Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Uncharacteristically Frequent Posting

It must be the weather or something, but this is the most regularly I've posted in a long time. I could have actually posted this finished object the day after my Bottoms Up! Bag post, but it was a quick little thing.


Details:
Pattern: Super basic, but it's from Design Sponge
Yarn: Handspun from Stefaneener Ha! I actually found her post about the yarn right here!
Needles: Size 6
Buttons: random army green buttons that wouldn't stand out too much

Notes: It's a knit rectangle, so there's not much to say. Super easy. Loved working with the handspun. Not sure about the loop-and-button method of closure, but right now, we're just leaving the cozy on the press all the time, so it's not an issue. I do wish I'd sprung for some vintage buttons when I was at the bead shop, though!

Other knitting: I'm doing the mini-Clapotis for Lilah in the hopes I'll be done for us to wear our matching shawls on Mother's Day :)

Reading: I finally read The Historian! I actually knit the cozy while reading it since it was mindless stockinette mostly. I quite liked The Historian, and it doubles as a doorstop.

Writing: Nothing at all.

Cooking: I made the pasta with beans, greens, and lemon from Cooking Light again. We like that one. More baby squash.

Get ready for zucchini and squash recipes all summer long:

That's just one of the five zucchini or squash mounds. We had a high germination rate, and they're enjoying the rain we've been having. They actually grew so fast I thought they might be weeds, but if you rub your fingers on the leaves, they smell distinctly squash-y.

My peppers and tomatoes are also thriving. In fact, I need to thin them out since not all of the pots were kind enough to germinate only a single seed dead center in the pot:


I planted several varieties of tomatoes, but I didn't have labeling stuff outside with me, so I have no idea what's in which pot. Brandywine, Yellow Pear, Arkansas Traveler, and some kind of cherry tomato. Oops. It'll be a nice surprise when they fruit. Anyway, I need to pick up some buckets to transfer the tomatoes from the small pots. My basil germinated, but hasn't done much else, so I need to get to the garden store and get a few plants. I'm really disappointed in my herb garden out front. I did have germination, and it gets lots of sun, and I've been watering when it hasn't rained, but the growth is just sad. At this rate, I won't have basil to eat until there's frost.

6 comments:

Meaux said...

I think you were knitting that on Skype. It looks great, and the plants look good, too. Some herbs are hard to grow from seed, so don't be discouraged. I have found that companion planting works (put the tomato pots by the basil -- worked for me). Good luck!

Mary said...

The cozy is really cute :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, green things growing! It's all very exciting. I can imagine the disappointment on the herbs, but your ratio of growing vs. not growing looks pretty good. And you'll have basil to enjoy in the fall, just when the rest of your garden is cashing in its chips.

Mmmm, many tomatoes - what's not to like? Once they're all red and ripe, it won't matter a bit if you can't remember which kind is which.

Cute knit cozy. If you want blingier buttons, once you find them you can switch out and give your little creation new life, right?

YarnThrower said...

I cracked up about your plants not all germinating with a single seed dead center in the pot... bummer!

My son has planted some seeds at school, and I'm pretty sure that when he brings them home and we plant them in the garden, they will meet their maker soon after...

Your plants look great! Amazing!

Stefaneener said...

That's a LOT of zucchini. Like, a LOT.

Really. Remind me to tell you the story of when my husband's father first grew zucchini. . . too many.

Tomatoes separate out nicely; they'll pot up and you'll have many many many more. Whee! You cannot have too many tomatoes, unlike zucchini.

And the cozy looks fantastic. I hope you enjoy many hot cups of coffee.

String Bean said...

Time to knit a cozy for yourself instead of the french press, dear!

The plants look lovely and green. I'm all for perennials so all I have to do is weed once in a blue moon. Mm, cherry tomatoes are yum. Are you like me and, instead of picking them and bringing them into the house, you pick one, eat one, pick one, eat one, and bring none in?

Label schmabel.