Selbu

Still clicking away, finishing up gifties.  I've so many to finish, and it's pointless to pretend that I will by tomorrow...LOL

But I did get Mom's Selbu Modern finished:

On a trip we made to Vermont years ago, I bought the yarns to make this.  Main color is The Fiber Company Canopy Fingering in Wild Ginger.  I had found some Koigu in a great variegated teal-y blue, but I ended up stealing it to start a pair of Hexagon socks, instead.  What I really had in mind when I first saw this great little hat was the remnant of some Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock Merino in Moody Blues. I just knew that there wasn't enough, and I consoled myself with the Koigu, leaving the yarn to marinate in the stash.   So I finally got brave enough to see if that was so.

I'm so glad that I had plenty to finish.  I think it turned out pretty well, especially since I don't really do colorwork all that much.  The stitches are pretty raggedy, I really think that the gauge is a little too loose for both yarns.  And there isn't enough time to do a wet block.  So I did a quick stream and wrapped it up.  I can't wait to see if Mom likes it!

I pretty much made the hat as written, only substituting a centered decrease in the second to the last round...I just think it's prettier that way.  You know, OCD and all.  :)

So back to the grindstone I go...My newest deadline now is New Year's...LOL

The Garden's Conclusion

So Don and I finished  weeding the veg garden…well, Don mostly…but at least it's done for now.  I've been thinking about how the gardening year went, and I can only conclude that I have a lot to learn about veggie gardening. 

More please!

And more of you, too!

Some things I underplanted…others I shouldn't have bothered with at all.  Next time, waaaay more peas and cukes, less sweet potatoes.  I'm sure they would have done well, provided the groundhog would have left them alone.  We only ended up with one sweet'tater, and it was just about the size of my thumb.  So, so worth the space. Could just about the same for the watermelon, too. 

 I learned that green beans are a mecca for Japanese Beetles, and that chickens provide a simple, entertaining solution.  SO I'll be justifying next year's chick purchase by saying it's for beetle control.  yeah, that's it.  The Eldress has declared "No more chickens", though I think I can sway her again by late winter to get more.  

Peppers did pretty well, though the drought really kept them from producing much…same for the tomatoes.

Beets and Radishes were the stars this year for sure, very tasty…and very productive, too.

A small sampling of the harvest--YUM!

Carrots, lettuce and fennel were total failures, mostly due to incorrect planting (lettuce) and insect/bird pressure.  The slugs completely overran the carrot seedlings and the birds ate the lettuce seeds before they could sprout--next time, plant a little more deeply in the soil. Not sure why the fennel never came up. Though I must say that this is the most success I've had with direct seeding, yet.  We direct seeded the cukes, watermelon, radishes, beets, peas, greenbeans, lettuce, carrots, and fennel. ANd I'll probably do the same next year with the stuff that did come up.

So, over the winter, I'll redefine the garden areas (that's underway as I type)…and try to get some work done on warmish days to that end.  I definitely need to take a closer look at IPM and what that means to me and my family, too.  We didn't do much in the way of spraying, save dish soap in water, and hand/chicken picking. Those were nice methods, but I need to learn a few new tricks as well.

This little guy didn't make it...not sure if it was the drought or not...

Better compost making is also a priority…must have more "black gold" to fill in as we learn more about soil-building in general. There are so many methods, it's confusing. Tilth is still lacking in our soil, and I'm looking to build it up over the rest of the winter.  

We had some mixed results with our attempts to mulch the rows...I'm thinking that that was where the slugs came from--and boy did we have some!  So we raked off the mulch into the paths, and restricted watering to the early mornings.  <shuddering> I don't look forward to picking those slimy little bastards off again, next year.  With the drought being predicted to continue for a while, water conservation is a must for next year.

Now the seed catalogs are coming in earnest…and so it's time to dream of all the yummies to grow next year.

Catching Up

Last year's tree...

I've been busy finishing Yule/Christmas gifts for people...and desperately need to take some pics.

Verdigris mitts=done

Foliage Hat=done

Origami earrings=done...and done



I still have a lot of gifties to make...fingers crossed that I can finish in time.

And there's cookies to bake...tree to get, then decorate.  Yule dinner to plan; praying it's not going to be poultry.  The Eldress has expressed a desire for a Roast Beef.  With Yorkshire Pudding.  I can get on board for that. :)

Coming together

Time to kitchener!  Yay!

Finally done with the first mitt...not sure why I had so many problems getting it done.  I want to blame the yarn, but I fear that's not the only problem! LOL

We're not going to fixate on the moth in the window, 'kay?

Another pic of the first mitt...now onto the second!

Yes, yes...I see the windowsill dirt, too.  Too bad!  :P

Progress

I'm moving along with the mitts, now.  See?

I see on Ravelry, that there are socks made with this stitch pattern, too.  I really, really like this stitch pattern.  That's something I'd like to revisit...a little later.

Trying to capture the color of this yarn is really challenging...a pretty, light mint green.  It's Boud'Chou by Plassard...color 111...can't remember the lot, since the ball band isn't in front of me.  :P  It says it's superwash merino...though I doubt I'd ever put it in a machine.  The yarn seems a little frail, and doesn't take to tinking or frogging.  There are some stitches that are somewhat blurry as I dropped a stitch and when I picked them up, the yarn looked almost shredded. o.O  Though the yarn is soft, and has a nice bounce.  And as you can see, makes pretty cables and lace, thanks to it's 3 ply (I think) construction.

Though it will be a struggle to remain faithful to these, since Vintage Modern Knits arrived from the library today...

So many cute things to knit!  But I'm especially excited to knit this:

Bramble Beret by Courtney Kelley.  So, so pretty...and looks like fun to knit, too!  And yeah, I've already been swatching for this.  Shhhhh, don't tell the mitts.