Meanwhile the extra rain has the garden beds carpeted in green (mostly weeds that I have no idea how to keep on top of) and my water-loving plants thriving. It's also prime knitting weather, and that means it's time to cast on a new project or two for that extra variety.
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| Strawberries and kale... and some very enthusiastic weeds. |
The yarn left over from my Big Top socks is making good progress towards becoming a pair of gloves that, if I'm really lucky, will be finished in time for me to wear them this winter. I'm working these Align Mitts from the top down and for the most part it's worked out fine, though adding the thumb gusset was a little tough. Since my yarn is split a little unevenly between the two balls I'll knit up the arm until the smaller one runs out and the rest will (theoretically) be enough to add in the fingers. It feels like incredibly slow going, though, even though the section I'm knitting (the arm) is essentially the same as the leg part of a sock. How are they not finished yet?!
I've also started the Siren Song scarf with my Party of Five mini skein sock yarn set. The colourway is called 'Sea to Sky' and it goes from basil green to sapphire blue (with three transition colours in between). The pattern so far is very straightforward and simple to follow. It's my first time knitting lace on both rows (many patterns just straight purl on the wrong side) and while I almost miss the easy rows the pattern on the wrong side is helping me not think about how much I don't actually like purling. Between garter stitch and knitting in the round I try to avoid purling as much as I can - it just takes longer, it's awkward, and I can't get the same rhythm as with knitting.
That's not to say anything against the pattern itself, though. It starts with a crochet cast on which could be a challenge for a non-crocheter but which I quite enjoyed, and the larger needle size is making a very soft, loose fabric that I'm really looking forward to blocking once it's all done. Plus the yarn is beautiful.
Meanwhile the chickens continue to be fat - and to upgrade their feathers and run around in the rain - but mostly happy. They do seem to have some food issues where they'll eat everything I give them and then, the next time I come outside, run back and forth in front of the gate as if I haven't fed them all week... but that just means I have to limit what I give them. None of this "I'll give them double now and not have to come out in the rain again tomorrow" business, unfortunately!
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| They're not conventionally pretty. |
Also: the garlic has appeared! Two garlic shoots have popped up, which makes them the first of my recent plantings to make an appearance. I'm still uncertain as to the fate of my bulbs and the potatoes, but at least I know that the garlic is alive. Whether it will grow well and survive the next months until harvest remains to be seen... but the first time you see something pop up out of the ground is super exciting!
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| The lighting makes it a little hard to tell but there is a fresh green shoot poking up on the left. |
The basil has been the first casualty of the cold - a sad, shrivelled brown skeleton is all that remains. I have heard tell of a mystical cold-resistant variety that grows year-round and, considering how much I love basil, I think I'll be looking into getting some of that. Everything else is looking good, though. The artichoke and marjoram especially are thriving. Oh, and the sow thistles. Luckily for Scully and Janeway the thistles are flourishing too.
Plans for the near future: impatiently wait for my potatoes to sprout, cast on for my sock tutorial series, finish these darn gloves.
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