving since I put it in. Which is more than I can say for the decidedly lackluster basil plant…
As part of my stash knit-down efforts, I’m trying to do some smaller, quick projects that I can knock out and feel good about. Like socks:
Super simple toe-up socks using Reynolds Whiskey. I received 2 balls of this yarn in a swap a while back and it is a really nice wool. A bit thicker than standard sock yarn (I’m using #4 needles), but that just makes it go faster. And I think I have the coldest feet in California lately so thick socks are sounding really good right now!
My major yarn purchase of 2008 was five cones of Habu yarn, from Loop and Leaf. Three cones of silk and two of wool. I’m holding the yarns together and turning them into a pullover:
This piece is going to be fairly simple, although I do have ideas for some small embellishments.
Somewhat overdue, here’s my latest pattern, Crispin. A lovely pair of fingerless stranded mitts to keep you warm during the cold months. If you’ve been wanting to try out stranded knitting these would make a good starter project. The pattern is available in a range of sizes, from 4-6 years to a men’s large.
In a previous post, I mention that I had started two new pieces in December. Here’s one:
A cardigan made using Classite Elite Inca Alpaca. I purchased this yarn at Yarns Etc. back in 2007, and have just now gotten around to retrieving it from my stash and making into something wearable. This yarn is so beautiful–very soft (expected since it’s alpaca, obviously), and also with very beautiful colors (which stubbornly refused to be captured on camera today). There are notes of purple and green in with the blue that give it a really lovely depth. I can’t wait to have this done and wear it out!
Epiphany the day of the year, that is. In honor of the 12th day of Christmas, the for serious final end of the holiday season, and the taking down of all the Christmas decor, I bring you:
A shot of one of my Christmas presents to my mother. I made a set of these ornaments, using this pattern. I used size 10 crochet thread and #1 needles. I also carried a length of silver thread along in half the snowflakes, which doesn’t really show up in the photos, but gives a nice little sparkle. I’m thinking of doing some more with gold thread for the tree next year. They are a really beautiful little ornament and from cast on to weaving in the ends, I find that each one takes only a little over an hour to make.
