knitorious

Peas, please

Madeleine is a big fan of the edible pod and I finally remembered -- in March -- that March is the time to plant peas!  I planted two of the three pergola planters with peas and I'm thinking of clematis in the third -- the way it's situated, the plant would get plenty of sun and its "feet" would be naturally cool (they way they like it) because of the orientation.  I originally thought I'd plant tomatoes in these planters, but it's not working out that way.  Sometime in the next two months, DH and I will make some kind of raised planter thingy on the back side of the southern-most pergola bench, and I'll plant beans -- eventually, it will make a leafy bean curtain behind the bench.

We broke records yesterday with a high temperature just shy of 80 -- both the temp and the humidity rose very quickly in a short period of time yesterday afternoon.  There were tornado watches all over our area and even a few warnings.  It's too nice a day today to be stuck behind a desk, but here I am.

I've only just posted the ninth installment of my 100 Little Things project -- there should be about twice that number at this point -- but I have some things in queue and I'll be doing a little catch-up over there.

I washed and blocked the Baby Cashmerino V-neck sweater, wove in all the ends, did a tiny bit of seaming (remaining shoulder, one side of each pocket flap).  I guess my heart wasn't really in it.  Again, I am reminded, there is as much finishing in a baby sweater as there is in an adult's -- you'd think it would go quicker because the seams aren't so long, but it doesn't.  Once the mattress stitch gets set up, the length of the seam doesn't really matter.  It must be the threading of the needle that takes so much time.  ; )

The tattoo jury is still in deliberations.  Thank you so much for all your advice!  You'll be among the first to know when a verdict is reached.

Priceless

 

Number 7 is a bunch of Little Things.  Last Friday, about the time that I'd planned to be breezing through Wausau on the way to my sister's and then, of course, onward to planned merriment and mayhem (oh, no, not mayhem, except, perhaps, as in relation to chaos...) in The Cities, more than likely making a potty stop (as my bladder isn't what it used to be), I was actually killing time in my local antique mall, half a block from where my car was getting its electrical system checked out.  The owner and I were in the same high school class, though we didn't really know each other then, and we've lived down the street from each other for the past 20 years.  (Honestly, it just hit me like a ton of bricks this morning that it's 20 years this year -- twenty years in August that we moved into this house.  It completely blows my mind that I've lived here for TWENTY YEARS!)  She has this incredible Sears house -- a bungalow that was her husband's grandfather's -- which has this neat porch across the back, overlooking the South Side of our fair city.  She was telling me that she calls the back porch her "Chippy Room" -- where she puts all the chipped-paint, chipped-china stuff that her husband can't stand --  a girlie place for her and her daughter, their only child, a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy, among other special needs.  They finally had a windy ramp built over part of the front steps last summer, making it easier to bring the wheelchair in and out of the house.

Anyway, there's always something to talk about and I hadn't been down there in a while, so there was plenty to catch up on while I awaited the car diagnosis damages, but I'm always on the hunt, too.  There doesn't seem to be as much pansy stuff lately, and the cabinet photos have to really be somethin' special, and I have enough green depression glass, and I don't need any furniture, really, so I look for little "treasures" like these.  A small plastic bag with all this stuff inside and an irresistible price of $2.00.  The two stitch holders at uppermost left have the word BOYE embossed on them, and those wee ones aren't even two inches long!

I noticed, as I signed on, that this is my 901st post.  Crazy.  I celebrate my third year of blogging later this month, in most esteemed company, on the first day of spring!

The 6th little thing

The 6th of my 100 Little Things... 

The art glass bird was a birthday gift when I was 8 or 9.  Soon after the giving, it was dropped and more than half of the once long and tapered tail broke off.  Notice how I won't take responsibility, nor place blame, for the dropping; truth is, I don't remember and it doesn't matter.  On the way home from picking it up after having the tail ground down to a smooth stub, while being passed around the back of the station wagon (at a time when no one took a seat belt seriously) and undergoing a thorough examination by the entire entourage, the bird was dropped again and this time the beak was chipped.  As with the original infraction, I can't tell you who did it.

I always loved the colors of this bird.

I found a similar one at the antique mall on Friday afternoon -- where I spent an idle couple of hours while my car was diagnosed and the fix made.  Its tail was intact, but the beak was chipped.

