Garden Hoe

Slowly I am getting my plants purchased and planted (or potted - as the case may be.) I have NO idea what this plant is, and I know I must have been wrecked when I finished planting as I recycled all the tags from the planting I did this weekend. Normally I place all my tags in a baggy and label them, so I know what I put in each year. Not this time. I pretty much showered and then drooled on myself after I finished for the day.

The planters are special to me as my brother made them for me. Recycled siding with cedar tops and bottoms. Love how they look and I put them out every year. It's a garden tradition - and I just love them.

 

This less than stellar shot is an "after shot" is of my peony bed. I pulled all the rotten old wood chips out, surrounded the bed with Salvia (Which I know the hummingbirds are attracted to) and Dusty Miller on the corners by the solar lights. It think it's one of my best gardens yet! The white Dusty Miller seems to glow when the solar lights turn on. Very pretty. Can't wait for the Salvia to take root and pop. Not to mention the Peonies. So very happy it's spring and the flowers are popping out!

And here is one tuckered out Emma. She had fun racing around the yard with my empty pots and tags. She is just the best garden companion. ☺

Nice Pecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

We have a bird feeder station in front of our big living room windows with a cat tree for our cat Miss Izzi to perch in and watch the action. Frequently we will hear Izzi chirping away at this bird - the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I am not sure if it's the size of this bird or the way it swoops in and startles off the finches and other birds, but for some reason we will here our cat talking away to this bird.

Today I had the windows open and I hear this guy talking away. (Go here if you want to listen to what it sounds like - it's a great sound and the site is full of info on birds.) I wonder now if Izzi wasn't hearing this bird through the window and answering? Regardless, it's fun all the way around. Fun to hear our cat talking to the bird, and fun to watch this guy crawl around the feeder and pull out fruit and nuts to chew on.

Second Sock Progress

I AM making progress on my 2nd sock. I keep knitting until I hit 7 inches, and then I can turn heal number two. I am happy to have been working through these socks - but I admit I am already dreaming of my next socks. I dream of skinny fingering weight yarn in CRAZY colors and afterthought heals. I dream of Magic loop and toe up two at a time on two circular needles. **sigh** I think my summer of working on WIPs may fall to the superior force that is sock knitting.

Now that winter is over, I find myself so busy I can hardly think. I have gardens on my brain and grilled food in my tummy. Summer is so brief - that we really try and suck up every bit we can around here. I have been grilling and gardening and even got the first lawn mow of the year under my belt. (And had a massive allergy attack from all the mold and dust and pollen I kicked up - THAT was fun - NOT!)

Slowly slowly I am getting my gardens cleaned up and redone. Here is a photo "Before and After" shot of the Bird Bed.

I have several bird loving perennials in this bed and then I edged it with Snap dragons and Zinnia. Can not wait for the flowers to POP! Also on this bed (not pictured) is my new Hummingbird Feeder. I hung it out last weekend and already have had many customers at it. There is nothing like watching a hummingbird land and drink nectar.

Getting my groove back

Trying to get my Blogging mojo back!

It's finally Spring here and that means we are all racing outdoors to get our gardens in shape quickly. We have a very short season here in Minnesota - so we really have to get our plants in as quickly as we can so they can have some grow time. I have decided not to grow veggies this year - and instead we are turning into more fruit growing. This is largely because we have a good farmer's market locally where I can get large quantities of wonderful veggies inexpensively.

We have a lot of projects to do here over the summer - and I find myself already looking at the calendar and frowning about how we are going to fit all the projects in we want to fit in and OH yeah - enjoy the summer too!

Part of my summer wish list is to clean up my WIP piles with my knitting. I have a LOT of projects that are half baked, so I really want to get those finished or frogged. I have been kind of obsessing over socks a lot lately - I think because I find myself buying more and more sock yarn and frankly - I have ENOUGH hats and scarves. You can ALWAYS use more socks. And the one's my mom makes me every year for my birthday I just love and they are so warm. It's like wearing a hug on your feet. So I would love to start making socks.

So about two months ago I purchased 9728 Beginner Socks (Cuff Down) sock pattern by Diane Soucy on Patternfish. (The pattern is on Ravelry but it redirects you to Patternfish for the pattern.) I thought for a first time out - starting on a worsted weight yarn would be less intimidating, so even though the pattern was $7.00 (ouch!) I went ahead thinking I would make a fleet of socks with this pattern and it would pay for itself with all the use I got out of it.

Sadly this is not the case. The pattern is two pages long and there really is not detailed instruction. To me a beginner pattern should really spell out the process and direct you. I found myself flailing about a lot and feeling frustrated. So after I made it through my first heal turning, I put it back in it's project bag and there it sat for two months. 

Yesterday I picked the bag back up and finished Sock #1.

I ♥love♥ the yarn (Classic Elite Yarns Liberty Wool - color 7869) but the pattern itself is just lacking. I know this is my first sock - and I wanted to make a classic sock - with heal flap construction - cuff down.... so I could really work my way through my first pair of socks in a classic fashion. But I am really dreading that second sock. It's the heal construction. I don't like my execution of it and I don't like the actual pattern of it.

 This is where I feel my execution failed - the stitches I picked up are a little too much like lace work. I am not thrilled with that - but find it livable. It's my first sock after all - there IS a learning curve.

It's a little hard to see in the photo - but there is a ridge line under my heal. To me that means I will get blisters or at least be uncomfortable if I ever try and wear these socks out in shoes. Bummer!

So I will dutifully cast on for sock number 2, but boy am I not excited about it! I am going to pay very close attention to the heal construction this time - and try to understand it better. I am thinking ahead to "NEXT" and I think two at a time toe up construction - perhaps with an afterthought heal?!?! Sound pretty good!

Snow Bird

We got another 6 inches of snow last night. It's insane to me that we are getting snow like this and it is almost May. HOPEFULLY (knock on wood) this will be the last storm of the season.

When I got to work this morning I saw this guy in the tree by my car. I quick snapped a few pictures of him. I suppose the mice are pretty obvious in all this snow - good hunting weather for him.

In theory our weather will improve dramatically in the next few days. I am hoping my spirits will improve then too. It's just depressing how much winter we have had. Garg.

Number 15 in Mulberry

Project Name: Number 15 in Mulberry
Pattern Name: This is pattern #15 from The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs by Linda P. Schapper
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Mulberry Merino 2 skeins = 198.0 yards (181.1m) in color 8783
Hook: 6.0 mm (J)
Size: 6" x 64"
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

More stash busting. More experimenting with stitches from my crochet stitch dictionary.

I had never worked with this yarn before, and although it's SUPER EVIL to rip out, I love how it worked up in this stitch. It's really soft and squishy.

The pattern was addictive to work. I found myself working on it all the time. You can go miles in no time. Very happy with the results!

Number 3 in Pomaire

Project Name:  Number 3 in Pomaire
Pattern Name: This is pattern #3 from The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs by Linda P. Schapper
Yarn: Araucania Pomaire Multy,1 skeins = 183.0 yards (167.3m) in colorway 4
Hook:  5.0 mm (H)
Size:  5.5" x 60"
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥
 
You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

This was a really fun crochet stitch and I had a hard time setting it down. It looks really nice and once you get going it's just go go go! Great stash buster of a single skein I had rolling around. I had never worked with this yarn before and I have to say I am a fan! I will use it again. I think a throw in this yarn in this pattern would be quite awesome. One of those nice summer throws for the couch when you just need a little warmth. I wore this all day at work and am still wearing it right now while I type this up. It's really soft and non scratchy - feels nice after months of wool against my skin.

Really enjoying learning new crochet stitches and busting stash!