I'm sure my mother intended to start a collection, to ignite in me a passion for the Art Glass Bird.  I think she always wanted us -- especially the girls -- to have collections of fine and fragile things.  Still does.  The fragile never lasted very long, though, and once broken or chipped or repaired, I suppose there didn't seem much of a point in adding to and fluffing up the collection.  As an adult, I have a lot of collections, but not much of it is really fine and fragile.  Well, sure, there's lots of fragile -- depression glass and stoneware, mostly, and a little china -- but almost all of it is practical and "everyday" and I have no qualms about using any of it -- and if it breaks, it's just more fodder for the mosaic stash.

Paging through the birthday book

I found this little thing at a sale last year -- it appeals to me because a) it is an old book, b) with color illustrations, c) with handwritten names (some erasures, as well), d) it's for boys and girls, and e) it's awfully cute.

January is a big month for celebrating, starting off with a bang!  When I read that quote for the 1st, one small change came to mind:

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives... CARA!

My baby sister's birthday is today (and also Truman H's)!  It just does not seem possible that she's... as old as she is!  Happy Birthday, Annie!

A newborn is scheduled to make his appearance today (if he hasn't already decided on his own) that will make me the winner of an office baby pool (the winnings of which are traditionally split with mum).

Tomorrow... well, another small change comes to mind:

A dreary place would this earth be,
Were there no... ANN!

My mother's birthday is on the 31st, winding up the month.  She's actually got a trifecta, celebrating her birthday and anniversary on that date, as well as their first date -- which always seems more beneficial to her husband, having to remember only one date instead of three.

To be honest, I don't recall, exactly, my first date with my hubby.  (We don't have a song, either.)  (Uh-oh, will I have my marriage taken away?)  I could probably figure it out if I looked at a calendar... it was October, I know that much, and I do remember where.  I don't know what I wore, except for the boots...  Why I ever had cowboy boots in the first place, and wore them in the second place, is beyond me (it was the '80s... Urban Cowboy influence), but they're memorable because, well, have you ever tried walking the beach at extreme low tide in cowboy boots?  Trust me, you'd remember.  Do you recall your first date?

Fickle...

...but Fetching.  Well, it's a partial pair of... this must be a Fetching-ette -- I see now, in morning light, where I misread the directions, and why I have only two cable crossings at the cuff rather than three.  I just couldn't see what I was missing last night and thought that perhaps I was reading right through something about a variation...  My cast-off edge is quite loose, also, and with the clarity of the new day, I think this shall be frogged entirely.  Love is all I can say about it, though.  I'm using the same yarn that Carole used for hers (it's where I got the idea!) -- Classic Elite Wings.  It's stash yarn, one of three mis-mmatched skeins (though I can only locate two at the moment) that bought on a whim for a specific project and, well, I don't know what I was thinking.  This is a much better use.

I needed a break from all the garter stitching on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Rib Warmer, though the shaping helps to keep the knitting from being too tedious.  I'm also using stash yarn for this, some Filatura di Crosa Nikerboker from ages ago.  There's a little bit of alpaca in the mix, and it develops a very soft, fuzzy glow.  I have plenty of this in gold, and also some blue, and think I'm going to use the rest of it all up to make a little sweater for Mack.  There was a cute pattern in Yarn Play that might work.

The current plan is to finish the Rib Warmer (knit the other half) and Coup d'Etat (button band, collar, seaming), a pair of Fetchings (quick, soft, warm... quite fetching), and re-work the bottom of Williamsro, and then I'll be ready for Latvian Mittens.  I am thinking of January 31st for a starting date.

Ali is moving back to the dorm at school today -- classes start again soon.  Last week, she and two friends paid a deposit on a house to rent for next fall; she'll be moving in with another friend over the summer.  I'm not sure she'll ever live at home again.  It's kind of weird.

On Saturday, Katie's heading to Madison with one of her friends to look for a place to live in fall, too.  She has applied to Madison and, considering they've accepted her a couple of times before, I see no reason why she won't be accepted again.  She needs to "get on with it," as she says.  She may never live here again, either.  It's also kind of weird.

It's all part of everything and the way it goes, and I'm fine, but there will be some adjusting.  I think it'll be a big adjustment for Maddy, too.  She and Ali have become so close -- amazing, really, when I think on all those years when Ali just barely even tolerated Maddy's existence.  That's the way it is, though, an ebb and flow in all relationships.  Maybe Maddy and I will find more a flow to our relationship.  I hope so.

There's a new photo album in the sidebar.  Currently showing only one photo of one little thing, it will grow during the year and by the end, there should be 100 photos of 100 Little Things.  I've been wanting to do 100 of something, and something with photography, and there are so many little things around here...  I think it can work!